New Orleans City Council approves modified plans for Canal Street high-rise

In a 5-2 vote, the New Orleans City Council gave its blessing Thursday to a proposed high-rise building on Canal Street, approving needed zoning waivers but also imposing some conditions on developer Praveen Kailas. Councilmembers Stacy Head and Cynthia Hedge-Morrell voted against the plan.

Harry Baker Smith ArchitectsArchitect's rendering shows design of proposed high-rise for the old Woolworth site at Canal and Rampart streets in New Orleans. The HDLC is expected to vote on the design.

Kailas wanted permission to build a 19-story, $70 million building at Canal and North Rampart streets on the site of a long-vacant former Woolworth's store. As he proposed it, the new structure was to contain 307 apartments, 486 parking spaces and 38,000 square feet of retail space, perhaps including a restaurant.

As proposed, most of the building would be 193 feet high, with a penthouse reaching to 205 feet, or three times the 70-foot limit allowed by the site's current zoning. The ordinance approved by the council will limit the building's tallest portion to 190 feet.