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St. Vincent’s Guest House, a hostel that attracts foreign travelers and budget-conscious visitors to the Lower Garden District, is the latest target in a persistent wave of upscale hotel developments in the heart of the city. 

The historic St. Vincent’s first opened as an orphanage in 1861 and was later developed into a low-cost hostel in 1994. 

Now, Zach Kupperman of New Orleans is proposing to buy and renovate the historic property into a luxury hotel. 

Kupperman, a real estate lawyer and prominent figure in the New Orleans entrepreneurial scene, did not respond to requests for comment by email or phone. In a June 30 letter to neighborhood residents, Kupperman said he plans to complete “a full historic renovation and convert the property into a luxury boutique hotel, significantly reducing the bed count to traditional hotel models.”  

The proposed hotel will have 80 rooms, a restaurant, a bar and reception facilities, according to the letter. Construction is expected to begin in early 2018 and be finished in mid-2019.

Kupperman recently opened The Drifter Hotel in a renovated Tulane Avenue motel with a popular swimming pool hangout. He was a co-founder of Dinner Lab, which hosted pop-up dinners in 30 cities. The venture went into bankruptcy last year. He also founded Silicon Bayou News, a website that focuses on startups and technology in Louisiana.

At St. Vincent’s, a conditional use permit for a hotel on the property is already in place, and Kupperman will be seeking approval of a change in design, as required by the permit. The developer will also ask for approval of additional square footage to allow for construction of a 5,940-square-foot building for receptions and administrative offices, according to the letter.

The developer has organized a July 17 meeting to present the project to the neighborhood, a required first step before going to the City Planning Commission and the City Council for zoning approvals.

Trenton Gauthier with the Coliseum Square Association said some people enjoyed the St. Vincent Guest House “as a semi-derelict curiosity,” but plans for the new hotel “will provide greater public access and accentuate the complex’s unique features.”

“It’s clear that the hostel did not represent the highest and best use of that astounding complex, both economically and in the sense of providing the neighborhood with an amenity and a source of pride,” Gauthier said. “We are always in favor of development that is sensitive to our unique historic and social context.”

The orphanage known as St. Vincent’s Infant Asylum was founded by the Daughters of Charity in 1861 as a home for children orphaned by a yellow fever epidemic. It was funded by Margaret Haughery, an Irish-born entrepreneur and philanthropist who paid off the project in 16 years mostly from milk cart sales. She was laid out in state at St. Vincent’s Asylum after she died in 1882. 

The property is owned by the Klaus-Peter Schreiber Trust, according to Orleans Parish Assessor’s records. Peter Schreiber is one of the founders of the hostel.http://realestate.nola.com/realestate-news/2017/07/st_vincent_guest_house_hotel_l.html