Quote:
Originally Posted by IceCream
http://http://neworleanscitybusiness...t-attractions/
"The resurrection of the Audubon Hotel on lower St. Charles Avenue is no longer a rumor. A team of developers, including former 2nd District Assessor Claude Mauberret, is redeveloping the property at 1225 St. Charles Ave. into a 28-room European-style boutique hotel with a high-end bar on the ground floor. The developers have not selected a ..."
WOOOT!!
SlidellWX, can you post the rest of the story...you seem to be the only one with a citybusiness subscription!
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Not the only one.
Neighbors hope Audubon Hotel renovations will bring tourists to area
Former Assessor Claude Mauberret is leading developers on the $1.9 million overhaul
POSTED: 02:23 PM Wednesday, April 20, 2011
BY: Richard A. Webster, Staff Writer
TAGS: Audubon Hotel, Bob Rue, Claude Mauberret, Debbie Strobel, Emeril’s Delmonico, Heirloom Furnishings, Nel Johnson, New Orleans Auction St. Charles Gallery, Prima Donna’s Closet, Sante Fe Tapas, Sarouk Shop Oriental Rugs
The resurrection of the Audubon Hotel on lower St. Charles Avenue is no longer a rumor.
(photo by Frank Aymami)
A team of developers, including former 2nd District Assessor Claude Mauberret, is redeveloping the property at 1225 St. Charles Ave. into a 28-room European-style boutique hotel with a high-end bar on the ground floor. The developers have not selected a management company to run the hotel but the room rates will run less than $200 per night.
The $1.9 million project is expected to be complete by the end of the year, Mauberret said. The difficult economy delayed work on the hotel, which has been shuttered since before Hurricane Katrina.
Debbie Strobel, owner of Heirloom Furnishings at 1400 St. Charles Ave., greeted news of the hotel’s comeback with relief. She called the blighted property a “huge eyesore.”
“The hotels that are open, their customers are coming in (her store). So obviously for the past several years, the Audubon’s customers have not,” Strobel said.
Nel Johnson, vice president of Prima Donna’s Closet, a clothing store across the street from the hotel, said tourists continually ask her about the building’s status.
“I had a couple in here just last week. They come to New Orleans at least once a year and they asked when they are ever going to do something with that hotel. It’s an awesome historic building,” Johnson said. “I can’t wait for it to open.”
The addition of another working hotel in
the area will help businesses, but lower St. Charles Avenue is plagued by far more problems than the empty Audubon Hotel, said Bob Rue, owner of Sarouk Shop Oriental Rugs. Business suffers because there is little in the area to attract tourists or locals.
After La Madeleine Café moved out of 1327 St. Charles Ave. following Katrina, the location sat empty for years until Sante Fe Tapas moved in before Mardi Gras.
At the corner of St. Charles and Melpomene avenues, the two-story building that was once home to Taqueros Mexican restaurant also has failed to find a steady tenant.
Emeril’s Delmonico is not open for lunch and New Orleans Auction St. Charles Gallery at 1330 St. Charles Ave. is closing at the end of April, consolidating operations to its main building at Magazine and Julia streets.
“I don’t get a lot of trade out of the KFC or the Popeye’s, which are the local gourmet delights. And there are not a whole lot of people living between Baronne and Claiborne that have any money,” Rue said. “If they shut down the stop light out in front of my shop, I’m dead. The stop light is one of the only things in the area that sells me rugs because people stop and look at the bait I got hanging on the door.”
Part of the problem that lower St. Charles Avenue struggles with is visual, Strobel said.
“Uptown is mostly residential, but we’re not, so we don’t have any mansions stuck between our buildings. That’s part of the charm. We have Wendy’s and Popeye’s and Office Depot. You have to spruce up the charm factor.”
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