Successful Grand Opening of New Walgreens Marquee Store on Magazine Street
Pictured Left to Right – Lewis W. Stirling III (Executive Vice President, Stirling Properties), Peter Aamodt (Vice President of Development, Stirling Properties), Kim Treece (Market Vice President, Walgreens), Troy Menard (District Manager, Walgreens), Councilwoman Susan Guidry, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Chris Sperling (Store Manager, Walgreens)
Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Councilwoman Susan Guidry, area retailers, members of Stirling Properties and representatives of American Legion Post #307 recently participated in a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Walgreens marquee store at 5518 Magazine Street. The site is the original home of the Ed Brauner American Legion Post #307 and portions of the building date back to 1947. After a full renovation, the new 13,000 square-foot store has a drive-thru window, full-service pharmacy and a Look Boutique specializing in high-end cosmetics.
“The way we’re going to make the best city in the world is through partnerships,” emphasized Mayor Landrieu, in reference to the community involvement in the planning of the new marquee store.
As developer for the project, Stirling Properties worked closely with Magazine street business owners, neighborhood associations, and World War II Veterans to create a vision of what this distressed building could become. “This project was a group effort from start to finish, and because of this approach everyone involved deserves a great deal of credit and can be proud of the finished product”, stated Peter Aamodt, Vice President of Development for Stirling Properties.
To pay homage to War Veterans and the building’s former use as a meeting spot for them, several American Legion images and symbols were incorporated into the new store’s design. Following the Grand Opening, the Veterans in attendance unveiled a bronze plaque in tribute to the American Legion Post #307.
Bill Detweiler, the Past National Commander of the American Legion and Local Post #307 and the Veteran’s representative on the project team, thanked Stirling Properties for their recognition of the building’s history. Mr. Detweiler mentioned that he and fellow Veterans wanted a good, productive neighbor for the Uptown community…”A business who would take care of this building.”
The design of the new building was achieved after numerous meetings with the design team, local retailers, area residents and the City of New Orleans. The front and rear facades of the building were replaced and the interior fully demolished. The new design features large windows to showcase the building’s interior, a pedestrian entrance on Magazine Street, and a rear parking lot with a drive-thru window.
See below for before & after pictures:
Walgreens Magazine Before & After – Front Facade
Walgreens Magazine Before & After – Rear Facade
Walgreens Magazine Before & After – American Legion Tile
Walgreens Magazine Before & After – Interior
Walgreens Magazine Before & After – Interior
Walgreens Magazine Before & After – Interior
Grand Opening of New Walgreens Marquee Store on Magazine Street
Magazine St. Frontage
NEW ORLEANS, LA – March 21, 2013 – Stirling Properties is pleased to announce the grand opening of a new full-service, Walgreens drugstore in New Orleans on historic Magazine Street. The new Walgreens is a full renovation of the former American Legion building located at 5518 Magazine Street. The 13,000 square-foot marquee store will have a drive-thru window, full-service pharmacy and a Look Boutique that will specialize in high-end cosmetics. The store will open at 8 a.m. Friday, March 22 with a ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony at 10 a.m.
The site is the original home of the Ed Brauner American Legion Post #307 and portions of the building date back to 1947. The design of the new building was achieved after numerous meetings with our design team, local retailers, area residents and the City of New Orleans. The front and rear facades of the building were replaced and the interior fully demolished. The new design features large windows to showcase the building’s interior, a pedestrian entrance on Magazine Street, and a rear parking lot with a drive-thru window. To pay homage to war veterans and the building’s former use as a meeting spot for them, several American Legion images and symbols were incorporated into the new design.
“This adaptive reuse project represents a true cooperative effort between Stirling Properties, Walgreens, the City of New Orleans, local retailers, and surrounding neighborhoods. Without public input and citizen participation we could never have achieved this level of success. We are proud to bring a once distressed but historically significant property back to prominence once again”, said Peter Aamodt, Vice President of Development for Stirling Properties.
Stirling Properties has a long-standing relationship with the retailer. Construction is currently underway on two other Stirling Properties Walgreens developments located in Terrytown on the Westbank of New Orleans, and on Pass Road in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Walgreens on Magazine – Update 3/11/13
Magazine St. Frontage
Last full week of work at the Magazine Street Walgreens in New Orleans and it is a flurry of activity inside and out. With one week left, both the Contractor and Walgreens have their work cut out for them, including finishing the front sidewalk and canopy, landscaping and painting the exterior and all the interior shelve stocking and setup. This is a big week and the push is on. By early next week we will have all of our final inspections done and the store opening team will be setting up for a store opening and ribbon cutting.
Walgreens on Magazine – Update 3/4/13
The building is humming with activity. At this point Walgreens has been inside the building for almost three weeks setting up shelving and placing fixtures inside the store in anticipation of the late March opening. The scaffolding has been removed from the front of the building and the new sidewalk work and front canopy is the next work tasks in line. The rear of the store is complete except for the installation of the windows, rear entry canopy work, final painting on fence and landscaping.
Things are happening fast, stay tuned for more soon!
Walgreens on Magazine – Update 12/26/12
With the holidays upon us, Magazine Street is buzzing and so is the Walgreens construction site. The interior work now revolves around finalizing all the sheetrock work, floor preparation for italian tile, electrical services and the placement of the American Legion Medallion Logo. When we first looked at the development of this building it was clear from the beginning that the heritage of the American Legion Post should be maintained in the final form of our new store. One piece of the original building is the old terrazzo floor medallion that was carefully lifted out of the floor, and is now being prepared to be repositioned near the rear entrance of the parking lot. This will be a striking feature as you enter the building and will highlight the high level of standard of our Nation’s Armed Services. The frontage along Magazine Street is now complete with the brick vineer and precast stonework and will now see the final detail work of stucco. It will not be long before the scaffolding is down and it will be a beautiful sight.
Walgreens on Magazine – Update 12/6/12
Both interior and exterior work are progressing at a good pace this month. As the photo indicates the address precast stone was placed at the roofline just this week and the brick veneer on Magazine Street is nearly complete. This will be striking when the scaffolding is removed and when all the fine stucco detail work is complete in the next few weeks. Interior work is a combination of drywall installation, initial floor prep, electrical rough-in and final HVAC ductwork connections. The rear wall facing the parking lot is now covered with stucco and will have the finish coat in place this coming week. Things are coming together, stay tuned.
