Historic Tax Credits

St. John’s Masonic Apartments (Opelousas Apartments)

August 7, 2017 by

Freemasonry occupies a storied place in American history, representing an influential subset of the body politic: fraternal social organizations independent of any political or religious authority. St. John’s Masonic Temple, located within the Algiers Point National Register Historic District in New Orleans, documents that neighborhood’s participation in the surge of Masonic Temple construction that occurred throughout the United States in the 1920s. Its completion in 1926 coincided with other Masonic initiatives throughout the city, including the erection of the impressive, twenty-story Grand Lodge of Louisiana headquarters at 333 St. Charles Avenue (now a hotel).

St. John’s both evidences Freemasonry’s impact upon New Orleans and serves as an excellent example of the spare, art deco-influenced neoclassicism of the 1920s. Here, Sam Stone’s design is notable for the intricate brickwork of differing bonds executed for decorative effect, a principal element of the handsomely-finished exterior that is, overall, almost completely unaltered from its original appearance.

By the time the New Orleans Redevelopment Fund acquired the building in 2014, its use as the gathering place for a fraternal organization was decades in the past. The Masons vacated 620 Opelousas after World War II; it subsequently served as a neighborhood post office for many years. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the building was acquired for conversion into multifamily housing, but the development stalled after the completion of much interior demolition, the insertion of new wooden framing and MEP elements, and the addition of interior steel stairs.

NORF hired Crescent Growth Capital to provide contingent fee-based historic preservation consulting and historic tax credit monetization services, in support of its $3.6 million redevelopment of St. John’s Masonic into ten market-rate apartments.

Crescent’s in-house historic preservation specialist prepared a four-element Historic Preservation Certification Application over a thirty-month period, submitting Louisiana State HPCAs in conjunction with the federal application parts. Part 3 approval was received on April 28, 2017, with state historic tax credit monetization accomplished by Crescent and tax credit sale proceeds delivered to NORF in July.

For the second time in nearly as many years, Crescent Growth Capital’s historic preservation consulting work was honored by the Louisiana Landmarks Society, as Opelousas Apartments received an Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation in 2019.

National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor

July 29, 2016 by

French Ursuline nuns first arrived in New Orleans in 1727. The Ursulines established a convent and founded Ursuline Academy, the oldest continuously-operating school for young women in the territory of the modern-day United States. With the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, New Orleans became part of the culturally Protestant American nation. It was unclear to the Ursulines whether their institution would be welcome within the young republic, and they appealed to their French metropole for assistance. With France in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars, the Louisiana Ursulines were told only a direct appeal to the pope – with scant chance of success – might bring them aid. A direct appeal was issued, accompanied by a promise to the Virgin Mary that she would be honored in New Orleans under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor should the pope quickly return a favorable response to the Ursulines’ plea. The Ursulines’ request for assistance was granted by Pope Pius VII on April 29, 1809, just over a month after the letter of appeal had been mailed. The grateful Ursulines had commissioned a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus; this was conveyed to Louisiana, arriving in 1810, along with several additional Ursuline postulants for the convent and school. The Catholic Church attributes several miracles to Our Lady of Prompt Succor, most famously the victory over the British of the American army under General Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans (1815).

When Ursuline Academy relocated to its present campus in 1912, the Ursulines determined to construct a purpose-built shrine to Our Lady of Prompt Succor. In the wake of a successful fundraising campaign, the Gothic Revival National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor was dedicated in 1924.

The shrine is L-shaped (in plan) and clad in brick with limestone trim. The principal façade presents as a narrow, single bay, dominated by a tall stained glass window trimmed in limestone and divided into three vertical elements by two stepped stone piers springing from a protruding entrance portico. The front-gabled portico, clad entirely in limestone, rises to a decorative peak. An archivolt spans the recessed main entrance, with entry into the shrine afforded via carved wooden doors. Empty statuary niches capped with peaked canopies anchor the outside of the portico, and stepped brick piers flank the outside edge of the front elevation. Blind porticos executed in limestone rise from the steps, with empty statuary niches above. The other four principal elevations are dominated by large stained-glass window installations, trimmed in limestone and separated from one another by protruding, stepped brick-clad piers with limestone caps. A copper-clad spire rises from the roof at the intersection of the legs of the “L.” A one-story wing extends from the north elevation, while an octagonal turret is nestled in the crook of the “L”.

