New urban firms compete for Louisiana town center plan

Update: Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company was selected to design the town center in Mandeville, Louisiana. Read more here.

The City of Mandeville, located by the bridge that connects the northern side of Lake Pontchartrain with New Orleans, wants to create a town center plan.

The city is interviewing three new urban firms — Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh and Associates, and Dover, Kohl & Partners to lead the planning effort. "The $175,000 project, which is a cooperative effort between the city and the non-profit, is funded with money from the Louisiana Recovery Authority Comprehensive Resiliency Program," according to nola.com. The plan is also covered by the St. Tammany News.

"The plan will move forward Wednesday, as officials interview three firms competing for a contract to develop a master plan for Old Mandeville aimed at spurring development and providing more opportunities for shopping and recreation in the historic areas of the city," says a report on nola.com.

" 'What we're trying to do is really get a real true mix of all the kinds of shops and boutiques and all the things that make an old historic neighborhood come to life,' city Planning Director Louisette Kidd said."