BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
EXECUTIVE PLAZA
A New Orleans East
Landmark
Gowri Kailas
Towering above the surrounding landscape
at the busy intersection of Read
and Lake Forest boulevards stands the
11-story Executive Plaza Building, a
New Orleans East landmark.
The building, which is almost fully renovated after sustaining
extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina, is open for business and
seeking new tenants to set up shop in its spacious offices and suites.
Work is nearly complete on the 2,600-square-foot NOLA Skyline
Event Center on the top floor, over 100 feet high with breathtaking
views in all directions - from the downtown New Orleans skyline
to Lake Pontchartrain to the marshlands of St. Bernard Parish.
By Breakthru Media Staff
The room will soon be ready to start hosting events, according to
the building’s management team.
The renovation and repurposing of Executive Plaza has been
accomplished through the diligent and determined efforts of its
owner, Gowri Kailas who, along with his equally diligent staff, is
committed to the revitalization of New Orleans East which was hit
hard by flooding and wind damage from Katrina in 2005.
Kailas, a native of Hyderabad, India who arrived in the U.S. on
the day of the first moon landing – July 20, 1969 – came to New
Orleans in 1989 and three years later he purchased the Executive
Plaza. At the time, he said, “This building was in pretty distressed
condition with only 28 percent occupancy.” However, with renovations
to the building, which dates to 1974, and aggressive marketing
efforts, occupancy soared to 90 percent within a few years. It
remained at that high level until Katrina hit, Kailas said.
Initially, the water from the storm and its aftermath rose to about
30 feet, swallowing up the first two floors of the building before
diminishing to four feet where it remained for about three or four
months, Kailas recalled. In addition to the water damage, the storm
also caused broken windows and other evidence of destruction.
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