A Historical Restoration for Sale in New Orleans

 The historic Pythian Building located in New Orleans will be up for sale soon. Dr. Erik George, who bought out his partners, has given notice to tenants that they will shift to month-to-month renewals during the sale of the building. The building, located at the intersection of Loyola Avenue and Gravier Street is 115 years old. The building underwent extensive renovations costing around $46 million in 2018.

The future of the building will be in limbo until it is sold to the new owners. The McEnery Company who is listing the building says that the listing describes the property as a  “zoning-advantaged property is uniquely well positioned for a variety of repositioning scenarios, including hotel/STR.” Current residents in the building are surprised at the potential sale of the building.

“I am shocked. Nobody told us about it. But if it happens it happens, I just have to hope for the best,” said Dorotha Smith-Simmons who is a residential tenant.

Dr. George did explain, “As we work with a real estate broker to chart a path forward for the building, we continue to engage with the City and stakeholders to find a way to honor the affordable housing vision for the property.”

In 2018 when the building was renovated, it was a catalyst to building historic buildings in the area back to life. The building is in the perfect location, close to City Hall and on the edge of the Central Business District. The renovation made the building into a modern day retail, food-service, office and apartment units.

The affordable housing was set aside for twenty of the residential units which were one, two, and three bedroom units. The extensive renovations cost a lot of money and the developers, two separate developers, sued each other. Then the pandemic caused the food hall and event space to become a financial burden. The food hall tenant was evicted due to failure to pay over $2.5 million in back rent.

The 125,000 square foot structure is a perfect historical piece of New Orleans and will probably sell pretty quickly. In fact, there are several potential buyers that show interest already.

“It’s plug and play. All it really needs is a new management and rebranding and I think all that can be taken care of in pretty short order,” McEnery explains.

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The Age Most Are Purchasing Homes In The Current Market

 The average age for a first-time homebuyer is getting older.  On average in the U.S. a first-time home buyer is 33 years old and the overall average age of homebuyers is 47.  This data was first gathered in 1981 and current average ages are drastically higher. 

Each succeeding generation is seeing a drop in homeownership.  A current report found that between 1985-2020 homeownership rates  broken down by generation are 77.8% for Baby Boomers, 69.1% for Generation X and 47.9% for Millennials.  In terms of the real estate markets, the Millennials represent the major portion of homebuyers.

The change in the average age is due to several different factors.  Home prices continue to rise due to lack of inventory and student debt is now also adding to the expenses.   Mortgage rates are also shifting and are also adding to the problem especially along the coasts. Younger generations have gone to college and have college debt that is also making it difficult to save money for a down payment.

Since this is such a big generation, over the past five years we have seen a massive increase in the purchasing of homes.  New first-time homebuyers in their 30s outweigh those in their 60s.  In 1981 the typical homebuyer was at the average age of 31 according to the National Association of Realtors.

In terms of overall homebuyers 34% are first-time homebuyers.  Younger Millennials made up 81%  in the generational bracket, while 48% were older Millennials.  Even though older Millennials made up less of the Millennial homebuyers, they were the biggest generation of first-time homebuyers.

The bad news is that Millennials are perceived to have less money than the preceding generations. Generation X came in on top with $125,000 as the median annual household income, where Millennials were only $110,300 per year. Millennials are perceived as the most educated group with 84% having earned a bachelor’s degree from a four year college even though they are not the highest paid generation.

Sixty percent of homebuyers were married couples, 19% were single females, 9% were males and 9% were unmarried couples.  Baby Boomers were the highest group with 27% single female buyers.  For unmarried couples, the Millennials had the highest at 21%.  Thirty one percent of homebuyers had a child under 18 living at home.

If you are in the market to purchase a home, hire a real estate agent in your area.  Many homebuyers today are purchasing for investment to earn a passive income.  A Realtor can help you find the perfect home for investment due to the rise in rental income.

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