The Future Looks Bright for Camellia Bay, a New Casino Project Planned for St. Tammany

 

P2E, also known as Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, has developed a plan to build a $329 million casino resort called Camellia Bay in St. Tammany on the vacant land close to Interstate 10 twin spans. Developers have been working on the proposal for months now and are ready for the vote by St. Tammany voters this December.

The project can have a great impact on St. Tammany's economy. The casino would bring tourists to the area and draw them to other events and attractions that are helped along the Lake Pontchartrain waterfront in Slidell. Many locals are worried that the project could also have negative impacts on their community.

Some St. Tammany Community residents are concerned that the casino would bring crime and decline to property values. This is not necessarily the case according to the Convergence Strategy Group.

"Through the research we see moderately positive impacts from similar developments across the country all the way down to just no impact, but we have not been able to uncover the negative impacts that many communities have feared," said Suzanne Leckert, an author of the study.

CSG is a research firm that is based out of New Orleans. They have over 40 years of experience in studying the leisure and gaming industry. According to their study, they found that a casino in the Slidell area would likely have a "moderately positive to negligible impact on surrounding businesses."

The study included an intense look into the proposed development's impact on the community. This includes a range of impacts from small businesses and tourism to crime and marriage or divorce rates. They looked at data that has been collected from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census, municipal governments and interviews with local leaders.

Property values will not drop according to the study. CSG cited that after MGM Springfield opened in Springfield, Massachusetts property values saw a 21.4% increase compared to the smaller growth increase of 2.3% - 14.3% in surrounding areas. Another casino close to home in Baton Rouge, L’Auberge Casino, saw a higher property value increase close to the casino.

"The community impact study provides an abundance of data and information for St. Tammany residents to take into consideration to help them make an informed decision about this project," Masingill said. "This project ... has really been reviewed, has been scrutinized from every single angle. We know that there's a significant campaign of misinformation and distortions and, look, we want people to have all of the information."

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The New Tunnel in Tammany Trace Will Be Opening Soon

The Tammany Trace Tunnel broke ground in June 2019 and is about to be completed. The $3.5 million project is being built by Hard Rock Construction. The project will solve the dangerous impediment for bicyclists, joggers and those who enjoy a walk along the Tammany Trace.

Tammany Trace is an asphalt trail that runs from Slidell to Covington, with trailheads near Slidell and in Lacombe, Mandeville, Abita Springs and Covington. It is mainly used for hiking, jogging and cycling. It was funded by federal money and opened its first part in 1994. It was included in the Rails-to-Trail's Conservatory's Hall of Fame in 2017.

The location where the trace crosses over La. 59 has been a dangerous intersection for cyclists and joggers. Located close to a mile north of I-12 there is a high volume of traffic there along with an S-curve that limits visibility.

The tunnel was slated to be completed in December says Chris Welty, public information officer for the state Department of Transportation and Development, but the weather will have to cooperate.

Hurricane Ida put a halt to the project when the trace was closed due to fallen debris. Workers have been working diligently to clear fallen trees and miscellaneous debris that fell on the 31-mile asphalt pathway during Ida. St. Tammany Parish government has still not announced a reopening date.

The project will take bicyclists and joggers through the tunnel under La. 59 and will also make the S-curve a little straighter for motorists. Those using the trace will now be able to move beneath La.59 at Emile Strain Road seamlessly. This marks the second tunnel on the trace. The first tunnel opened in 2002 and goes under Florida Street in Mandeville.

As far as the S-curve, it will be realigned and slightly shifted east. Motor traffic has already been routed along the new alignment on the slight curve making it safer for motorists.

As of right now, the tunnel and north approach slab is completed and the south approach slab is currently being constructed. New drainage and driveways are being installed for those that have been affected by the realignment.

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Third Quarter 2021 Reaches a 13-Year High for Conventional Loan Share of New Home Sales

 

The National Association of Home Builders shared that 75.5% of new home sales that were recorded in the 2021 third quarter was the largest share seen since the first of the 2008 Great Recession. The data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing.

The Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing reports are surveys of New Residential Sales that are done every March, June, September and December. These are tables that are published through the U.S. Census Bureau.

This record share saw an increase of 1.7 percentage points over 2021 2nd Quarter and has kept rising for the last three quarters. This has shown an increase of 6.9 percentage points since Q4 2021.

As for sales backed by conventional loans, the share increased quarter-over-quarter 74% from Q3 2020 to Q3 2021. The data shows a 4.9 percentage points gain over Q2 2021. FHA-backed sales came in at 11.9% in Q3 2021 which was a decline of 1.1 percentage points over Q2 2021. As for year-over-year, it was a decline of 6.6 percentage points.

VA-backed sales also came in with a decline of 1.7 percentage points from Q3 2020. The data shows a 4.9% decline which is the exact opposite of cash purchases.

