Brad Pitt wanted to help New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina — but those affordable homes turned into another disaster

MarketWatch ^ | Jan. 31, 2022 | Judith Keller

[nickcarraway]

Only 6 of the 109 homes remain in reasonably good shape

Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation built 109 eye-catching and affordable homes in New Orleans for a community where many people were displaced by damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Now this housing development is in disarray. The vast majority of the recently constructed homes are riddled with construction-related problems that have led to mold, termites, rotting wood, flooding and other woes.

At least six are boarded up and abandoned. Many residents have filed lawsuits that are still pending. That is, a nonprofit that built houses with input from Frank Gehry and other prominent architects amid much fanfare for survivors of one disaster then ushered in another disaster.

Structural and other problems are making many residents fear for their health. Make It Right, despite what its name might suggest, has not resolved these issues and has stopped assisting residents. Instead, the movie star-led nonprofit has apparently become defunct.

As an urban geographer who researches on housing development, I’ve been following Make It Right’s travails since 2018, when residents tried to get the New Orleans City Council involved and have municipal authorities inspect the homes. The situation has only deteriorated since then, highlighting the perils that can accompany nonprofit housing development.

Supposedly sustainable housing

Located in New Orleans’ historically Black and low-income Lower Ninth Ward, this cluster of affordable homes built between 2008 and 2015 was unusual for several reasons. Notably, these residences were sold, rather than rented to their occupants.

The architects who created these homes also tried to make them green and sustainable following a “cradle-to-cradle” philosophy that centers around the use of safe and reusable materials, clean water and renewable energy. All the homes had solar panels and energy-efficient heating and cooling systems.

[Dr. Sivana]

But it made Brad “feel” better, and look more caring to others at the time, and that is all that matters is woke world!

If he put up his own money instead of mine for his charity, I won't hold that against him. There are worse "woke" things to spend money on.

And if 100 out of the 109 houses are still being used, that's a better track record than most urban public housing.

[DannyTN]

My Thoughts..

• What Brad tried to do was admirable. But he made a mistake trying to make everything "green" and sustainable". That introduced a lot of new and untested technology.
• The flat roofs sound like the the worst problem. It sounds like they need to throw some gable's on top of all of them and roof them real quick. (Not a contractor, no expertise in construction.)
• The city does sound like they are at fault in part here. Why didn't housing codes catch the problems?
• Not having waterproof or mold resistant paint is fixable. You sand and paint over it.
• It also sounds like the architect(s) didn't know what he/they were doing. Again the new/recycled materials added uncertainty
  Architect says it was 'shocking and insulting' to be sued by Make It Right
• The residents probably do bear some blame. Termites are a known problem in Louisiana and the south. You have to keep your house treated for termites. However, the original houses in the 9th ward were probably so old, that they were termite proof. So residents may have fallen out of the habit of keeping them protected.
• "Many are starting to pay for repairs out of their own pockets rather than wait for the nonprofit builder to resolve issues caused by its shoddy construction. " Well there's an idea.
• It may be that affordable housing projects like this, need to plan for upkeep and repair that would normally be expected from homeowners.

[PTBAA]

“Well, no. The houses were sold for market value for the area, which was more then they cost to build.”

The article said they were “affordable” (subsidized) housing that was sold for LESS than it cost to build them, mostly around $150,000.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Yes, that is what I said. They were sold for less then they cost to build but for market value in the area.

There are any number of houses that would cost more to build then they could be sold for in the area that they are located.

Came across one when we were house hunting. Lovely house. The builder was an architect and built the place with loving care. A perfect 50's style house. Maintained beautifully as well. Neighborhood had gone down hill. You could not build that house for what they were asking for it. You could not even build half that house for what they were asking. But they were asking market value for the area.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I am sorry. The error was mine.

They were sold for market value which was less then they cost to build. Not more.

[roadcat]

At the end of the day, I’m not sure he’s wrong, but if he wants to do the right thing, he shouldn’t be running from this. He should be leading the charge against the contractors and project managers, etc. Asking for audits of records, etc.

Imagine if Donald Trump led this build, instead of Brad Pitt. This situation is what happens when movie "stars" think they know it all, when they actually know very little. Donald Trump knew everything about a build by working alongside craftsmen, in order to get the job done right. Brad Pitt knew nothing, and wasn't able to oversee a proper build.

[freeandfreezing]

No mention of any of the homeowners taking any responsibility and trying to fix things themselves.

It's good to keep up the Free Republic tradition of not actually reading the article.

This mirrors the residents’ experiences, who have not seen evidence of the organization’s engagement with their community for years. Many are starting to pay for repairs out of their own pockets rather than wait for the nonprofit builder to resolve issues caused by its shoddy construction.

“I did most of the work myself,” Mario told me. “The ceiling tiles on the porch were falling off, and the wood was rotting, so I just replaced it, slowly, you know, so we could afford it.”

Unfortunately a Hollywood star and a bunch of architects with big egos and limited practical design experience managed to build a lot of poorly designed and defectively built houses. The article explained how one house had serious water intrusion issues when it was less than one year old. That's a defective house, not an issue of a lack of maintenance.

[RWGinger]

Actually if you read the article these homes were bought by the people. Not given
It looks like the green” designers didn’t take NO conditions into account and the builders either. The city inspectors looked the other way. FIASCO
Ifeel sorry for the owners who plunked down 150k and got a pile of junk

[crazy scenario]

BRAD SPIT!!! Need I say more?

[dfwgator]

I won’t fault Brad for this, at least he tried to do something, unlike DeCaprio, who just talks and does nothing.

[Trump Girl Kit Cat]

Brad should have called Trump he would have done the damn thing RIGHT!!

[minnesota_bound]

They wanted the acclaim and money but not the responsibility.

[lewislynn]

Were you saying something about calming down?

[lewislynn]

Were you saying something about calming down?

SKIPPY

[shoff]

I think there is enough blame to go around. I don’t like Brad but he tried to do the right thing. The problems probably started in the design stage. I have worked with architects and engineers that have these new ideas about sustainability. There are reasons they work for governments or non-profits. I worked on a post office that the engineer had all these stupid ideas the contractors had to implement. He wanted to pump hot water into the ground during summer and cold water during the winter.He thought the ground water would hang around till the next season to heat and cool. When it didn’t work he blamed the mechanical contractor. I had to fight him over controlling temperature in the office space by measuring humility. The only idea that worked was painting the roof white.

[Stanwood_Dave]

They wouldn't let Mr. Mike Holmes near one of those pile of human excrement.

I can hear Mike now, as he's doing demolition work: WHAT FOOL BUILT THIS....we have to make this right.!!!

This just isn't up to code, what were they thinking??? Did they pull Permit(s) for this crap!

Did the local government even bother to inspect this garbage...

[antceecee]

No good deed goes unpunished. Surprised with names like Gehry involved it failed so miserably. Not a good look for a world class architectural firm. Interested in researching further.

[robowombat]

You are correct on both counts. I vividly remember the local media peeing on themselves over this blatantly obvious PR
stunt.

[Trinity5]

Would you feel better if I call you Chuckles instead?