Cameron Young

Ted’s Frostop’s redevelopment proposal was denied by the New Orleans Historic District Landmark Commission on April 8.

The New Orleans Historic District Landmark Commission rejected a bid to demolish Ted’s Frostop, a historic diner on Claiborne Avenue across from Tulane University’s Uptown campus, on Wednesday evening.

The developer, RCR Claiborne Ventures, had planned to demolish the restaurant and replace it with Tulane student housing. The plans for the dorm included a new Frostop on the ground floor, with the original signs intact. 

The New Orleans City Council has the power to overturn the commission’s ruling, which the developer has ten days to appeal. 

The plans for the development, which would’ve housed a mix of undergraduate and graduate students, met considerable opposition from members of the Uptown community. 

Locals gather to oppose new development

RCR hosted a meeting at Frostop on April 6, hoping to address locals’ concerns and discuss plans for the diner’s development. 

Locals at the meeting objected strongly to the development, citing a lack of notice and transparency throughout the project’s planning, as well as the diner’s historical significance as a symbol of New Orleans’ resilience in surviving Hurricane Katrina. 

“Why was this done by the dark of night and announced at a point where nothing can be done about it?” Tulane alumnus Richard Martin said. “Why were we treated that way?” 

Developers clarified that the Frostop would still be in operation on the bottom floor of the housing complex and that current employees would be able to return to their jobs after construction. A Frostop food truck will also circulate the neighborhood throughout the construction period.

“Upon construction completion, that same team can jump right back into Ted’s Frostop so that it can remain what it has been for so many years, in a new home that will allow long-term viability,” RCR Ventures developer Matthieu Robert said. 

The developers also discussed a list of questions compiled from the community, which included concerns about neighborhood disruptions, safety and historical preservation. 

Addressing concerns about potential noise and visual disruption, developers said they plan to have more privacy and separation between the new complex and the neighborhood’s current homes. 

“The west side of the building is 10 feet setback off of the lot line. The city requires three feet, so we’re more than three times what is required,” Robert said. “And that is to provide … noise control, relief and space for landscaping to provide barriers between [local residences] and our development.” 

Attendees said they were concerned about the lease timeline and that Tulane would eventually abandon the space and allow it to fall into disrepair. 

“You guys are coming in and having a guaranteed series of rentals through students in what’s an off-campus dormitory … plopped in our neighborhood without warning,” Martin said. “And you have no responsibility afterwards for what you directed in our midst.” 

Locals also expressed concerns about student safety, as building occupants would need to cross Claiborne Avenue, a street with a high volume of traffic, to reach Tulane’s campus. They requested that the developers invest in street and traffic lights. 

“[The site] is already within the TUPD circulation, and will have on-site security during certain hours of the day, providing additional security to this specific three-block lots that would otherwise not be realized in its current state or in a development that did not involve the university,” Robert said. 

New Orleans Councilmember Aimee McCarron joined the meeting to respond to the local residents’ requests to change the zoning code in order to discontinue the development. 

“It’s more than just a yes or no question at this point,” McCarron said. “If we change something here, it changes the rest of the city.”