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New Orleans Board of Trade events venue transformed

“Step into a venue where history meets modern elegance” is the marketing tagline for the renovated New Orleans Board of Trade, which operates as an upscale events venue for weddings, corporate parties, and special occasions. The venue hosted its first event in December 2024 after 15 months of construction and comprehensive renovations. Prior to the renovations, the Board of Trade operated as an events venue for the last several decades.

Located at 316 Magazine Street, the downtown building is an 1880’s iconic commercial landmark in New Orleans. It was originally known as the New Orleans Produce Exchange and was built to facilitate commerce, especially coffee. Over the following decade, the New Orleans Produce Exchange merged and took in various other trade organizations. In 1889, the newly expanded organization became known as the New Orleans Board of Trade.

“Given the extraordinary scale and grandeur of James Freret’s 1883 Produce Exchange, renamed the Board of Trade in 1889, our primary mission was to restore and preserve the history and architecture,” said Tim Frame, Senior VP of Design and Construction at The Berger Company. “Beyond that, our goal was to enhance the existing ballroom and exterior courtyards and create new auxiliary and support spaces, offering the customer a visually stunning backdrop that functions seamlessly for all types of events.”

Frame added: “Restoring a historic commercial building while adding modern conveniences and accessibility, and successfully blending new and old together, is a challenge but also an opportunity in a project like this.”

The Berger Company, a more than 50-year-old New Orleans-based real estate development and investment firm, is the owner of New Orleans Board of Trade. The Berger Company has redeveloped notable downtown landmarks, including the Windsor Court Hotel, the Westin Hotel, the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel, the Loews New Orleans Hotel, Jax Brewery Millhouse and Marketplace, Canal Place, and Hyatt Regency, to name a few.

New Orleans-based Joel Catering, founded by Louisiana native Joel Dondis in 1993, will operate and manage catering services at the New Orleans Board of Trade. Joel Catering is also behind Il Mercato, the Spanish-style event venue in the Lower Garden District. After purchasing and restoring the 1931-built landmark, the team reopened its doors in 2014, creating a space that won a Louisiana Landmarks Society Award for “Excellence in Historic Preservation.”

“With over three decades of experience, Joel Catering has set the standard for full-service event catering, handling everything from intimate weddings and private dinners to high-profile events for U.S. presidents and Fortune 500 companies,” said Frame.  

 

Joel Catering CEO Sarah Hall said the company is excited to “bring their signature culinary artistry and event planning expertise to the Board of Trade, ensuring the venue’s food and beverage experience is as remarkable as its setting.”

 

“Located in the heart of downtown and near the French Quarter, we provide a unique blend of convenience and historic charm,” said Hall. “With a grand façade, lush courtyards, and thoughtful interior design including many original architectural details, we offer a dramatic and timeless setting for any event.”

 

The venue is anchored by a 5,150-square-foot indoor ballroom and a 3,750-square-foot outer courtyard, located on Magazine St. For a cocktail style reception, the event venue can hold a maximum of 500 people, while seated dinners can hold a maximum of about 265 people. Hall said pricing is “tailored to reflect the time of year and specific needs of each event. We work closely with clients, and potential clients, to create customized events that align with their vision and budget,” she said.

 

The historical renovation was led by Metairie-based Ryan Gootee General Contractors, New Orleans-based Trapolin-Peer Architects, New Orleans-based Fransen Mills Landscape Architects, and Los Angeles-based J. Latter Design.

 

Matthew Buyer, architect with Trapolin-Peer, said the Board of Trade building was originally designed to be a large trading floor for commodities as the fluctuating market value of goods were chalked up along large blackboards around the main commerce hall and were exchanged upon by traders.

 

“Starting in the early 1900’s, the board members found more versatility in this building by hosting elaborate banquets and Mardi Gras balls,” said Buyer. “With this inherent flexibility, we want to continue the historic legacy that this building holds while modernizing its facilities to support a wider variety of events, such as weddings with in-house catering, branded corporate events, and fundraising galas.”