Cash purchases rose 7.6% making this a rise for the past two quarters. It is now 4.4% which is the largest we have seen since Q4 2014. For Q3 2021 there was a 7.7% climb with 1,000 sales and a 4,000 increase year-over-year.

The 30-year fixed rate for both conventional and government-backed mortgages also declined quarter-over-quarter. Conventional-backed mortgages reported a 93 basis points decline while government-backed mortgages came in 72 basis points lower than seen in Q4 2019.

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Holiday Spending Will Be Backed by the Rising Consumer Confidence This Year

 

The COVID-19 vaccines are helping to get Americans back out into the physical consumer world. Even with the supply chain problems and rocket high inflation, consumers are still planning on spending the bucks this holiday season.

The Consumer Confidence Index saw a rise in the third quarter of 2021 to 113.8 points. The level seen this October was the highest level seen since July 2021. American's mindset also rose for future consumer spending. Many see purchasing a house car and major appliances before the year-end.

Close to 50% of those surveyed are planning on taking a vacation in the next six months. This is the highest level we have seen before the pandemic.

"While short-term inflation concerns rose to a 13-year high, the impact on confidence was muted," said Lynn Franco, The Conference Board's senior director of economic indicators.

In a nutshell, Americans are not fazed by price inflation. Luckily this is pushing the labor market to recover. It will be a while before consumers get fed up with the price inflations.

"And most of that is due to the job market," said Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO. "And though the share of those respondents finding that jobs are plentiful slipped a bit this month, the share of those who find that jobs are hard to get fell even more."

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2021 Third Quarter Up From Third Quarter of 2020 For the NAHB/Royal Building Products Remodeling Market Index (RMI)

 

The remodeling industry confidence has seen an improvement year over year when it comes to home remodeling. The National Association of Home Builders just put out its NAHB/Royal Building Products Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the third quarter which saw a reading of 87. This is five points above the reading of the third quarter in 2020.

“Demand for remodeling remains strong, and remodelers are doing quite well as long as they can adequately deal with material and labor shortages,” said NAHB Remodelers Chair Steve Cunningham, CAPS, CGP, a remodeler from Williamsburg, Va. “So far, a substantial share of their customers have been willing and able to tolerate the extra cost and delays of requested remodeling projects.”

The RMI was changed in 2020 in response to a need to "improve its ability to interpret and track industry trends." Seasonally adjust quarter to quarter data cannot be compared due to the redesign. The quarterly data is gathered now by asking remodelers to compare the market conditions during the survey quarter as better, about the same or worse. Interestingly enough, 78% of those who answered the survey rated the current market about the same.

The Current Conditions Index also came up with an increase from 2020. The third quarter of 2021 averaged 90 which is a four-point increase from the third quarter of 2020. Each component compared had an increase. These components include large remodeling projects ($50,000 or more) rose six points to 86, moderately-sized remodeling projects (at least $20,000 but less than $50,000) increased five points to 91 and small remodeling projects (under $20,000) inched up one point to 91.

The Future Indicator Index was up seven points from the third quarter of 2020 at an average of 84 in the third quarter of 2021. The components measured in this index are the current rate at which leads and inquiries are coming and the backlog of remodeling jobs. The leads and inquiries rose to 83 points and the backlog rose to 85 points.

“We are seeing strong demand and continued optimism in the residential remodeling market, despite the fact that supply constraints are severe and widespread,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “For example, well over 90% of remodelers in the third quarter RMI survey reported a shortage of carpenters. And 57% of remodelers reported having slightly raised prices for projects over the last six months, with another 28% indicating a significant increase in price, due in part to higher material costs and ongoing strong demand. Half of these remodelers reported some pricing out of demand due to higher prices for remodeling projects.”

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Mile Branch Has Help Cleaning Up With New Abatement Project

 

Mile Branch is located in Covington and is one of the town's major streams that go into the Tchefuncte River. The Healthy Communities Grant has been given to Keep Covington Beautiful to help control some of the litter that ends up in and around the stream.

Keep Covington Beautiful is part of the Keep America Beautiful campaign and is designed to keep Covington clean and beautiful. The organization focuses on four major aspects which are beautification, litter prevention, recycling and education. This non-profit 501 c 3 organization strives to enhance and preserve the city of Covington with the help of its citizens. Projects include biannual planting of downtown's streetside planters, litter prevention, recycling activities and environmental education.

The $7,592 Healthy Communities Grant was provided to Keep Covington Beautiful by Keep Louisiana Beautiful. The goal of the Waterway Litter Abatement Project is to focus on litter clean-up and prevention by adding a litter boom.

The litter boom will be located in Mile Branch close to Pine View Middle School. It will catch floating debris while allowing wildlife, canoes and kayaks through by going over or under it. Once the litter is collected, the vegetative debris will be separated. Then the trash and recyclables will be separated and categorized by type, brand and age.

The Waterway Litter Abatement Project is not only funded by the Keep Covington Beautiful but is also partnered with Osprey Initiative. They want to stop the trash source before it enters in the larger local bodies of water.

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