Renovation has begun on the Hyatt Regency New Orleans, a hotel that became a familiar symbol of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction.
The $275 million project is aimed at reopening the hotel in the fall of 2011, when the once-storm-mauled area around the Louisiana Superdome will be fully restored.
The 31-story hotel, which has been closed since the 2005 storm, was purchased in 2007 by Poydras Properties Hotel Holdings for $32 million. Poydras includes a subsidiary of Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corp.
All 1,193 rooms will be renovated, along with 53 suites. A redesign calls for 200,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space, two restaurants, two bars and a coffee bar.
