Place St. Charles

Place St. Charles (formerly the Bank One Center and First NBC Center), located at 201 St. Charles Avenue in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, is a 53-story, skyscraper designed in the post-modern style by Moriyama & Teshima Architects with The Mathes Group, now Mathes Brierre Architects, as local architect. It is the second-tallest building in both the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, and it is taller than Louisiana's tallest peak, Driskill Mountain. The building is located on the site of the historic St. Charles Hotel. The first St. Charles Hotel was built in 1837 and burned down in 1851. The second St. Charles Hotel was built in 1853 and burned down in 1894. The third St. Charles Hotel was built in 1896 and demolished in 1974. Floors 1 & 2 are used for retail space, 3 to 13 are parking levels, and 14 to 52 hold office space. St. Charles Place, LLC, is the current owner, while Corporate Realty leases the property. The building now also serves as the headquarters of the retail banking division of Capital One. The largest tenants are Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, Jones Walker LLP, and Energy Partners. Current occupancy of the building is approximately 98%. Place St. Charles was constructed on the site of the former St. Charles Hotel and opened in 1984. The exterior of the building is clad in granite and glass. A unique design aspect of the building are the French Quarter inspired balconies on the lower 3 levels along St. Charles Ave. Inside Place St. Charles, the first two floors house of retail space, including two restaurants, a 10-station Food Court and a Chase branch location. The 11 levels of parking are accessed from Gravier Street. Additionally, there is an elevated walkway connecting the building to an adjoining Hampton Inn. The building was the least damaged major high rise in the city during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and reopened by mid October 2005.