The Element New Orleans Downtown by Marriott is set to check in its first guests on Thursday, bringing 216 extended-stay rooms to the Central Business District and delivering the first live, bookable part of the larger conversion of the former Bank of New Orleans tower. The new hotel now occupies the lower floors of the 31-story 1010 Common, trading scaffolding and construction crews for front-desk staff and rolling suitcases. For downtown businesses and convention planners, the opening is an early sign that a long-delayed office-to-hotel conversion is finally starting to generate rooms and revenue.
According to Marriott, the Element at 221 O'Keefe Ave. will welcome guests starting Feb. 5 and will feature full in-room kitchens, floor-to-ceiling windows, a 24-hour fitness center and a heated outdoor pool. Marriott lists 216 rooms and positions the property to attract business travelers, visiting medical staff and other longer-stay guests.
What the 1010 Common conversion will include
As reported by New Orleans CityBusiness, the Element opening serves as phase one of a roughly $90 million mixed-use rehabilitation that will add a 250-room Fairmont, approximately 100,000 square feet of renovated Class A office space, about 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and an overhauled 14-story parking garage. Once both hotels are operating, the building is expected to host around 466 rooms in total, along with new meeting and event venues aimed at convention and corporate business. New Orleans CityBusiness also notes that the Element component brings roughly 42 new hospitality jobs to downtown.
Developer, timeline and the building's past
Kailas Companies, which purchased 1010 Common in 2014, is leading the overhaul, and construction work on the conversion began in January 2024, according to WDSU. The office tower was completed in the early 1970s and later listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to Wikipedia, which helped unlock historic-rehab tax credits used in the financing. Design work has involved Rozas Ward Architects and New York-based Rockwell Group, while Patel Construction served as general contractor on the Element build-out.
Element general manager Brandon Cantrell sounded ready for check-in when he told New Orleans CityBusiness, “The beds are made, the dishes are washed, the food is in the fridge, and the team’s all here, doing test meals and putting the final touches on the rooms.” Cantrell said Element’s wellness-forward amenities and larger room sizes are a natural fit for longer-stay guests tied to the Medical District and convention traffic.
Developers say the Fairmont will follow the Element and occupy much of the tower's upper floors, with work on that component expected to continue through the year, according to WDSU. For downtown businesses and event planners, seeing hotel guests instead of hard hats at 1010 Common is a concrete reminder that investments in the CBD are moving forward and that the promised rooms, meeting space and retail that could help revive foot traffic may finally be on their way.
