Velvet Cactus deal signed following resolution of site troubles

Nearly five months after signing a purchase agreement, two New Orleans restaurateurs have closed on their $900,000 deal to acquire the vacant building on Old Hammond Highway that formerly housed the renowned Chalet Brandt gourmet restaurant and, more recently, Another Broken Egg Café. That clears the way for Herb Dyer and Rusty White—owners of The Bulldog bars on Perkins Road and in New Orleans—to redevelop the property and build on it a new 4,000-square-foot restaurant called The Velvet Cactus. “The property is going to be totally redeveloped because the building is functionally obsolete,” says Mark Hebert of Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate, who represented Dyer and White. “The kitchen is outdated, and everything about it is inappropriate for a restaurant today.” Negotiations over the transaction stalled earlier this year because of a cell phone tower on the site that would have impeded the redevelopment. Hebert says the lot was subdivided so the tower is no longer on the property. Slated to be completed in 2013, this will be the second Velvet Cactus location for Dyer and White; they opened one early this year in New Orleans’ Lakeview neighborhood. —Stephanie Riegel