"Two Lafayette businessmen bought the former Archdiocese of New Orleans office building on Howard Avenue in 2022 with plans to convert the mid-century midrise to a hotel or short-term rental complex.
But 18 months later, those plans have stalled and the city has slapped the new owners with nearly a dozen code violations for allowing the 12-story building to deteriorate.
...some members of the local real estate industry aren’t surprised the project ran into trouble, given the high costs of borrowing money and converting old buildings into new uses.
“We’re kind of in that mode where it is not feasible to develop or redevelop much, even if you can get tax credits,” said Bush Benton, a local commercial real-estate appraiser with Stegall, Benton, Melancon and Associates. “It is a challenge with high interest rates and construction costs.” "
https://www.nola.com/news/business/n...fccd62504.html
Unfortunate, but given the state of the industry right now, not surprising. I think it will be a few years before we see anything get built that doesn't have a significant amount of public subsidy. And this is more of a national issue, not just a NOLA issue.