Gibbs Construction has broken ground on a $15-million, low-income senior-housing complex in New Orleans under development by Enterprise Community Partners and Providence Community Housing, a pair of low-income housing enterprises, and New York City-based  L+M Development Partners.

The project is part of a third phase involving reconstruction of the Faubourg Lafitte housing complex, which sustained heavy damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. When completed, the entire development will include 896 apartments in addition to for-sale and rental homes on a 27-acre site.

Gibbs President Rob Wooderson says the current phase will consist of a three-story, 100,000-sq-ft elevated concrete slab extending across a city block. The facility will house 94 units ranging in size from 615 square feet to 900 square feet. Designed by Blitch Knevel Architects, the facility will resemble individual structures rendered in New Orleans-style architecture.

"It will incorporate different colors, different rooftops and so forth to resemble a series of town homes," says Wooderson.
Gibbs Construction currently has a small crew working on pile driving and site prep,  though the site will accommodate more than 100 tradesmen once slab work is completed.
Earlier phases valued at $77 million were completed in 2001 and included 276 low-income units.
The development team is undertaking the current phase with funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Housing Authority of New Orleans and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The project is due form completion in late 2016.