New Irish Channel subdivision starts to take shape

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The newest subdivision in the Irish Channel is starting to come into form.

Located at the site of the former 70,000-square-foot Turnbull Bakery that closed in 2012 and bounded by Soraparu, First and St. Thomas Streets, Bakery Village is an urban infill project that consists of 15 single-family lots that range from 3,600 to 7,000 square feet. A private servitude runs through the center of the development for access to rear yards.

The plans show 10 of the lots facing St. Thomas Street, with three on First Street and two on Sorapuru. They are mostly 30-foot by 120-foot lots with shotgun-style homes. All lots offer off-street parking.

Two homes are currently under construction on the site, a Greek Revival-style house and a Gothic Revival-type home. These homes will cost $649,000 and $729,000, respectively. Empty lots start at $58 per square foot.

Nicole Webre, developer of the Bakery Village project, said the development needed approval from the New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission, the Board of Zoning Adjustments, the City Planning Commission and City Council to resubdivide the property and to rezone it from light industrial to single-family residential.

Webre secured the financing for the project from a combination of her and her husband, their parents and First Bank and Trust. Webre said the bank took a huge leap of faith because she was a first-time developer.

“They saw my vision and got it,” she said. “I don’t know if I would have had that opportunity had I gone to another bank.”

Adamick Architecture is the architect, and Nelson Clayton Homes LLC is the contractor. Webre originally purchased the former bakery for $2.2 million in 2015.

Webre worked at City Hall before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. She then attended law school at Loyola University of New Orleans from 2006 to 2009 before returning to work in New Orleans city government as the legislative director for former Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer.

She then started her own business, Webre Consulting, which specializes in permitting and represents and advises clients in zoning matters, land use and transportation planning, historic district compliance and tax credits. Webre said balancing her full-time business with her role as a developer has been a challenge.

“Webre Consulting is helping me to pay my monthly notes,” Webre said. “It’s been difficult because I’ve had to be in two places at once.”

Webre said it’s been a daily challenge learning the different aspects of development from construction and financing to residential marketing on her own in a male-dominated field. Webre added she’s had conversations with other women who want to make the jump into the realm of development.

“I’m finding more and more women like me who don’t have children or families that are kind of wanting to get out there and be more entrepreneurial,” she said. “We encourage each other, and I have not found that typically with men. I get excited for people who come to talk to me and want to do the same thing that I’m doing.”

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