Historic New Orleans Hotel Lands $46M Refi

Maison Dupuy hotel. Image courtesy of Sonnenblick-Eichner

The New Orleans Hotel Collection LLC, owner of the New Orleans hotel Maison Dupuy, received $46 million of interim first mortgage financing that will be used to refinance the boutique hotel.

The owner of the five-story 200-key hotel, located at 1001 Toulouse St. in the French Quarter of New Orleans, will use the loan to pay off its existing debt and to renovate the property including guest rooms, common areas and restaurant and meeting spaces. The loan, secured by Sonnenblick-Eichner Company, is a five-year non-recourse LIBOR-based loan that was provided by AllianceBernstein, an asset management company.

The hotel is known for its historic character, as it was the site of the first cotton press in the country. The property was later converted to hotel use in the 1970s, eventually opening its doors in 1973 just before the area’s commission banned future hotel development in 1975.

The hotel features on-site dining restaurant Bistreaux that offers local cuisine sourced from local fisherman. Maison Dupuy also includes a 4,000-square-foot interior courtyard, an outdoor heated swimming pool, cabanas, a fitness center, a business center, 65 underground parking spaces and more than 4,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space.

Elliot Eichner, a principal at Sonnenblick-Eichner, said the hotel attracted several competitive financing quotes but ultimately went with AllianceBernstein.

REVIVING NEW ORLEANS’ HOTELS

Patrick Brown, another principal at Sonnenblick-Eichner, said they have a lot of experience in the New Orleans market. They previously arranged $29.2 million in financing for the Old 77 Hotel at 535 Tchoupitoulas St. in 2018, $13.5 million for Hotel Mazarin at 730 Bienville St. in 2014, and $42 million in financing for the DoubleTree by Hilton New Orleans in 2012.

Not limited to New Orleans, Sonnenblick-Eichner has also secured refinancings for hotels throughout the country, including a $27 million refinancing of a California hotel and a $50 million refinancing of a Seattle hotel.