William McDonough + Partners named design architect for Green Coast Enterprise’s newest project, set to position New Orleans as green biz hub

We are proud to announce that the firm has been named design architect for Green Coast Enterprises’s and EcoPark’s The Building Block at North Carrollton in New Orleans, planned to be a hub for green business activity in the region. The design team also includes New Orleans-based Concordia, a firm with a reputation of progressive neighborhood planning and thoughtful community design, which will be architect of record for the project.

Scheduled to open in 2012, the 120,000-plus square foot project is a redevelopment of the abandoned Bohn Ford facility at 401 North Carrollton Avenue in Mid-City and will be a mix of retail, office, and manufacturing uses that will co-locate local green companies to improve access to ecologically friendly goods and services. The Building Block seeks to position New Orleans at the center of the international sustainability trend and become a flagship for a series of similar developments throughout the region.

“We are proud to be part of The Building Block and contributing to the safe, healthy revitalization of New Orleans,” said architect Kristin Cory, the project manager of the William McDonough + Partners team. “In the face of adversity, New Orleans is being positioned for renewal and a positive future.”

The Building Block at North Carrollton is one of the first initiatives supported by the Regional Planning Commission, The Idea Village and Green N.O., Greater New Orleans, Inc.’s collaborative effort to establish greater New Orleans as the nation’s center for sustainable and environmentally friendly businesses. Greater New Orleans, Inc. is a regional economic development agency serving a 10-parish region around New Orleans.

The Building Block was founded by EcoPark, LLC, a social entrepreneurship entity focused on economic development through green market transformation and growth. Green Coast Enterprises, LLC is the developer of the site at 401 N. Carrollton. Both companies are based in New Orleans.

GCE develops real estate and performs real estate services in urban areas in need of community renewal in the Southeastern United States, with a special focus on coastal areas threatened by climate change. GCE develops economically vital, environmentally superior spaces that are healthy and exciting for their users.