The ArtWorks building near Lee Circle is up for sale once again. The $25 million, 93,000-square-foot building was built as a creative space for artists, but closed its doors 2 years ago after having financial trouble. Now, two groups are bidding to purchase the space.
"One is a consortium of Delgado Community College, some prominent restaurateurs, and UNO and Tulane," says reporter Tyler Bridges. "They want to turn the ArtWorks building into a culinary arts institute, particularly to have an executive chef program. Right now, if a high-end restaurant wants to train a chef, they have to send them out of the state."
The second proposal for the building comes from the Launch Pad, a business that provides office space and other support, mainly for technology start-ups.
"The Launch Pad guys say, 'Hey, we're the underdogs,' but perhaps something they have in their favor is that they say they want to return the ArtWorks building to its original concept: something that directly serves the arts community," Bridges says. "So they make the argument that their plan is more in keeping with the original ArtWorks building."
All bids are due on December 3rd.
Read more from Tyler Bridges about the ArtWorks building on The Lens.
