The Après Lounge is a new cocktail and champagne lounge on Fulton Street. According to the owners, its the city’s first “ultra champagne/sparkling wine lounge”, designed to be an upscale ambiance with the “sexiness, elegance and excitement that you deserve.” Apres is going in at 608 Fulton Street, right near Ruth’s Chris, Aiden Gill, Mannings, and the new 18,000 sf Fulton Alley. Hopefully it doesn’t cater to the “roided up crowd” as one commentator so nicely put it.
Chanel at Saks Fifth Avenue – The Chanel store within Saks Fifth Avenue at Canal Place is undergoing some aesthetic renovations. Chanel filed a building permit last week. The work includes new ceilings, fixtures, flooring, HVAC, and electrical.
Prada at Saks Fifth Avenue – The Prada store within Saks Fifth Avenue at Canal Place is also undergoing renovations. Prada also filed a building permit last week. The work includes the general build out of their existing retail space, along with new signage.
A new restaurant called “The Franklin Restaurant” is going in at the corner of Dauphine Street and Franklin Avenue. The company behind it is 2600 Dauphine, LLC, which include entrepreneur Patrick Finney and real estate broker Michael Wilkinson. According to Curbed, they bought the property for $280,000 in 2012. Bockman + Forbes Design, the same group behind renovations at Broussard’s Restaurant, the Little Gem Saloon, and the Bouligny Tavern, is doing the design. Read more from our friends at Curbed.
C. Wonder to open store at Canal Place. This will be the first Louisiana location for J. Christopher Burch, Tory’s ex-husband. The high end store will open in February on the second floor.
Curbed reports that The New Orleans Advocate newspaper has plans to turn the former Michaul’s Restaurant and Cajun Dance Hall on St. Charles Avenue into their New Orleans headquarters. Billionaire Jon Georges purchased the building for $1.63 million last September. Georges also owns The Advocate. Full story from our friends at Curbed.