A growing cluster of restaurants, bars and redevelopment projects along Napoleon Avenue has drawn in two prominent New Orleans business figures, who are betting that an emerging Uptown corridor can support one of the city’s most ambitious new event venues.
John Georges and William Kearney IV have joined the ownership group of The Josephine on Napoleon, an event space housed inside the former Our Lady of Lourdes Church at the corner of Napoleon and Lasalle Street. The investment aligns them with Dickie Brennan & Co., the well-known restaurant group that earlier this year acquired a controlling stake in the project and is leading its operations.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Josephine occupies a striking, century-old church that has been vacant since Hurricane Katrina and has undergone a roughly $10 million transformation into a high-capacity venue for weddings, galas, corporate events and performances. Original developers David Fuselier and his sister Mimi Spiehler, who spearheaded the redevelopment, retain a 16% ownership stake following the Brennan group’s entry and the addition of Georges and Kearney…