Benson Tower*
Metairie, LA
Rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina involved more than merely building upon the ruins. The city required a return of jobs, housing, and that particular New Orleans esprit de corps to wipe away the memories and start afresh.
The Benson Tower project was a part of an overall strategy to transform the area around the Superdome into a sports and entertainment district that sparked other much needed investments in downtown New Orleans. The tower itself was a key catalyst for the improvements made to the Poydras corridor.
Benson Tower provides 368,000 square feet of office space for the State of Louisiana. Additional space is being leased to other tenants, including Ochsner, a health system serving south Louisiana. The project achieved LEED certification.
The project has turned a blighted and shuttered area in an extraordinarily critical part of downtown New Orleans into a beautiful and economically vibrant district that is not only crucial to the New Orleans tourism and sports/entertainment industries, but also to the day-to-day vitality of the downtown New Orleans economic and employment base.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
Quick Facts
Total Development Costs: $82,995,195
Square Footage: 487,760 square feet
Developer: Tom Benson
Tax Credit Investor: US Bancorp Community Development Corporation
NMTC Qualified Low Income Community Investment: $5,000,000 (Morgan Keegan CDE provided over $73 million)
Other Key Project Financing: Morgan Keegan CDE, USBCDC, MBS Urban Initiatives CDE
Construction Jobs: 752
Permanent Jobs: 1,660
Investment Date: December 2009
Opening Date: January 2011