Plans for Poor Clare monastery taking shape as developer seeks city approval – NOLA.com

Sister Charlene Toups walks into St. Clare’s Monastery on Henry Clay Avenue in New Orleans on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. (Staff photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune, NOLA.com)
Architect Peter Trapolin, left, and retired attorney and preservationist Tony Gelderman at the Poor Clare Monastery at the corner of Henry Clay Avenue and Magazine Street in New Orleans on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
Revised renderings show developer Tony Gelderman’s plans for a high-end apartment complex behind high brick walls in Uptown New Orleans on the site of the former Poor Clare Monastery.
A rendering of the large quadrangle that would be located between two new buildings and behind the existing historic structure on the grounds of the former Poor Clare Monastery.
St. Clare’s Monastery on Henry Clay Avenue in New Orleans on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. (Staff photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune, NOLA.com)
Sister Charlene Toups walks into St. Clare’s Monastery on Henry Clay Avenue in New Orleans on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. (Staff photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune, NOLA.com)
A rendering of the large quadrangle that would be located between two new buildings and behind the existing historic structure on the grounds of the former Poor Clare Monastery.
After unveiling his vision to turn the former Poor Clare Monastery near Audubon Park into a complex of high-end condominiums with a pool, courtyard and underground parking earlier this year, developer Tony Gelderman is revising his plans, he said, to better meet market demand.
Gelderman’s new plans, to be filed with city regulators this week, call for fewer, much larger units — 24 instead of 40. Gelderman also plans to sell the units as unfinished “boxes” that buyers can customize themselves, a model that will lower his overall development costs while giving buyers more flexibility at a slightly lower price.
Revised renderings show developer Tony Gelderman’s plans for a high-end apartment complex behind high brick walls in Uptown New Orleans on the site of the former Poor Clare Monastery.
Gelderman said the revisions were based on feedback he has received from interested buyers.
“What has evolved in the months we have been talking about this is that the market is for larger condos and not a dense development,” he said. “What has further evolved is that we are not going to deliver a finished condo but a warm white box. It will have walls but no Sheetrock. If they want, they can do the floor plan themselves.”
Gelderman says units will be priced comparably with some of the priciest condos in the city, such as the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences at the foot of Canal Street and One River Place near the Riverwalk Outlets. That could put the units in the range of $1,000 a square foot.
Architect Peter Trapolin, left, and retired attorney and preservationist Tony Gelderman at the Poor Clare Monastery at the corner of Henry Clay Avenue and Magazine Street in New Orleans on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
“It is expensive because of the nature of the construction and because we are going to have all this open space,” he said, referring to an agreement he made with the nuns to retain two-thirds of the property as green space. “It will be as expensive as any other high-end condo in the city of New Orleans.”
The project is one of the more ambitious redevelopment projects in a city filled with historic rehabs. The monastery is a nearly 2-acre walled compound dating to the early 1900s that takes up the entire city block Uptown bounded by Henry Clay Avenue, Magazine, Constance and Calhoun streets.
It was vacated in March 2025, when the last of the remaining nuns moved out.
Gelderman’s project has the potential to transform the site, though from the outside, little will change. The historic convent that housed the cloistered sisters and the brick wall that kept the outside world at bay will remain.
“There is a strong interest in the wall,” he said. “The secure, private environment is a big draw.”
Revised plans for the project call for converting the historic monastery building into eight condos and constructing on either side of it two new residential buildings also with eight units each. Condos in all three buildings will average around 3,100 square feet and will be marketed to upscale buyers.
He declined to say how much the project might cost, but a source familiar with the plans estimates it will cost at least $50 million, including the purchase price of the land.
He plans to pre-sell 11 units to help finance the deal. So far, he has seven potential buyers lined up, five of whom have floor plans drawn. The deals are still preliminary because he doesn’t yet own the property. A sale won’t close until he gets city approval and secures financing.
But he is encouraged by the early interest.
“We have not had to do any marketing,” he said. “People are coming to us.”
New Orleans’ luxury condo market is soft and has been for years. Earlier this year, The Four Seasons launched a new marketing effort to sell its remaining unsold condominiums, which account for nearly 30% of all units in the New Orleans luxury high-rise four years after it opened at the foot of Canal Street.
St. Clare’s Monastery on Henry Clay Avenue in New Orleans on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. (Staff photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune, NOLA.com)
At least five units in One River Place are also for sale, according to online listings.
Gelderman said his project offers something different than do the downtown high rises.
“There is a clear market in the city for larger condos among people who want to live Uptown and who want to downsize,” he said.
The project needs to be approved by the City Planning Commission and the Historic District Landmarks Commission.
So far, neighbors have been broadly supportive of the project. District A council member Aimee McCarron has also indicated her support for it, which will be important if Gelderman needs to appeal a decision by the Planning Commission or HDLC to the City Council. 
“We should encourage thoughtful, neighborhood-appropriate economic development,” McCarron said Friday. 
Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate.com.
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