Robert Lay, founder of New Orleans-based RiseImpact Capital, has purchased the former St. Theresa of Avila Church at 1401 Erato Street in the Lower Garden District and plans to convert the nearly 7,000-square-foot building into the firm’s permanent headquarters. Lay bought the property from St. Theresa of Avila Parish Inc. earlier this month in a transaction whose sale price was not disclosed. He said he expects to spend up to $3 million in total on the acquisition and an extensive renovation of the historic structure.

The 178-year-old building has stood at the corner of Erato and Camp streets since the current church was completed in 1848, replacing a wooden chapel that the Sisters of Charity had originally built on the site in 1839. Over the past half-century, the parish served as a center of religious life for New Orleans’ Honduran community and other Spanish-speaking Catholics, hosting a Spanish-language Mass through its final years of operation. The Archdiocese of New Orleans closed the parish in 2024 as part of a broader consolidation of underperforming churches citywide.

RiseImpact Capital, which Lay founded eight years ago, specializes in buying and selling tax credits used to fund historic renovations and other qualifying projects. The firm also invests in and develops multifamily real estate nationally. Lay said the decision to acquire a historic church and restore it using the same state and federal tax credit programs his firm brokers daily was a deliberate expression of RiseImpact’s core business. “It was time to practice what we preach, and if we’re doing historic tax credits, we should be working out of a historic building,” he said.

The renovation will be designed by architect Ken Gowland of New Orleans-based Metro Studio. The scope of work is extensive: a full overhaul of the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems; new bathrooms; refinished floors; restored stained glass windows; and repainting of all interior surfaces. The design places workspaces in the former nave of the church. Lay said the building’s relatively straightforward interior — less ornate than many historic churches — makes it well-suited for an office environment. He is also working to find a new home for the church’s pews and organ.

Lay plans to relocate his team of approximately 10 local employees from current offices at 400 Poydras Street in the Central Business District to the Erato Street property early next year. The conversion adds to a small but growing list of adaptive-reuse projects in which former New Orleans churches have been repositioned for commercial use. It also marks a private-sector vote of confidence in the Lower Garden District’s Camp Street corridor, a stretch that has seen steady reinvestment in recent years as the neighborhood has attracted a mix of residential, office, and hospitality tenants.

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