The Gothic Revival interior consists of two principal spaces, the two arms of the “L”. The first extends from the main entrance and features galleried side aisles, while the second is a column-less space. Extensive interior ornamentation is executed in limestone and brick.

The construction of the shrine within the Uptown-University neighborhood fits squarely within that area’s development history, as its completion was preceded by Tulane University’s move to its present campus, the nearby arrival of the Jesuit order, in 1912, with the establishment of Loyola University’s current location, and the subsequent construction of numerous additional public and private institutional facilities. The shrine not only contributes to the architectural fabric of the Uptown-University district; it also a key component of the historic Ursuline Academy State Street campus and underlines the prevalence of educational and cultural uses found within the Uptown-University Cultural District, a concentration unique in the state.

In recent years Crescent Growth Capital has repeatedly helped Ursuline Academy leverage its capital projects fundraising to generate tax credit subsidies, and in March 2013, Crescent was approached by the Ursuline Sisters to provide contingent fee-based historic preservation consulting and historic tax credit monetization services in support of a $2.2 million rehabilitation of the shrine.

Crescent Growth Capital’s in-house historic preservation specialist prepared a three-element Louisiana State Historic Preservation Certification Application over thirty-one months. Part 3 approval was received on May 17, 2016, with credit monetization accomplished by Crescent and tax credit sale proceeds delivered to the Sisters of Ursula in July.

The Celestine (Hotel Maison de Ville)

July 22, 2016 by

Very few structures within New Orleans’ French Quarter predate the two fires, in 1788 and 1794, which destroyed most of the early building stock of the city. The circa 1800 service wing of 727 Toulouse appears to be one of the oldest structures still standing in New Orleans. It retains numerous features characteristic of dependencies constructed within New Orleans’ period of Spanish Colonial rule (1763-1803): brick masonry construction of solid walls without framing on the 1st floor, topped with a heavy timber, brick-between-posts effort on the 2nd floor, wooden balcony with simple wooden railing, the balcony covered by an extension of the roof unsupported by columns, unadorned bracket design and an interior devoid of corridors. The service wing’s front elevation is also individually noteworthy due to its step-back, accomplished by an attractive curve in the exterior masonry wall. The structure’s significance has long been recognized, as it was the subject of an Historic American Building Survey project in 1936.

The ground floor of the main house on the property is approximately two decades younger than its dependency. First mentioned in 1822, the main house documents an evolution typical of French Quarter properties throughout the 19th century. In the mid-1800s, the house was the residence of Antoine Amede Peychaud, inventor of the Sazerac cocktail. Sanborn Fire Insurance maps confirm that as late as 1885, the main house was 1 and ½ stories in height, with a five-bay ground floor topped with a side-gabled roof possessing two dormers facing Toulouse Street. Not long thereafter, the main house acquired a full second story; the 1896 Sanborn map depicts a 2-story structure now dedicated to commerce. “2nd-hand furniture store” is the listed business, and the service wing was used at that point as a stable and for storage. The late-19^th century addition exhibits Eastlake detailing, with the new second story Toulouse Street façade sporting six bays of uniform dimension, occupied by four-over-four windows characteristic of the time, in turn allowing for access to a balcony finished with an elaborate cast iron railing.

By the mid-20^th century, the property was being operated as the Hotel Maison de Ville, an intimate, twelve-room establishment widely recognized as one of the gems of New Orleans’ burgeoning hospitality sector. New ownership committed to a $2.1 million rehabilitation in 2010, and Crescent Growth Capital was retained the following year to provide contingent fee-based historic preservation consulting and historic tax credit monetization services.

