In which Buddha Bubba, dismayed and horrified at the imminent destruction of the venerable landmark building on Lee Circle, observes:

"This series of acts by our government is like giving away your house to someone who wants to tear it down and then paying rent to someone else, just because you're too foolish to know any better."

Buddha Bubba was involved in this transaction. He has personal knowledge of what REALLY happened. In 1997, the Housing Authority of New Orleans was looking for a new location. In the opinion of those who maintain the building, it was a disaster area.

They hired consultants to find a suitable location, one of which was a large office building owned by Buddha Bubba. Buddha Bubba cherished the Bradford building as both a profit center and as a building that was part of the historic fabric of the city.

Buddha Bubba made an offer to the Housing Authority, which was countered by 30-page-reinvent-the-wheel offer to purchase, written by lawyers looking to make money on what is an off-the-shelf standardized document recognized by the state of Louisiana.

In Buddha Bubba's original offer there was a property swap and some cash, with the Bradford building traded for a modern, 110,000 square foot office building.

Buddha Bubba's plans for the Bradford Building, which had the approval of HDLC, was to convert the Bradford building into a hotel and restaurant.

Here's what happened instead:

The Housing Authority gave away the building to the Arts Council, which is tearing it down.  In the meantime, forgoing the swap offered by Buddha Bubba, the Housing Authority is renting space from a crony of the Mayor.  And worse:  The city gets nothing of any real value in return.

For what it's worth, the offer from Buddha Bubba would have allowed the city to own a 50,000 square foot building.  In actuality, the Housing Authority gave away their equity in exchange for renting space from someone else. In other words, they received nothing - zip, nada, zero - for that transaction.

I guess that's government at its best - if you happen to be a friend of people in high places, that is."
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