For close to 15 years, the Holiday Inn at Chef Menteur Highway and Interstate 10 has sat vacant due to damage from Katrina. Many locals think of the old building as a sore thumb to the New Orleans East landscape. The building has been renovated into an apartment complex that is focused on middle-income workers.
Developer Peter Gardner purchased the old building in 2017 for $475,000 and spent over $10 million to redevelop the building into a Midcentury Modern apartment complex. There are 144 units that rent for less than $900 a month. These apartments are there for civil servants, professionals and service-industry workers. A tenant will need to earn around $40,000 a year to be able to afford the $900 a month plus utilities.
The 15-month renovation included gutting the 54-year-old building and reconfiguring the rooms into two two-bedroom units and the remaining one-bedroom units. Each unit is equipped with quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, high-end finishes and balconies with a view of the skyline. The ground floor will have two commercial spaces, an event venue, community room, fitness facility, pool and patio area.
“It’s what I call naturally affordable, which means market rate. That is something New Orleans is lacking. Everyone is building for the wealthy or the poor. No one is building for everyone else. This is for everyone else, says Gardner.
“There is no question we need housing in that price point and in every price point. And we need people who are committed to meeting the needs of the average New Orleanian,” says Andreanecia Morris, executive director of Housing NOLA.
