Uptown Commercial Historic Development Now Complete
Ground Floor Fully Leased to Four Commercial Tenants, with DEVENEY as Anchor Tenant
(NEW ORLEANS) – October 19, 2022 – The historic mixed-use redevelopment of 1733 Constantinople Street is now complete and offers a new destination in the active Baronne Street corridor in Uptown New Orleans.
The 11,600-square-foot, two-story building is adjacent to Martin Wine Cellar and features four commercial tenants. DEVENEY, a full-service marketing agency, is the anchor tenant at 1733 Constantinople Street. The three remaining commercial tenants face Baronne Street and include:
· Zee’s Pizzeria, now open at 3914 Baronne St.
· Lucy Boone Ice Cream, coming soon at 3916 Baronne St.
· Sol Cura, hair & skincare, slated for this fall at 3920 Baronne St.
The newly revitalized building offers a variety of space and sizes for commercial use on the ground floor, created with the goal of providing an Uptown home for local, growing companies, as well as four residential apartment units on the second floor. Genevieve Douglass and Henry Shortess at SVN | Urban Properties exclusively listed the retail units in the development.
“Assisting the owners of this building with their vision for the redevelopment and helping to bring it to life, was such a rewarding project,” said Genevieve Douglass, the leasing agent for SVN | Urban Properties. “We wanted to provide a mix of public-facing businesses to drive traffic to the block and cater to the neighborhood residents. It was a great opportunity to showcase a revered marketing leader and give three other outstanding local businesses their first brick-and-mortar locations and a storefront for their patrons to visit.”
The building was originally a theater built in 1917, and local architecture firm, CICADA, and general contractor, Perrier Esquerré Contractors, brought this historic property back to life after being out of commerce for more than a decade. This new development contributes to the vibrant Milan neighborhood, situated across from Beth Biundo Sweets, and in between two nearby and noteworthy hotel renovations, The Chloe and Columns.
“Part of our agency’s culture and history is restoring deteriorated historic property (starting in the Garden District 25 years ago, then the Faubourg Marigny, then Magazine Street in the Lower Garden District) and contributing to the economic strength of its neighborhood,” said John Deveney, president of DEVENEY. “DEVENEY is proud to contribute to the incredible renaissance of the Baronne Commercial District in the Milan neighborhood of New Orleans. Embracing the remnants of memories past has made for an inspiring workspace that cultivates creativity and collaboration.”
Commercial Real Estate Firm Expands Its Property Management Team
New Orleans (August 17, 2022) – SVN | Urban Properties, a commercial brokerage, property management and development firm, is pleased to announce it has hired Keith Gross as a Property Manager.
The newest addition to the firm, Gross will support the Property / Asset Management team by managing all aspects of the firm’s daily property management operations, which includes the oversight of 25 properties, totaling more than 550,000 square feet across six Louisiana Parishes.
“Keith is the perfect fit to lead the expansion of our property management business, which started in 2019 with one property and has rapidly grown through the pandemic,” said Mike Bucher, partner and managing director of the firm. “Our clients value our detail-oriented approach to property management, and Keith’s background in construction and project management will enable us to enhance the property management services that we offer.”
Gross comes to SVN | Urban with a very diverse professional background. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Central Florida in 2010, he worked as a financial analyst as well as costuming project specialist for The Walt Disney Company until 2019. Since 2020, Gross has focused primarily on construction and property management in the New Orleans area. When not at the firm’s coworking space, Urban HUB, his hobbies include traveling, outdoor activities and sports, and spending time with his family and friends.
Henry Shortess & Carly Ibach - 2022 Excellence in Construction & Real Estate honorees
Announcing the 2022 Excellence in Construction & Real Estate honorees
Architects
Keith Barre’
Blake Bergeron
Justin Greenleaf
Kristine Kobila
David M. Lachin Jr.
Javier Marcano
Vanessa Schneider
Erik Wismar
Commercial Real Estate Agents
Carly Ibach
Gordon McLeod
Henry Shortess
Melissa S. Warren
Developers
Matthew Altier
Vanessa Levine
Thomas Richards
Engineers
Mary Schambeau Johnson
Johann Palacios
Morgan Rongey
Estimator
James P. Christovich
General Contractors
Jace Kuhlmann
Bryan Masters
Ryan D. Mayer
Barry J. Siegel
Lending/Bonding Agent
Remi Bourque
Project Managers
Stephen Abadie
Travis Bernhard
Sean Chaney
Max Ferran
Casey Ginder
Kevin Sprehe
Pat Thomas
Bill Tomasak
Residential Real Estate Agents
Delisha Boyd
Kristen Boyd
L. Bryan Francher
William “Buddy” King
Margaret Brady Maxwell
Linda Nguyen
Rodney Nugent
Jiarra Rayford
Jeri Wheeler
Katie Witry
Rising Star in Construction
Dane Landry
Charlie Ward
Tom Weathers
Rising Star in Real Estate
Scott Matthews
Justin W. Thibodeaux
Subcontractors
Marc Cordes
Ben Gootee
Dwayne Hammer Sr.
