Crescent Growth Capital, LLC
Structuring project financing to incorporate tax credit equity.
New Orleans-based Ryan Gootee General Contractors received the Alliant Build America Award from the Associated General Contractors of America for their redevelopment of the former Myrtle Banks Elementary School building.
Follow this link to read the more about the award and Ryan Gootee’s work at Myrtle Banks.
On April 15, 2015, Myrtle Banks, New Orleans Military & Maritime Academy, Carver Theater, and the Tulane School of Social Work received the Louisiana Landmark Society’s Excellence in Historic Preservation award, which recognizes outstanding examples of restoration or rehabilitation of historic buildings.
In FY 2014, the National Park Service approved 1,156 projects and $5.98Bn in rehabilitation work, creating an estimated 77,762 jobs.
On Wednesday, a groundbreaking ceremony marked the beginning of the 12-month construction of the new NOCCA Forum.
The Times-Picayune, July 7, 2011
Standing in the art deco entryway of the iconic Saenger Theatre, Gov. Bobby Jindal on Thursday signed a pair of bills that extend tax credits for the restoration of certain historic structures, including the Canal Street performance venue.
“These historic tax credits will help us to revitalize and save this heritage of historic buildings for our children and the future,” said Jindal, who was flanked by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, state lawmakers and members of the New Orleans City Council.
Completing a massive reconstruction of the Saenger, which opened in 1927 as a vaudeville playhouse before morphing into New Orleans’ preeminent movie palace, hinged largely on the authorization of Senate Bill 63 by Sen. Ed Murray, D-New Orleans.
“Had that piece of legislation not passed, this project probably would have shut down,” Landrieu said.
The measure extends through 2016 a program that provides income and franchise tax credits worth 25 percent of the cost of restoration projects in downtown development and “cultural products districts.”
Developers in March halted work on the $45.8 million Saenger project after investors expressed concern that the tax credit program, which had been slated to expire Dec. 31, would not be renewed. Builders are counting on about $8 million in historic credits to restore the theater, which has been shuttered since it flooded after Hurricane Katrina. City Hall has earmarked another $13 million in block grants for the job, with investors chipping in the balance.
In light of the uncertainty, private lenders requested that all transactions related to the project be halted until the tax credit issue was resolved.
Confident that Jindal and state lawmakers would support the extension, the city agency overseeing the renovation agreed in mid-March to advance the Saenger team $1.1 million to ensure the swift resumption of work. Landrieu publicly backed the move by the board of the Canal Street Development Corp.
Developers anticipate closing on the entire financing package by October, with the theater expected to open in late 2012, mayoral spokesman Ryan Berni said. Officials expect the advance payment from the development corporation to be repaid, he said.
Fifty-five projects worth an estimated $291 million — and carrying $73 million in associated tax credits — are pending under the tax credit program, state documents show. Since it began in 2002, 124 projects have been awarded more than $135 million in tax credits.
Those projects have generated more than $650 million in investment statewide and created 11,000 construction jobs and 5,700 permanent jobs, Jindal said.
“Analysts tell us that for every $1 we invest in this program, we generate $3.22 in economic activity and revenue,” he said.
Jindal on Thursday also signed House Bill 348 by Rep. Walt Leger III, D-New Orleans, which extends to 2016 a similar tax credit program for owner-occupied residential properties. The measure lowers from $20,000 to $10,000 the minimum qualifying rehabilitation cost and increases the credit rate to 25 percent for most projects and 50 percent to the restoration of blighted properties that date back at least a half-century.
Jindal cast the bill as a blight-fighting tool, and Brad Vogel of the local office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation called the residential tax credit “crucial” to continuing rebuilding efforts.
“As different neighborhoods pick up steam, it will help to make renovation a more viable option,” he said.
The Times-Picayune, June 6, 2011
A historic and dilapidated former Algiers school is getting new life with plans to convert the long vacant building into apartments for senior citizens and the disabled.
The former Belleville School, portions of which have been in disrepair for decades, is set to undergo a $13 million renovation to create 52 assisted-living apartments. Construction could be complete by February, said Sean Arrillaga, a vice president for St. Luke’s Living Center in Algiers, one of the partners in the renovation deal.
Most apartments will be about 550 square feet, which Arrillaga said is larger than the current market average.
The group closed on the school site at 813 Pelican Ave in May, and demolition of the interior has begun, he said. Arrillaga declined to identify the other investors in the project, but said the project will qualify for state and federal historic tax credits, along with new markets tax credits.
The group decided to renovate the Belleville School because of the surrounding neighborhood, Arrillaga said. He called Algiers Point a “quaint, historic neighborhood.”
Cecelia Hemelt, who will be the administrator of the 56,000-square-foot property, said the neighborhood is a good fit.
“We really liked the location and the community of Algiers Point,” she said.
Hemelt said the apartments will be geared toward residents 55 and older or high-functioning disabled people. There will be a director of nursing on duty during the day and several aides there around the clock. All rooms will have handrails and other amenities to provide easier access.
Belleville School’s current makeover as an assisted-living facility is just the latest twist in its saga, which includes several failed redevelopments in the past two decades. The school has been vacant since 1987, and through the years developers have envisioned it as condominiums, a hotel and spa, and, in 1989, apartments for senior citizens and the disabled. The main structure of the school — a three-story, red-brick building — was completed in 1898, and wooden annexes were built in 1907 and 1925.
Skip Gallagher, the president of the Algiers Point Association, said the group is excited to finally see some action occurring at the school site after years of watching the building deteriorate. He said an assisted-living facility is one of the best uses for the building, and he doubts it will be a large drain on parking in the surrounding neighborhood, which was a concern of some residents. Gallagher said it would have been far worse if the abandoned building continued to be a blight on the Point.
“For the most part, we’re encouraged by it,” said Gallagher, adding that it’s great to see a historic building salvaged instead of demolished by neglect. “The biggest concern we had was that it wouldn’t happen. That would be criminal.”