Week in Review, May 16-20: Aquarium Renovations, ‘Cajun Avengers’ and More

NEW ORLEANS — Work is underway at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, where a $34 million renovation will convert the old IMAX movie theater space into the new home of the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium. It’s the most ambitious upgrade of the attraction since it opened in 1990. The insectarium, formerly located in the U.S. Custom House at 423 Canal Street, closed its doors during the pandemic. At that time, the Audubon Nature Institute, which operates both facilities, announced plans to make a home for the bugs next to the fish at the foot of Canal. Audubon said it is spending $34 million on the interior renovation and an additional $7 million to upgrade entrances, landscaping and electrical systems in the adjacent Woldenberg Park. That money will buy approximately 17,000 square feet of new exhibit space constructed inside the existing walls of the Aquarium as well as an additional 2,500 square feet of the existing Aquarium breezeway space that will be enclosed. Plans call for the Aquarium entrance to move downriver. Insectarium exhibit galleries, including a butterfly pavilion, will be relocated to the building’s second floor. New technology-fueled exhibits will enhance the insectarium’s popular galleries.

Here are more of the week’s top business stories:

Affiliates of Certares Real Estate Management and HRI Hospitality said they will add two properties to their portfolio: the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Doheny Beach in Dana Point, Calif., and the Hilton San Antonio Hill Country in San Antonio. According to a press release, the 196-room DoubleTree Suites offers “luxurious all-suite accommodations, an outdoor pool, a 24-hour fitness center, 13,643 square feet of indoor/outdoor event space and two dining options. The 226-room Hilton features 55 guestroom suites, three heated outdoor pools and a 24-hour fitness center. The three dining options include the Spur Texas Kitchen & Bar, a grab-and-go café and a seasonal pool bar that also hosts weekend cookouts. The property boasts 13 event rooms totaling over 12,640 square feet.” The purchasers said both hotels will undergo comprehensive renovations to their public spaces and guest rooms. Dana Point will be rebranded after renovations are complete in 2023.

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The Woodmont Company, in partnership with the Criterion Fund, has acquired Village at Northshore, a 144,638-square-foot retail center located at 105-115 Northshore Boulevard in Slidell. The Village at Northshore is anchored by Marshalls, JoAnn’s, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Boot Barn and Dollar Tree. The Woodmont Company is a national real estate firm specializing in the development, acquisition, management, leasing and sale of retail properties. It said it owns, manages and/or leases more than 23 million square feet of shopping centers throughout the United States. For Village at Northshore, the company will begin immediately on an extensive marketing and leasing campaign, seeking to further activate the center by bringing in desirable retailers and restaurants.

Hancock Whitney Corporation participated in the Nasdaq opening bell ceremony to open the stock market on Monday, May 16 at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square. John Hairston, the bank’s president and CEO, led the ceremony alongside bank board members and executives. “The last time we visited Nasdaq in May 2018, we were celebrating a landmark moment in the history of our company as we transitioned from Hancock Holding Company to Hancock Whitney Corporation,” said Hairston at the event. “Today, we are glad to be here again to celebrate two corporate milestones. … Not only did we celebrate 10 years since the merger of our two grand banks (Hancock Bank and Whitney Bank), we also marked 30 years of being traded on the Nasdaq exchange.”

Greater New Orleans Inc., the regional economic development nonprofit organization, and more than 10 southeast Louisiana parish presidents are working together to lobby the federal government to make changes to the National Flood Insurance Program’s new Risk Rating 2.0 pricing methodology, which they say will cause rates to rise (in some cases, steeply) for nearly 90% of Louisiana homeowners. Representatives of the group, which GNO Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht has jokingly dubbed the “Cajun Avengers,” will fly to Washington, D.C. in early June to make their case. Hecht said there are two major problems with the new system: it’s not transparent enough and it’s too expensive.

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