A special Excellence in Construction and Real Estate insert profiling all honorees will run in the July 15 issue of CityBusiness.
Tim Thompson Honored with Crexi's Platinum Broker Award 2022
Tim Thompson recently received the Platinum Broker Award 2022 from Crexi.
$822M Texas transaction includes 2 New Orleans hotels
Texas real estate investment company Summit Hotel Properties is adding two downtown New Orleans hotels to its growing portfolio.
The publicly-traded company, based in Austin, has acquired a dual-branded Marriott hotel located at 1600 Canal St. in a building that previously housed offices for the University of New Orleans. The company also plans to purchase a Canopy by Hilton that is expected to open this year in the former Oil & Gas Building at 1100 Tulane Ave.
The Canal Street hotel sold for $31 million earlier in January, according to Orleans Parish conveyance records. The 13-story building reopened as a hotel in 2018 after undergoing top-to-bottom renovations.
A 74-room SpringHill Suites occupies floors two through six, and a 105-room TownPlace Suites extended-stay property is on floors seven through 13. The two brands, both operated by Marriott International, share amenities including a single lobby, registration desk, breakfast area and ground-floor bar. Both are managed and operated by the same entity and staff.
A notable feature of the property, built in the 1960s, is its rooftop, which was transformed into a multi-use area overlooking Canal Street and the Caesars Superdome with an outdoor bar, exercise room and guest laundry area.
Documents filed with the city show a construction value of $15.86 million for the roughly 131,000-square-foot renovation. The purchase was recorded on Jan. 14.
“The announcement reinforces our optimism about the outlook for our business and validates our unique ability to source and pursue a broad range of capital alternatives and external growth opportunities given our strong liquidity profile, well-positioned balance sheet and overall resilient portfolio,” said Jonathan Stanner, Summit Hotel Properties’ president and CEO, in a statement.
The seller is Dallas-based hotel developer NewcrestImage, and the purchase was part of a much larger acquisition by Summit Hotel Properties of properties in NewcrestImage’s portfolio. The initial closing included 26 of the 27 hotels held by NewcrestImage, totaling 3,533 guestrooms, two parking structures and other financial incentives.
The remaining hotel to be acquired by Summit is the Canopy by Hilton when it opens in the former Oil & Gas Building. The company expects to close on the transaction in the first quarter of this year, according to a news release. The 176-room hotel will have a Cajun/Cantonese restaurant named Ginger Roux, helmed by chef Jonathan Hostetler. A meeting space with a terrace balcony was also in the development plans.
The acquisitions total $822 million and will make NewcrestImage one of the largest shareholders of Summit Hotel Properties. The dual-branded Marriott hotel and Canopy by Hilton are the only New Orleans-area hotels that are part of the purchase.
The acquisitions bring Summit’s total number of properties to 101 in multiple states. Summit also owns three other Marriott hotels in downtown New Orleans and two in Metairie that were purchased for $135 million in 2013.
The transaction follows a string of high-profile purchases in New Orleans over the past six months.
New Orleans hotelier Joe Jaeger sold the 220-room Bourbon Orleans at the corner of Bourbon and Orleans streets in July to Maryland-based investment firm DiamondRock Hospitality Company for $81 million. Jaeger sold the Whitney Hotel at 610 Poydras St. to Mississippi native Robert Thompson in December for $16.9 million. Thompson also acquired the Frenchmen Hotel for an undisclosed sum in June.
Tyler Robinson, an agent with New Orleans commercial real estate firm SVN | Urban Properties, represented Thompson in both deals. He said it’s not uncommon for owners and operators to sell a hotel property, like the dual-branded hotel, a few years after being placed into service, but Hurricane Ida slowed these deals.
Robinson said he’s seen occupancy rates for leisure travel rise in the city even with some COVID-19 mandates still in place. Leisure travel, he said, rebounds quicker after economic downturns, and he expects business travel to increase later in 2022.
“That does not go unnoticed by all the investors out there,” he said “I think the hospitality sector will stay robust, and we will see this trajectory continue this year and into next year.”