DeGaulle Manor

DeGaulle Manor
Location	Algiers, New Orleans
Status	Vacant (closed 2012)
Units	364
Constructed	1964
Governing Body	HANO/Public Housing

The DeGaulle Manor, now Crescent City Gates, is a low-income housing complex in the Algiers section of New Orleans known for having a reputation for high levels of crime. For years the apartments stood vacant and was shutdown six years later due to deplorable living conditions. It later became a dumping ground for trash and in 2014, became a work of art as it was transformed into a graffiti display.

The apartments were built in 1964 with originally 411 units. It was privately owned before slum lords purchased the property. It was soon renamed DeGaulle Manor and switched to low-income public housing. There were 12 5-6 story mid-rise sprawling buildings on Sandra Drive, known as Bridge Plaza in the late 1960s and early 1970s with most of the residents being white. In The years that followed, the community was desegregated along with its public schools. The Black Panthers were the first to move into the apartments along with the African-American New Orleans Saints players. White flight caused the area to lose its property value. After whites moved out of the community, many African-Americans flooded DeGaulle Manor, leaving the other crowded housing projects in the 9th Ward and the overcrowded William J. Fischer Housing Development. The newly built Christopher Homes were also heavily populated by blacks as well. White New Orleans policemen avoided the area due to its increasing black population, resulting in neglect. Between 1970 and the present, no owner kept the property for more than seven years; and each time that it changed hands, the new owners made little effort to rectify the many problems that arose under the supervision of the previous owners. By 1995, only 364 units remained occupied as the rest were either abandoned or burned out. As the unoccupied units became crack dens, crime began to rise. In 2005 after Hurricane Katrina struck, 135 out of 364 units were vandalized. One hundred families still lived in the apartments until they were evicted on Thanksgiving. Johnson Properties Group purchased the complex and was able to renovate 160 units. In 2007, Common Ground Collective bought the property from Johnson Properties Group, renaming it the Crescent City Gates Apartments. Only a portion of the complex was opened at the time and was in poor condition with termites and rodents infesting the apartments. Crescent City Gates is now vacant and will be demolished and replaced by a new sporting complex. North of Crescent City Gates were the Christopher Homes, another run-down housing complex torn down in 2013.

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