After years of delay, construction is underway on River House, a mixed-use development at 1480 Nicholson Drive on the site of the old Prince Murat Hotel. Developers Emanuel “Manny” Organek and Marc Blumberg announced they have broken ground on the project, which will include 224 luxury apartments within two four-story buildings, a 4,600-square-foot community clubhouse, 15,000 square feet of retail space and a 34,000-square-foot office building.
The River House was originally approved by the Planning Commission in 2009 but was delayed because of the recession and, more recently, a change in the financing plan for the project. Federal HUD dollars were originally going to be used, but last year Blumberg decided to go with conventional bank financing instead.
The River House is not to be confused with the River District, a much larger mixed-use development also planned for Nicholson Drive. The developer of that project, Lafayette businessman Michael Moreno, was dealt a blow in early July, when lenders sued him for defaulting on a $58 million loan and filed a motion to seize his River District property.
Blumberg says the fate of the River District and any other projects along the Nicholson Corridor are unrelated to his project, which he believes will benefit from nearby downtown developments and also the 36-acre Water Campus, planned for River Road.
First NBC Bank in New Orleans is the main lender on the project; Clark Construction of McComb, Mississippi, is the contractor; New Orleans-based Humphreys and Partners is the architect; and Ty Gose of Latter & Blum is the leasing agent.
See renderings of the project here.
