When it opened in 1911, the Whitney Bank Headquarters was the tallest building in New Orleans at a skyscraping 14 floors.
A hundred years later Whitney merged with Hancock in 2011 and eight years after that Whitney has abandoned its former headquarters to take up residence in the 51-story Hancock Whitney Square on Poydras and St. Charles.
Now the former headquarters building has been sold to developers Mike Wampold and Lenny Lemoine.
The Times-Picayune/Advocate reports the storied old ediface will be remade inside into a luxury hotel with high end residences as well.
The building has a half-million square feet of space to work with as the main building and adjacent six other structures, all associated with Whitney at one time, take up the block fronting portions of St. Charles, Gravier, Camp and Common Streets.
It's likely a high end hotelier will be selected to run the hotel which will occupy the first eight floors of the structure. The top six floors will house the equally high end residences. Developer Wampold says the lower floors will also feature restaurants and retail.
The conversion from office building into hotel and residences will like cost in the hundred million dollar range.