Harmony Oaks Apartments
Project Information
- Owner C.J. Peete I, LLC
- Design KAI Design Build
- Size 550,000 Square Feet
- Budget $100,000,000
- Completion January 2011
In the News
- City Business Top Construction Project
28 Feb 2011
A transformation has taken place in Uptown New Orleans. Where the C.J. Peete Housing Projects once stood, a new development, the Harmony Oaks Apartments, offers residents a much improved quality of life and the community a new asset. The job called for converting a sprawling and long-troubled housing project into a progressive new model for mixed-income residential development. Spanning nearly 2 years and a budget of over $100,000,000, Harmony Oaks is the largest project of its kind that Woodward has ever undertaken. It called for essentially rebuilding 12 city blocks in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans from the ground up. "The scale and scope of the work is a testament to just how important this project is to the City of New Orleans and to our company," says Project Executive Dave Yarnick.
Once cut off from the larger community and confronted with a high level of poverty and crime, the same area today is filled with new multi-family townhouses and apartment buildings, dedicated recreational facilities and a community center. Residents have access to direct assistance with job training, literacy classes, continuing education and homeownership preparation. This transformation was only possible after Woodward executed a whole new vision for the property. This meant the new construction of 460 units in 112 individual buildings using some 14 different designs. Furthermore, the job also required a street grid long ago blotted out by the barracks-style building arrangement of the old CJ Peete to be rebuilt.
"We were tasked with managing two dissimilar projects concurrently," said Senior Project Manager Lane Louque. "The completion of the private development of housing was dependent upon the completion of the public improvements to the infrastructure. Our team had to closely coordinate to overcome continuous site logistical challenges while ensuring that the entire project stayed on schedule."
One way Woodward was able to complete the project on-schedule and on-budget was through the skils of Woodward Engineering Group, Woodward Steel Group and Woodward Millwork Group. In addition, Woodward exceeded all goals for the use of minority-owned subcontractors and the use of Section 3, a program that creates job opportunities in construction for public housing residents.
