Thursday, July 26, 2012

Mid-City Magic: New Orleans neighborhood has magnetic appeal for buyers

Mid-City Magic: New Orleans neighborhood has magnetic appeal for buyers

Published: Sunday, July 01, 2012, 10:22 AM Updated: Monday, July 02, 2012, 10:33 AM
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Anyone who has any affinity whatsoever for Carnival knows someone that lives in Mid-City.

Don’t try to deny it.

With one of the biggest parades in the world kicking off on the streets of this New Orleans neighborhood, Mid-City is the place to be on the Saturday before Mardi Gras, thanks to Endymion. And knowing someone who lives in Mid-City makes it easy to have a parade place.

Even Uptowners will have a friend of friend’s cousin twice removed on their mother’s side who lives on one of the picturesque streets near the parade route.

But during the other 364 days of the year, this delightful neighborhood nestled in the heart of the Crescent City is a vibrant ville where family roots run deep, commerce is pleasantly exploding and real estate professionals point out that demand for homes is high and getting higher all the time.

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With a flurry of activity in the area bringing jobs and attention on a local, state and national level, Mid-City is a popular place to pick.

‘ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT’
Roughly delineated, Mid-City fills the central space of the city between downtown and Lakeview, from the Pontchartrain Expressway on the west to Esplanade Avenue on the east, from City Park Avenue on the north to Claiborne Avenue on the south. And like any neighborhood in the city, the lines are relatively fluid (depending on one’s perspective, history and point of view).

Mid-City enjoys a brilliantly diverse collection of architectural types, from plantation-style homes that look out over Bayou St. John to Creole cottages, Arts and Crafts doubles, Mediterranean manses and contemporary creations — with every imaginable style in between.

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That style has arisen from decades of homesteads that grew as the city grew and is growing in popularity as the city continues to shine.

That popularity as a place to live is strong.

“The people that live there absolutely love it,” said JoAnn Centanni of COLDWELL BANKER, TEC Realtors. “It’s a fabulous part of the city,” whose husband’s family has deep roots in the area.

That love for the area is drawing buyers, creating new generations of Mid-City dwellers.

‘RESURGENCE OF VALUES’
“There’s been a tremendous resurgence of property values in Mid-City,” said Terry Roff of GARDNER, Realtors. “Multi-families are in such short supply.”

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Always a popular style of dwelling in New Orleans, multi-family houses (doubles, triples and more) have been a mainstay in the Mid-City area. Many buyers have purchased these many-familied units with an eye to converting the structure to a single-family unit or to maximize one side and leave a smaller one-bedroom or efficiency apartment that will generate income to offset home mortgage payments.

But with the popularity of the area and the prospect of having some help in paying off the house note, buyers have taken advantage of the multi-family structures.

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And investors have kept a close eye on the area, renovating many homes in the past few years, creating an enticing array of buildings that celebrate the rich history of New Orleans architecture but with modern and contemporary style. These changes appeal to buyers looking for such things as up-to-the-minute kitchens and baths, with open-living floor plans for today’s families.

“Housing stock is becoming more and more renovated — back to the glory days of Mid-City properties,” notes Roff.

‘ON FIRE’All of these positive attributes are causing movement in the market of Mid-City houses.
“Mid-City is starting to become a real contender as a first-choice neighborhood,” said JoAnn Fitzpatrick Broussard of LATTER & BLUM, Inc./Realtors.

Reinforcing that concept, Broussard noted that in year-to-date figures, 76 percent of the homes on the market had sold within 90 days or less, a sign that properties are not languishing. And 54 percent of homes on the market had gone under contract in 30 days or less.

Interest in the area spans from first-time home buyers to investors, and trickles into the rental units as well.

“Our rental market is on fire,” said Broussard. “It’s very competitive.”

MORE TO THE EQUATION
The commercial aspects of the area are a major part of the attraction equation.

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Mid-City is reaching critical mass when it comes to restaurant offerings. Throughout the area, diners of every stripe can find a plethora of culinary creations that span the globe and please the palate.

Retailers have responded to the demands of the area with major installations for everything from fashion, hardware, home improvement, business-to-business services, groceries and more.

New Orleans’ bountiful legal community makes its presence known in the area, as well, with many former dwellings converted into law offices within proximity of the courthouse at Tulane and Broad.

And the expanding biomedical corridor will attract thousands of jobs to the area, making Mid-City the nearby neighborhood, within an easy walk, bicycle ride or streetcar trip.

But Mid-City also offers so much more than just a place to live and work. With vast green spaces, historic attractions, Bayou St. John, access to City Park and its bevy of offerings and educational options, this New Orleans neighborhood has an understated yet palpable sense of excitement about it.

More is on the way.

Now seems like a perfect time to get right in the middle of things — right in Mid-City.

By Victor M. AndrewsSpecial Sections staff writer
Victor Andrews can be reached at vandrews@timespicayune.com

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