Mardi Gras and gumbo have always been synonymous with the Big Easy, but these days so is an education system that's among the best in the US. New Orleans is also now the No. 2city for tech jobs and in the top seven for startups, according to Stirling Properties CEO Marty Mayer--whom we snapped last week in Vegas at ICSC. Katrina woke the local biz community up, he tells us, making them realize this city is where they're from,their brand. To that end, three years ago, Stirling--a suburban Louisiana regional and power shopping center developer--acquired the 680k SF Pan American Life Center office Downtown New Orleans, and last summer, it opened a two-level Fresh Market in a 150-year-old funeral home in the city. There's even more up Marty's sleeves.

Marty, who started painting a few years ago in a studio he'd built for his art teacher mother, calls the above Meditation, inspired by the need to go deeper to find calm. Other works of art coming up: In July, Stirling will host the grand opening of the the city's first retail development, the $30M, 107k SF Mid-City Market, fully leased to tenants like Winn-Dixie and Office Depot. And this fall, the company will break ground on Magnolia Market, 160k SF of junior-box retail at Claiborne and Toledano streets (apartments are already up there). Five years ago, the site was crime-ridden public housing, and now look what's happening, Marty says.