NEW ORLEANS – Nov. 18, 2008 – A major New Orleans building has been acquired and those involved are hailing it as confidence in New Orleans and in Louisiana.
201 St. Charles Place, LLC, a limited liability company affiliated with the Dallas-based Haberman Group, has acquired Place St. Charles, a 52-floor office tower in downtown New Orleans.
The building’s purchase was completed Nov. 18. 201 St. Charles Place will assume the existing loan for the property, which is currently serviced by Wells Fargo Bank.
"I want to commend the Haberman Group for their commitment to New Orleans, its business community and the state of Louisiana,” said Governor Bobby Jindal. “While tough economic times sweep across much of the country, Louisiana's economy continues to outperform the nation's, and we are certainly pleased that outside investors, such as the Haberman Group, are demonstrating their confidence in our economy and taking notice of the major reform efforts we have undertaken to overhaul our ethics system, cut taxes on businesses, and invest in the success of our workers. Today's news is just the most recent sign that Louisiana is not just open for business, but we are competing to become the best place in the world for businesses to invest, grow, succeed, and create jobs."
“As it is written in the Bible, ‘where there is no vision, the people perish.’ We believe in Governor Jindal’s vision for Louisiana and share his opinion that New Orleans has a bright future with an environment that is friendly to business and innovation. We also look forward to working successfully with Mayor Nagin and the City Council. We want to be a part of that future and enhance New Orleans’ most beautiful office tower into a state-of-the-art commercial building,” said Brook Haberman, principal of 201 St. Charles Place, LLC.
Place St. Charles features 1,004,000 total square feet of Class A office space, including 58,000 square feet of retail space and 10 floors of parking. Corporate Realty, Inc. of New Orleans handles all of the leasing for Place St. Charles.Bennett Davis is the leasing broker assigned to the property for Corporate Realty.
The building was acquired from an investment partnership led by Loeb Partners Realty LLC and J.S. Karlton Company.
According to Haberman, his company became interested in investing in New Orleans after hearing a presentation by Tulane President Scott Cowan outlining the city’s progress following Hurricane Katrina.
“Much has been made about the rebuilding challenges facing the city. We believe that the spirit of the people of New Orleans will meet these challenges and emerge as a new center for commerce and culture in the South,” said Haberman. “In fact, the vision and passion of President Cowan and other New Orleans leaders about the future of the city was reminiscent of Benjamin Franklin’s comment about a carving of the sun on the armchair of George Washington during the Constitutional Convention 200-plus years ago. Franklin reportedly said ‘I have often looked at that behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now I... know that it is a rising...sun.’ New Orleans is rising.”
“The purchase of Place St. Charles demonstrates that New Orleans remains an attractive market for investment even in the face of fluctuating markets nationwide,” said Michael J. Siegel, executive vice president of Corporate Realty, who represented the seller in negotiations.“Place St. Charles maintains strong occupancy and remains a centerpiece in the city’s downtown commercial real estate base,” said Siegel.
"The investors have made this significant financial commitment to this state and area significantly motivated by the leadership of the state by Governor Jindal. Until his election, they had not been to Louisiana during their lifetime.His leadership gave them the confidence needed to invest here. It is a remarkable tribute to our new state leadership, especially given challenging credit markets and the highly conservative investment atmosphere.They only undertook this after significant due diligence, and, though they have other investments throughout the United States, this is their first in Louisiana.The state and city can be proud to have attracted this kind of successful savvy investor, especially at this place and time,” said Anthony M. DiLeo, a local attorney and advisor to 201 St. Charles Place.
Place St. Charles was completed in 1985 and quickly became the leading office building in downtown New Orleans.Place St. Charles's prestigious tenant base is anchored by Capital One Bank; Jones Walker Waechter Poitevent Carrere & Denegre, LP; Energy Partners; Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC; JP Morgan Chase; Gordon Arata McCollam Duplantis & Eagan, LLP.
Designed by Mathes Brierre Architects of New Orleans and Moriyama & Teshima Architects of Toronto, the building features unrestricted views of the French Quarter and the Mississippi River and an unsurpassed package of amenities such as retail, financial, food service, hotel and concierge services.
