10 Jul Top Permits issued in the New Orleans area, July 10, 2023

// Article originally appeared in New Orleans City Business on July 10, 2023

Prior to the Fourth of July holiday, permits were issued to 921 Canal Street for continuing renovations to guestrooms, corridors, and a lounge area refresh. With a planned completion for late 2023, these upgrades are the latest in a slew of upgrades being performed at the Ritz-Carlton. In 2021, the hotel debuted its newly-renovated spa, a 25,000-square-foot retreat regarded as the largest in New Orleans. Built between 1908 and 1909, the property was first conceived as housing an indoor shopping center, theatre, and hotel, though only tenant Maison Blanche would become synonymous with the Canal-fronting behemoth. With additional access on Dauphine, Burgundy, and Iberville Streets, the site served as Maison Blanche’ flagship location, with neighboring Krauss, Godchaux’s, and D.H. Holmes department stores dotting Canal Street. An expansion in 1958 took Maison Blanche’ footprint to 565,000 square feet, a size unheard of in today’s market. Although the advent of the suburban shopping center would impair these retailers (Lakeside Shopping Center having opened in 1960), 921 Canal Street serves as a physical reminder not only to the past, but to prolific reuse. Maison Blache’ closure in 1998 facilitated opportunity for Ritz-Carlton to utilize the Beaux Arts’ structure in a manner in keeping with the luxurious nature for which it was built.

In Jefferson Parish, renovation and remodeling permits were granted to 4200 Houma Boulevard. Formerly known as East Jefferson General Hospital, the health care provider was acquired by LCMC in October of 2020, joining, at the time, Touro, New Orleans East Hospital, University Medical Center New Orleans, Children’s Hospital, and West Jefferson General Hospital. First opened in 1971, East Jefferson was a 250-bed, thoroughly modern hospital, whose continued growth throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s encouraged the development of Houma Boulevard into medical uses. Interestingly, EJGH’s foundation coincided with a strong population growth period that Metairie has not seen since. At its opening, the hospital was predicted to max out at 1,000 beds. At the time of its acquisition, the hospital was, and is still, housing 420 beds. Its sale is representative of a larger shift in a slowing incidence of individually-run hospitals in favor of health care systems. Among its initial improvements, LCMC facilitated the inclusion of new emergency generators, updates to HVAC systems, MRI machine, and the integration of EJGH into an online platform. Work slated for 2023 includes updates and expansion to the emergency department, including its emergency room bays, among other more consumer-facing areas.

Though filed in September, permits were approved for 2630 Vespasian St. in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans’ Westbank. If LSU’s recent College World Series win was not enough of an indication, the popularity of baseball across the state continues to proliferate. Skelly-Rupp Stadium is one of 44 public baseball fields across the New Orleans MSA, overseen by the New Orleans Recreation Development Foundation (NORD). The 2022 high school baseball season was upended in part by the discovery that many city-owned baseball fields were going unmaintained and unplayable, with those in Algiers, Gentilly, and Hollygrove in need of the most renovation. Overgrown with grass, and the site of an eagle’s next, Skelly-Rupp Stadium, nestled at the corner of Vespasian Street and Shirley Drive, is the only public baseball field on New Orleans’ Westbank. Built in 1990, Skelly-Rupp Stadium was contemplated as a potential temporary location for the New Orleans Zephyrs (subsequently, the Baby Cakes), though the team would instead designate UNOs Privateer Park (and after, the Shrine on Airline) as their home field. The repairs, funded by FEMA and Hurricane Katrina insurance funds and city bonds, will result in upgrades to batting cages, bullpens, restrooms, concessions stand, press box, scoreboard, as well as the actual stadium and field themselves. To see this project announced and permits granted is a major win for the Westbank and the City as a whole, which truly deserves to see its public parks system supported and maintained.

Commentary courtesy Elizabeth Novit, associate – retail sales and leasing. She can be reached at enovit@elifinrealty.com or 847-370-1362.

