80 Mixed-Income Apartments Coming to Historic Downtown Building

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

The fomer Pythian building at 234 Loyola Ave.

Developer Green Coast Enterprises, in partnership with the Crescent City Community Land Trust (CCCLT), has closed on the sale of the historic Pythian Temple building at 234 Loyola Ave., clearing the last hurdle in the way of development, reported Canal Street Beat.  Green Coast purchased the 105-year-old property from Johnann LLC for $4.8 million, a purchase price that includes a $3.78 million mortgage and securities agreement with Enterprise Community Loan Funds, an affordable housing lender.

The mixed-use project will feature 80 one- and two-bedroom apartments, including one floor of two-level loft-style units in the building’s former dance hall. The 10-story development will feature a mixture of market-rate and affordable units. The ground floor and mezzanine will offer 11,000 square feet of sub-dividable commercial space that will be built out to tenant specifications.

Green Coast will act as developer, project and performance monitoring manager. The development team also includes general contractor Landis Construction and architects Studio WTA.

Although the partnership only recently closed the sale, it officially launched redevelopment in late December 2013. The first phase involved removing the modern cladding and stabilizing exterior bricks to restore the property’s historic air.

The project will add much-needed affordable housing options to Downtown New Orleans, an increasingly popular residential submarket that has out-priced many residents. It will offer affordable housing to residents earning too much to qualify for subsidized housing but too little to afford downtown rents. The partnership expects many of its tenant will be employees of the nearby biosciences district.

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Image courtesy of Green Coast Enterprises