Roosevelt Hotel, New Orleans, LA

The lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel after Hurricane Katrina, ca. 2006


Roosevelt Hotel, New Orleans, LA

 

Lobby after rehabilitation, 2009

 

Hotel and Hospitality Rehabilitation

The Roosevelt Hotel New Orleans

Rehabilitation of Historic Hotel Damaged by Hurricane Katrina

 

LOCATION

New Orleans, Louisiana

DATE BUILT

1908 and 1925

DEVELOPER

First Class Hotels LLC

COMPLETION DATE

2009

TOTAL REHABILITATION COST       

$145 million

FEDERAL HISTORIC TAX CREDITS     

$29 million
OTHER FUNDING SOURCES

Louisiana State Historic Tax Credits

 

 

PROJECT OVERVIEW

 

MacRostie Historic Advisors served as the historic preservation consultant to First Class Hotels LLC in the rehabilitation of the storied Roosevelt Hotel, which was a fixture in downtown New Orleans for over one hundred years before being shuttered after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Known as "The Pride of the South" for its luxurious appointments, the hotel housed United States Presidents, kings and queens, world leaders, and entertainment superstars; the Roosevelt is also believed to have served as the inspiration for Arthur Hailey's best-selling novel Hotel. In the golden era of supper clubs from the 1930s to the 1960s, the hotel's legendary Blue Room nightclub played host to some of the biggest names in show business as well as to an elaborate floor show. Hurricane Katrina flooded the hotel with ten feet of water that destroyed all of the building's mechanical systems; wind gusts and wind-driven rain severely damaged much of the interior.

 

The $145 million rehabilitation project, which represents one of the largest private investments in downtown New Orleans, restored the hotel's ornate public spaces, including a splendid block-long marble lobby, the Sazerac Bar (which opened in the hotel in 1949), and the Blue Room. MacRostie Historic Advisors has worked closely with the project team to develop a scope of work compatible with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and has secured the necessary approvals from the State Historic Preservation Agency (Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation) and the National Park Service.

 

In summer 2009, The Roosevelt New Orleans reopened as a Waldorf-Astoria Collection Hotel. The refurbished hotel now has 504 rooms - including 135 luxury suites - and offers signature fine-dining and cocktail venues, 60,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, and a 12,000-square-foot, world-class spa and fitness center.  The Sazerac Bar will once again be serving its signature Sazerac Cocktails and Ramos Gin Fizzes.

 

Click here to read an article on the Roosevelt's rehabilitation from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.


 

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