The former World Trade Center building in New Orleans is considering offers from five developers for potential hotel openings on the site. The vacant 33-story hotel tower is up for a long-term lease.
Woodbine Development, Monday Properties and Ve proposed a $228-million renovation for a 318-room Hotel Alessandra targeted at younger, affluent travelers. The hotel would have 240 luxury apartments serviced by the hotel, upgrades to the ferry terminal and Spanish Plaza, a new Louisiana Maritime Museum and a Kermit Ruffins jazz lounge.
New Orleans real estate developers Darryl Berger, Joe Jaeger, Roger Ogden and Norman Francis proposed a 300-room, $291 million Hilton brand. The space would include 120 apartments, retail space aimed at tenants such as Apple or Cartier, a restaurant and valet-only parking with 127 spaces in a building annex and contracted off-site spaces.
HRI Properties plans to use its subsidiaries, HRI Lodging, HRI Management, and HCI Architecture to manage a proposed Crescent Hotel and Crescent Tower, oversee the apartments and design the project. The Crescent Hotel would operate under Starwood's Luxury Collection.
Carpenter and Co., a Cambridge, Mass.-based real estate firm, would be master developer on a promosed Four Seasons hotel. The 350-room Four Seasons hotel would have 76 hotel-serviced apartments, a public observation deck, and a "New Orleans: History at the Confluence of Cultures" visitor attraction.
Lastly, Oxford Capital Group proposed a $257 million, 516-room Godfrey Hotel with 166 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, a jazz club on the 31st floor, a rotating lounge and event space on the top floor and a new five-story building with parking, a ballroom and more retail, restaurant and entertainment venues.