The Baton Rouge-based owners of a long-vacant building on Carondelet Street Uptown are asking the city for permission to demolish the structure to make way for five, new single-family homes.
The request is an about-face from an earlier plan, filed in the spring of 2023, by Broad Theater owner Brian Knighten, who wanted to buy the building and convert it to an indoor entertainment venue with an arcade, restaurant and bar.
That plan, and a purchase agreement Knighten had on the building, fell apart earlier this year, after neighbors raised concerns about parking, traffic and noise.
Building owner James Brown III, who does real estate development and construction, said the latest plan is more in keeping with what he and his partners originally intended when they purchased the building in 2022.
“But market conditions started to change and then, we got an offer and his plans seemed interesting,” Brown said. “But that didn’t work out.”
Brown said it’s too soon to say specifically what housing on the site might look like. But that the plan would be for no more than five, custom-built homes.
“We still working through the process, but we’re optimistic about the location and think there will be a lot of demand, especially if interest rates come down a little.”
Knighten, who opened the Broad Theater in 2016 and the adjacent Broadside, an outdoor entertainment venue, in 2020, did not return calls seeking comment.
Quiet family neighborhood
The Carondelet Street building, located between Constantinople and General Taylor streets, was originally built as a post office in the 1960s. It closed in the early 2000s, as the U.S. Postal Service shrunk its footprint amid declining usage and rising costs.
More recently, the Neal Auction Company leased the site, though it has been vacant for a couple of years.
Neighbors say they welcome a return to commerce on the nearly half-acre site, which includes a building that takes up most of the 3900 blockface of Carondelet Street and a parking lot that runs halfway down Constantinople Street.
But they sounded the alarm, when Knighten began engaging them in early 2023 about his plans for the site, described in documents as “a place for families to gather, play arcade games and duckpin bowling … with a small kitchen and bar to provide light fare.”
In a letter to the City Planning Commission and District Council member Lesli Harris earlier this year, resident Kristin King said an arcade and sports bar “does not belong in a quiet, family neighborhood,” and that it would hamper efforts to reduce crime and organize neighborhood cleanups.
A former Neal Auction building sits under blue skies on Carondelet Street in New Orleans Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (Photo by Matthew Perschall, The Times-Picayune)
Delachaise Neighborhood Association President Donna Robertson said Knighten was “very gracious and accepted all the feedback and withdrew his conditional use permit.”
But she said she couldn’t comment on Brown’s latest plans because they hadn’t seen them.
“We’re always interested in parking so without knowing what is planned for parking and density, it would be premature for us to take a position,” she said.
Waiting for demand
District Council member Lesli Harris said she likes the concept and thinks it would be a good use for the property.
“I’m supportive of any creation of new housing, especially in areas where infill is needed,” she said.
Brown said there’s no timeline yet for building the new houses. Because they will be custom-built, getting started cannot happen until there is demand from buyers.
“I think once we get the lot cleared and people can see what’s there, there’s going to be a lot of interest in it.”