 

The renovation, which balanced historic restoration with modern requirements, included relocating the kitchen and restrooms to the south side of the building to eliminate a congested corner of the ballroom. The ballroom is no longer impeded by constant foot traffic and caterers have an upgrade to their space with a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen. Crews also installed an elevator, improved sound quality, added new lighting, renovated floors, increased event space, and refreshed the color palette, among additional improvements.

 

“I am most proud of the impact our work made to the existing space. It may appear like a simple facelift to finishes, but reorganizing the back-of-house areas has made a huge difference in the usability of the space,” said Katie Boyer, RGGC Project Manager. “Building a 1,180-square-foot commercial kitchen and installing a new elevator within the historic structure were not simple tasks, but the team’s dedication to quality and safety ensured these improvements preserved the building’s character. The modern interior design fits seamlessly between historic windows and historic plaster aspects, creating a beautiful space that’s inviting for photographing memorable moments.”

 

Boyer said RGGC’s biggest challenge was also its biggest motivation – the historic restoration. For example, crews maintained the original opening sizes of all the windows and doors while adhering to modern code. “For example, we needed to maintain an existing doorway with historic trim in the ballroom while introducing a grand stair entrance from the second floor,” she said. “It’s abnormal for stairs to flow through a door opening, so we worked closely with the design team and ownership on handrail details that met everyone’s needs.”

 

Also, three different roofing systems came together at a historic masonry parapet wall, said Boyer. “The details of renovating this area required significant attention and involvement from manufacturers, architects, and installers to meet HDLC (Historic District Landmarks Commission) requirements for aesthetics while maintaining the roofing systems’ integrity.”

 

Boyer said that during demolition, the RGGC team found historic photos of the Board of Trade building, which became inspirations for many of the design elements and allowed crews to honor the building’s historic character while incorporating modern upgrades. Key historic elements such as most of the original window and door openings were maintained, and some pieces of historic trim were handcrafted to blend with the aged appearances of adjacent surfaces.

 

“Upon removing the ballroom carpet, we discovered historic wood flooring beyond repair. We replaced it with new wood that matches the old profile and coloring,” said Boyer. “To accommodate the loss of sound absorption from the carpet, we installed acoustical plaster on the ballroom ceilings, including the large dome ceiling. This required a special lift to reach the top of the dome, while being light enough to avoid damaging the framing of the ballroom.”

 

The 5,150-square-foot ballroom boasts 35-foot coffered ceilings, ornate moldings, and original murals, all enhanced by custom lighting and white oak flooring. The Orangerie is one of the new spaces and is a petite room directly adjacent to the ballroom. With a custom mural and venetian chandelier, the Orangerie connects the ballroom to the inner courtyard through a wall of arched windows. The inner courtyard provides a retreat from the main festivities and has a view of the ballroom through its surrounding windows, along with seating and soft lantern lighting. There are private lounges on the second floor.



“The historic ballroom and large outer courtyard are innately the primary focal points of the plan and will be the draw for most visitors, however, we found opportunities to create smaller companion spaces that offer a reprieve from the excitement of the main events,” said Buyer. “These spaces were not thought of as just support for the ballroom, but destinations in their own right – a lush inner courtyard for an intimate specialty cocktail service, a rounded Orangerie to feature an elaborate wedding cake, two comfortable private lounges, etc.”

 

Buyer said the goal of the venue hosting up to 500 guests required significant modernization of the building systems and infrastructure to make it a comfortable gathering space. For example, HVAC ducts were integrated within custom millwork, acoustic plaster and fabric was designed to fit within existing trimmed paneling, and access to utility areas were built to be concealed by hidden doors.

 

“Given the historic nature of this building, care was taken to design these systems to be unseen and not distract from the historic detailing,” said Buyer. “Also, there was limited space to accommodate the overlapping program requirements of front-of-house and back-of-house spaces, along with ADA access throughout a historic building with varying floor levels. A secondary mezzanine was tucked between the stories, and public/service circulation was designed to weave around each other.”

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