A few months after Uptown Messenger wrote about the turnover of old-guard businesses on Freret Street, a new development is in the works for one of those shuttered older businesses. The website reports that the former site of Freret Garden Center is slated for mixed-use redevelopment.
Studio WTA architects appeared before the city's demolition panel this week to request removing the buildings to make way for the two-building project, which includes a "smaller two-story mixed-use building on the upriver corner" with an "upstairs apartment and a retail women's clothing store on the ground floor" and a larger building at "4,984 square feet [that] could be built out as either retail space or a restaurant." Building renderings features a modern design with perforated metal screens characteristic of Studio WTA's style; it would be quite a different look from the colorful, older buildings currently populating the thoroughfare. The plan does include space for parking (because that's what cool about Freret Street currently — you can actually park there!). The committee voted in favor of the demolition request.
With the redevelopment of Frank's Steakhouse in progress, Freret Street is seeing a lot of changes. Do you think all these developments could over-crowd the corridor?
· Two buildings planned for former Freret Garden Center site [Uptown Messenger]
· Some old-guard Freret businesses give way to new development as the corridor keeps changing [Uptown Messenger]