Posted on 01/31/2022 2:07:40 PM PST by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Owning a home is more than just sitting on the front porch. They require constant maintance.
One of the pictures in the linked article had a fairly involved front porch that didn’t look like treated wood. It definitely wasn’t painted anywhere at any time, ever that I could see...
I would object to the name “Make It Right”, implying all the other builders, architects, contractors, and developers are “wrong”. Make It Right should apologize to everyone, then rebuild them “Correctly”.
No wonder people hire Mexican labor.
The guy on the right (the gun slinger douche) has all new tools. They all have bleach white shirts. The one in the back has a shovel over his shoulder that's never been in the dirt. The one on the left with only a hammer looks like he smeared drywall mud on his paints
Now, why would he do that. He got the publicity and the feel goods that he needed.
Why is there not a single minority on this crew?
I’m not a big fan of his, but you can’t blame Pitt for poor design and shoddy workmanship.
Nobody made them buy the house.
If the place sucked, that should have been caught by due diligence (property inspection). If they got the place for a below-market price, they had extra money to fix the deficiencies.
If they didn’t have an inspection, or did and bought it anyway because the price was cheap, shame on them.
When I read 9th Ward and “sustainable” I started laughing hysterically.
That is almost as bad as “sustainable” housing in a mega earthquake zone like SF.
Mother Nature is going to have the last laugh in these places.
Calm down Skippy. Maybe it’s just the cast of a TV show doing pictures for publicity. I guess you’re also pissed when your sandwich from Burger King doesn’t look like what you saw on the commercial?
Old proff I had, a Bayou man himself, said it was the French influence.
“Corruption” is viewed differently down there I guess. He found us German/Scandinavian Midwesterners rather dull, in that we did what we said we would.
If the place sucked, that should have been caught by due diligence (property inspection).
Yes. It should have. But the houses were inspected.
If they got the place for a below-market price, they had extra money to fix the deficiencies.
Well, no. The houses were sold for market value for the area, which was more then they cost to build. Even as stupidly as they were built.
If they didn't have an inspection, or did and bought it anyway because the price was cheap, shame on them.
I know you really want to blame the victims here but it does not work that way. The homes were inspected. The city said they were fine. The builders said they were fine. Is the buyer supposed to just know that they are lying? Perhaps no one should buy a house unless they are a master of construction and can tell that nitwit builder did not build for the climate?
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I just searched for images of his monstrosities.
They look like a wreck they day they are finished.
I’ll say. I just purchased a home in Pensacola, built in 1963, and I already have my work cut out for me: mold remediation in the crawl space and laundry room, replacing at least one old cast-iron pipe, replacing the ductwork, etc., etc.
Homeownership is an almost-constant struggle.
Maybe they’re the electrians
The name missing here is Mike Holmes, a Canadian who had at least 2 home improvement TV shows - Holmes on Homes & Make it Right (note the exact same name as the non-profit). Holmes always stressed quality materials & construction.
I watched with great interest as Mike Holmes did a show from the 9th ward, so proud of building at least one of these homes & showing us the work as they did it. He should be ashamed.
A flat roof in NOLA? Beyond stupid.
There is a small strip shopping center nearby with a flat roof. I see them repairing the roof frequently. The roofers are making a mint.
I am sure, Frank got some nice awards to go on his ‘me’ wall.
I am almost certain the reason they were built “sustainable” with solar panels and other nonsense was because of him.
the same people who trash everywhere they live trashed these houses, what a surprise.
Yep, all of the housing projects in all of the big cities were brand new, full of hope and promise, at one time. Running water, reliable electricity, and clean. When you build in the jungle, the jungle will reclaim it and make it it’s own.
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