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Times-Picayune article
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A new retail-office-residential complex planned along Interstate 10 between Fremaux Avenue and Old Spanish Trail in Slidell would be the first such development in the New Orleans area, providing residents with the means to live, work, dine and shop in one central location and setting the stage for Slidell to become a regional retail hub.
It didn't mention it in the article, but this sounds a town center type of development, where you have houses, apartments, and condos around a massive outdoor and open-air shopping area which also includes restaurants, a movie theater, and other smaller stores that cater to someone living in the area.
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The site also will contain a movie theater, a 150-room hotel, several restaurants and 300 apartments, and as the development continues to unfold, the residential units eventually will number as many as 1,300, Bayer said
If anyone has ever visited the massive Summit developments in cities like Birmingham and Louisville you should know why this is exiting. The Summit developments are known for their high-end retailers and massive sizes, and this development looks to be no different. According to the article, the development will bring 5,000 permanent jobs, 3,000 construction jobs, will have 1 million square feet of retail space for stores and restaurants, 500,000 square feet of medical facilities and up to 325,000 square feet of commercial office space, plus the single family homes and apartments.
And what's even more interesting is the fact that a development this big has apparently been in the works for quite some time now, but no one has heard about it. Slidell officials have already approved the developers' plans to carve the land into five seperate parcels, the massive I-10 interchange this development will require is already under construction, the State Bond Commission has already approved $250 million in tax-exempt GO Zone bonds for the project's first phase, and UNO has already agreed to put their new 350,000-square-foot Research and Technology Park on a 25 acre parcel of land right next to the development.
According to the article, all that remains is the approval of the site plans by the Slidell city council, and construction is expected to break ground in early May, with the first phase being completed by spring of 2010. The site of this massive development is here.