Permits:

Orleans Parish

TOP COMMERCIAL PERMITS

• $22.4 million, 900 Convention Center Blvd, Central Business District, Lower Garden District, Interior renovations, Aecom Usa
• $8.23 million, 2529 General Meyer Ave, Behrman, Renovation (structural), Concordia LLC
• $7.6 million, 921 Canal St, Central Business District, Interior renovations to guestrooms and corridors, Gootee Construction Inc
• $4.64 million, 2630 Vespasian St, Behrman, Repair work to ballpark facility to be code compliant and accessible, Battco Construction and Maintenance Inc.
• $2.21 million, 422 Gravier St, Central Business District, Renovation of existing 3 & 4 floor office buildings for hotel use, J.W. Drennan LLC

TOP RESIDENTIAL PERMITS

• $1.25 million, 4 Newcomb Blvd, Audubon, Lower house to remove raised basement plus renovations, M. Carbine Restorations
• $1 million, 6023 Prytania St, Audubon, Renovation of existing 3 story main house, Chevalier Contractor Co Inc
• $700,000, 5107 Pitt St, Uptown, Change Out two 4-ton electric HVAC systems, C Anderson Construction
• $553,399, 506 Jackson Ave, St Thomas Dev, New construction of 3,577 SF single-family home, 500 Jackson Avenue LLC
• $353,000, 3638 Trafalgar St, Fairgrounds, Construct new two-story wood frame house, Wesley Pfeiffer

Jefferson Parish

TOP COMMERCIAL PERMITS

• $5.42 million, 4200 Houma Blvd, Metairie, Commercial remodeling/renovations, The Lemoine Company LLC
• $1.89 million, 10931 Jefferson Hwy, River Ridge, Commercial addition, Allstar Premier Homes
• $1.5 million, 7008 Veterans Memorial Blvd, Metairie, Commercial remodeling/renovations, Parkway Construction & Associates LP
• $1 million, 3301 Veterans Memorial Blvd, Metairie, Commercial remodeling/renovations, Management Resource Systems INC
• $1 million, 3850 N Causeway Blvd, Metairie, Commercial remodeling/renovations, Keto Construction Group LLC

TOP RESIDENTIAL PERMITS

• $1.2 million, 513 Arlington Dr, Metairie, Residential new single-family, Hotard General Contracting INC
• $524,680, 728 Hesper Ave, Metairie, Residential new single-family, SAF Construction LLC
• $360,180, 4029 Barataria Blvd, Metairie, Residential new single-family, Billy Cozad
• $360,000, 1508 Colapissa St, Metairie, Residential new single-family, Great Southern Real Estate Development LLC
• $357,864, 701 Homestead Ave, Metairie, Residential new single-family, Nelson Clayton Homes LLC

St. Tammany Parish

TOP COMMERCIAL PERMITS

• $197,093, 72360 Hwy 41, Pearl River, Remodel, Hahn Enterprises INC
• $0, 37424 Dolph Gaines Rd, Pearl River, Seasonal commercial permit, Jeffery Crossland
• $0, 280 Howze Beach Rd, Slidell, Mobile food truck, Tee’s Catering & Co LLC
• $0, 68400 James St, Mandeville, Temporary commercial permit, Kent Design Build
• $0, 190 Greenbriar Ste 105, Covington, Commercial permit, Dr. Michelle Haggar

TOP RESIDENTIAL PERMITS

• $1.25 million, 1376 River Club Dr, Covington, Single family, Stoop Construction LLC
• $905,000, 27 Greenbriar Dr, Covington, Single family, West Custom Homes
• $637,327, 75 Hummingbird Rd, Covington, Single family, Riverside Homes
• $600,000, 1189 Delta Ln, Covington, Single family, DLK Homes
• $600,000, 208 Corella Ct, Covington, Single family, Jaco Construction

Permit data courtesy ELIFIN, which can be reached at 800-895-9329.