Crescent’s in-house historic preservation specialist prepared a seven-element Historic Preservation Certification Application over a prolonged redevelopment period lasting a full five years, submitting Louisiana State HPCAs in conjunction with the federal application parts. Part 3 approval was received on April 28, 2016, with state historic tax credit monetization accomplished by Crescent and tax credit sale proceeds delivered to 727 Toulouse, LLC in July.

Now beginning its third century, 727 Toulouse is today operating as The Celestine, an acclaimed, ten-room boutique hotel in the heart of the French Quarter.

The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery

February 23, 2016 by

Arguably America’s most unique city, New Orleans often triggers in its visitors demand for equally unique lodging options. When New York-based GB Lodging and its partners opted to acquire the Ambassador Hotel in 2013, they intended upon retaining its unconventional elements while updating its décor and amenities. The relaunched hotel, dubbed the Old No. 77, situates upscale, contemporary lodging within an inimitable collection of 19th and early-20th century buildings.

GB Lodging hired CGC to apply for and monetize the state historic tax credits generated by this $33 million project. Directed by the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation to prepare four sets of historic preservation certification applications – reflecting the past commercial associations of the six individual buildings comprising the Old No. 77 – CGC secured eligibility for state credits and approval of the proposed design without any conditions attached.

Shepherding the project through the Louisiana Department of Revenue’s exacting review process, CGC had over $11 million classed as Qualified Rehabilitation Expenses. CGC marketed the resulting credits and secured an above-market price for its client, who received nearly $2.3 million in sale proceeds in February 2016.

Cermak Fresh Market at The Fields

September 16, 2015 by

Originally built in 1874 by Walter E. Olson as the manufacturing mill for the Olson Rug Company, 4000 West Diversey quickly became “the place” to buy rugs in Chicago. In 1935, Walter Olson brought in more than 800 tons of stone and 800 yards of soil to build Olson Memorial Park, and its centerpiece, the Olson Waterfall. Named as one of Chicago’s Seven Lost Wonders by the Chicago Tribune (August, 29, 2005), Olson Waterfalls and Rock Garden was one of the most beloved family attractions in the City until it closed in 1971.

In 1965, Marshall Field & Company purchased 4000 West Diversey and reopened the facility as a massive department store. In 2005, the warehouse was sold to Macy’s, Inc., as part of its purchase of Marshall Field’s, and the warehouse spent three years as a home for one-off sales, before being shuttered in 2008.

In 2014, 6 years after the building had closed, its ownership began drawing up plans for a a multi-phase redevelopment of the Marshall Field’s facility. The first phase of this redevelopment included a 68,000 sf Cermak Fresh Market grocery store on the first floor, which would serve as the anchor, catalyzing further development. Founded in 1986 by Dimitrious “Jimmy” Bousis and his late partner Pantellis Tzotzolis, Cermak Fresh Market has grown from a single 2,500 sf Central Park Produce store to 11 full-service grocery stores, including the recently-completed store in Milwaukee, WI, the operator’s first outside of Illinois. The family-owned business enjoyed early success by catering to the Puerto Rican community in Chicago’s Humboldt Park area. As it grew, the grocery chain broadened its focus to serving all of Chicago’s various ethnic communities and today, Cermak Fresh Market is a full-service international grocery store.

On September 16, 2015, Crescent Growth Capital and Cermak Fresh Market closed on a stacked $7.5MM State/$6MM Federal NMTC structure, using Illinois State NMTC allocations from the Southside Community Optimal Redevelopment Enterprise (SCORE) and the Valued Advisor Fund (VAF), and Federal Allocation from SCORE. The NMTC financing provided the necessary funds to renovate a portion of the first floor for Cermak Fresh Market, and the combined State and Federal NMTC subsidy drastically reduced Cermak’s cost of capital, substantially improving the prospects for the new store.

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