Construction Maison

The proposed return of a neighborhood grocery in the Lower Garden District got stuck in a zoning quagmire Tuesday (Aug. 22) with nearby residents generally welcoming the idea of a corner store but divided over how much leeway to give developers. Liz and Robby Blum bought the former Zara's grocery at 2042 Prytania St. in 2015 for $614,000 and have been trying to bring it back as an upscale grocery including a total renovation of the building.  Zara's operated as a grocery with alcohol sales, in conflict with the underlying residential zoning of the property. The store stayed open with a legal grandfathered status as a commercial use.  But the new owners lost the so-called "legal non-conforming" status while renovating the store and the property shifted to a residential zoning. The grandfathered status can be lost when a property stays vacant for six months.  Nicole Webre, a consultant for the property owners, told the City Planning Commission on Tuesday that ...

In January 2015, a massive fire in Edgewater, N.J., demonstrated that buildings with sprinkler systems are not always protected against fire. The blaze destroyed 240 residential apartments and displaced 500 people from the Edgewater Avalon apartment building . The fire began when a maintenance worker’s plumbing torch accidentally ignited wooden wall studs , and flames quickly spread throughout the structure. Fifteen minutes passed before workers called the fire department . In that time, the fire spread throughout combustible void spaces (between walls and floors) and soon engulfed the building. Emergency personnel from 35 different cities and towns ultimately responded to the incident. Thankfully, there were no fatalities. Immediately after the blaze, people asked why the fire was so devastating. The building had sprinklers, after all. Shouldn’t the sprinkler system have extinguished the fire? To make matters worse , this building had already burned down 15 years prior during i...