THE PINK UNICORN CHARIOT LEADS A BRASS BAND
TO CELEBRATE GRAND OPENING OF BYWATER ART LOFTS

NEW ORLEANS, LA (June 4, 2009)Preceded by a resident-created pink unicorn chariot, the brass marching band led a second-line procession Thursday evening June 4 to mark the grand opening of Bywater Art Lofts, HRI Properties latest restoration project at 3725 Dauphine Street.

A crowd of more than 300 enjoyed food from Bywater BBQ, wine and cheese from Bachannal and entertainment from a classic collection of vinyl 45s by DJ Pasta.

Art was the prevalent theme, with a gallery of paintings by residents on view in the public exhibition space of Bywater Art Lofts. In addition, individual residents opened their doors to display their work inside their personal apartments, some of which surround the central atrium and some open to the street.

In addition to the static art displays, residents also staged a number of live performances ranging from standup comedy to solo guitar.

HRI CEO and co-chairman Pres Kabacoff hailed the opening of Bywater Art Lofts as the first phase of his vision to transform the St. Claude corridor into the downtown equivalent of the Magazine Street corridor. He also singled out the support of the Louisiana Housing Finance Authority for its vision to provide funding for catalytic projects like Bywater Art Lofts that have the potential to transform entire neighborhoods like Bywater.

Opened as the Rex Garment Factory in the 1930's, the building had fallen into disrepair and sat vacant for decades after the factory's closure. HRI's renovation, which began in December 2007, transformed the building into a fully occupied thriving artist community containing 37 apartments, of which 31 are one-bedroom units and six are two-bedroom residences.

The building amenities include: a gallery for exhibition of residents' creations; a business center equipped with computers, creative software applications and a large flat-bed scanner; audio/visual presentation equipment; and community space designed for performances and exhibitions.

The Bywater Art Lofts officially opened in December 2008 and was fully occupied by March of 2009. Its resident community covers a broad variety of artists talented in music, spoken word, culinary and visual art, carpentry, glass, film, welding, pottery and poetry.

The project integrates a number of creative additions to the original building complex. The project architect salvaged the large fans that once sat in the clerestory windows of the old factory to cool the sewing area. The old window fans were incorporated into the fence design to create an interesting re-use of elements from the building's past.

Total development cost of the Bywater Art Lofts was approximately $10 million, funded through the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency and MMA Financial.

Woodward Design+Build served as the design-build contractor for the renovation, with design service provided by the team of HCI Architecture, a subsidiary of HRI Properties, and Rozas-Ward Architects. Interior design was led by Michael Albracht, all under the supervision of HRI project manager Josh Collen.