New Orleans Redevelopment Authority
The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) formally called the Community Improvement Agency (CIA), was created by Act No. 170 of the 1968 Louisiana Legislature to eliminate and prevent the spread of slums and blight in the City of New Orleans in accordance with community improvement plans. Its powers include the acquisition of real property through negotiation, gift or expropriation, disposition of said property by sale or lease; to borrow money, issue bonds and give security to support slum clearance and neighborhood development.

For nearly thirty years, the CIA largely remained dormant and played only a minor role in the city’s redevelopment plans. Realizing the need to better coordinate the city’s housing delivery system, NORA and the New Orleans Home Mortgage Authority (NOHMA), entered into a short term arrangement in which the operation of the two merged with NOHMA assuming the lead role. This allowed for a very close review of the operation of NORA.

Since regaining its independence, NORA has charted a new path.. Revised from stagnation, NORA has demonstrated itself to be a formidable partner in obtaining site control of our city’s abandoned housing stock.

Currently there are approximately 1,465 properties in the Blighted Properties list with 200 per month being added.. To effectively and systematically resolve the problem of blighted housing, NORA has instituted the Real Estate Acquisition and Land-banking Mechanism (REALM).

Under this initiative, NORA in conjunction with DHND identifies properties that are REALM candidates. Development Zones with a multitude of tracts comprising of contiguous and bordering neighborhood properties have been designated with the following consideration:

• Feasibility of rehabilitation versus Post acquisition demolition and redevelopment;
• Degree of private commitment/activity per area;
• Need/ Availability of federal subsidy per area;
• Capacity of community based organization in the zoned neighborhood;
• Alignment with municipal capital improvement projects.

A reversal of the old policy of waiting for a potential buyer has begun; instead of having the buyer go through the legal system of expropriation, sometimes taking as long as twelve to eighteen months, NORA now does it under the REALM initiative. DHND has funded NORA with the initial resource needed to fund all activity costs incurred pertaining to acquisition (appraisals, property value and legal fees, insurance, security and maintenance) for 200 properties.

Phase II, subsequent redevelopment, rehabilitation, demolition, and in-fill new construction is part of the Mayor’s Challenge Fund being implemented by NOAH.

Under the REALM system, NORA will have site control and a title in hand which will provide several options:

• Donation of property to city-funded non-profit agencies
• Sale of property to for-profit developers;
• Auction of property to the general public;
• Subdivision and extension of lot lines to neighboring property owners.

In addition to the obvious public benefits of the reduction of blight, this plan when combined with Mayor’s Challenge Fund will provide the city with the federally required match for the HOME funds it receives from HUD.

The REALM system will not replace the old system but rather enhance the operation of NORA. Citizens may still avail the individual method of obtaining blighted properties by obtaining a Blighted Properties Removal Program Client Intake Form, the office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.