While the New Orleans metropolitan area is home to a variety of lodging submarkets, including the Central Business District, Warehouse/Arts District, Uptown, and Metairie, the 85-block French Quarter is the city’s premier “beachfront” destination. A defining attribute of all investment offerings within the French Quarter is the city’s legal restriction preventing the development of any new hotel keys within the boundaries of the French Quarter. Additional development challenges stem from a 50-foot height limit placed on all types of development within the Quarter. Further, the city’s Vieux Carre Commission aggressively and strictly enforces all architectural rules and restrictions, which has enabled this iconic cultural destination the ability to retain its unique, beloved atmosphere.

Despite pandemic disruption, hospitality investment activity in the French Quarter has remained active but limited relative to pre-2019 volumes. This is related specifically to the dearth of hotel stock in the French Quarter, and the fact that many existing owners widely are not contemplating sales. As such, equivalent opportunities to acquire these hotels, or similar lodging establishments are exceptionally limited. Recent hotel sales in the French Quarter include the Bourbon Orleans, Omni Royal Orleans, and the W French Quarter, all of which occurred in 2021.