Hancock Whitney Center - 701 Poydras Street

[ChannelTwoNews]

I mentioned the move of Shell from this location in the River District thread but it seems like another large tenant is leaving the building. Harvey Gulf is moving its offices to Metairie.

 

This has caused some concern for future leasing within this building.

https://www.fox8live.com/2023/09/16/real-estate-experts-call-move-2-big-businesses-devastating-blow-cbd/

"With two large businesses pulling out of the high rise, experts said there is a 40% vacancy at the Hancock Whitney Center.

“It’s going to take a long time to absorb that, that big of a footprint,” Louisiana real estate analyst Arthur Sterbcow said.

Sterbcow said he doesn’t foresee any large businesses of the same size moving into the region.

“Anything’s possible. But we have not been really attractive. Unfortunately, our tax laws are not as competitive,” Sterbcow said.

Sterbcow said the departures will impact property value for surrounding landlords. He expects some retail rates and rental rates in the region to stabilize or come down a bit."

[strickn]

One possibility for the CBD would be as described in my summary of this article which itself just summarizes an article:

 

https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/office/universities-gobbling-up-office-buildings-in-a-bid-to-expand-footprints-at-a-discount-120959

"Dozens of schools are picking up vacant office buildings, making the most of the sector’s pain by increasing the size of their campuses and real estate portfolios at a low price. 

...

The acquired buildings often need renovations, but these improvements are typically less expensive and time-consuming than constructing new buildings from scratch, per the NYT.

...

Colleges and universities buying up buildings vacated due to the rise in hybrid work are unlikely to make a major dent in office woes. The nation’s office availability rate sits at 24%, per Savills, up from 17% before the onset of the pandemic.

'It stands out because almost nothing else is happening on the office market,' economic historian and author Dror Poleg told the NYT.

...

[when they're truly nonprofit, they] usually don’t pay taxes on academic buildings and dorms, so the properties they acquire could slide off the tax rolls. But some elected officials don’t mind, as the sales can bring foot traffic and employment to downtown areas in need of a boost, per the NYT."