Double cottage model debuts in New Orleans

Back-to-back cottages — a model that could be used on small lots in many towns and cities — are under construction in the Bywater section of New Orleans. Corner Markers/Bywater LLC, a partnership of architect Andres Duany, New Towns publisher Diane Dorney, and Martha Murphy of Coastal Land and Development in Pass Christian, is building two sets of these cottages on formerly vacant land in a neighborhood that, because it’s one of the higher parts of the city, escaped the worst of the 2005 hurricanes. Called “Bywater Cottages,” each double dwelling consists of a front cottage of about 1,500 sq. ft. and a rear cottage of the same size. One-story living quarters wrap partly around somewhat sheltered outdoor areas. Each lot accommodating a pair of attached cottages is about 43 feet wide and 90 feet deep. Dorney, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, said land was acquired in the Bywater neighborhood “because it’s the next up-and-coming New Orleans neighborhood and we wanted to show how newly built, hurricane resistant houses could fit into a traditional setting.” The cost of construction on the two doubles is running around $93 per sq. ft., but, she said, “We expect to be able to get the cost down in future projects.” Although the cottages, designed by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., are intended as a profit-making venture, they might not make money if sold right away. “The market in New Orleans is still very unstable due to the insurance situation,” Dorney explained. “We may hold on to these four units and rent them. The rental market there is very good, and the neighborhood is coming back slowly.” While construction of the Bywater cottages was moving forward, a February charrette in Miami produced construction documents for another group of cottages — modular units that will be installed at Jackson Barracks in New Orleans and elsewhere for the FEMA Alternative Housing Pilot Program. The modular cottages are to be built by a team assembled by Cypress Realty Partners, which includes DPZ, Cusato Cottages, the Shaw Group, Lowe’s home improvement stores, and Worthington Industries. Hundreds of these are expected to be built in Louisiana by the Cypress Realty Partners team in the next 18 months. Independent of FEMA, Cypress is building a group of 15 Lowe’s Katrina Cottages in Old South Baton Rouge, a distressed neighborhood between downtown Baton Rouge and the Louisiana State University campus. “This is pure infill into existing urban fabric,” Ben Dupuy of Cypress Realty said of the private-sector-led project, called Cypress Park. Dupuy hopes the for-sale cottages of 910 and 1,080 sq. ft. will spur reinvestment in the neighborhood, where Boo Thomas’s Center for Planning Excellence is leading a revitalization effort.