Financing problems delaying plans to renovate Commerce Building

Architect Norman Chenevert says his plans to renovate the Commerce Building at Third and Laurel streets and turn it into a 117-unit apartment building are on hold until financing becomes available. “It’s not dead, but it keeps running into roadblocks,” he says. “I’m not going to let it die.” Chenevert and Chuck Rutledge, a New Orleans developer, are looking at turning the building into a mix of apartments, retail and parking. The goal is to offer market-rate housing for the state employees who work downtown and the young professionals who are interested in the area, Chenevert says. “We want to keep pricing at about $1.50 a square foot,” he says, but there will be some higher end rental units on the upper levels of the building. Chenevert says he has been negotiating with Bob Dean, who owns the building, and had an option to purchase the property. The project is estimated to cost $25 million and would involve gutting the Commerce Building and redoing the exterior. The national recession has made it difficult and expensive to finance projects like remodeling the Commerce Building. Providing more downtown housing has long been a goal of many city leaders, but it has been difficult to keep prices affordable. Chenevert, a member of the Downtown Development District board, says getting more downtown residents is the key to getting things like a grocery store or pharmacy in the area. “We’re still looking at different investors and sources of money,” he says.—Timothy Boone