Breaking News: 4-Alarm Fire at The Quarter House in New Orleans Reported by Local NOLA News Media Tonight 6/18/20

[NOLA47]

There's obviously a lot they are not sharing especially if they are stating they may not be able to keep a reservation in the first quarter of 2021.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

I did not push on the cause of the fire but the damage really wasn't to just one small area like they initially stated. They completely lost 6 units on the 5th floor. While the reopening date is completely up in the air they are not auto-cancelling my week 51 reservations. They are cancelling reservations at least through Thanksgiving and offering internal exchange credits in lieu of usage.

 

[klpca]

I did not push on the cause of the fire but the damage really wasn't to just one small area like they initially stated. They completely lost 6 units on the 5th floor. While the reopening date is completely up in the air they are not auto-cancelling my week 51 reservations. They are cancelling reservations at least through Thanksgiving and offering internal exchange credits in lieu of usage.

Yes, I received the same info except that they wouldn't guarantee that my week 8 would be available. My unit was not damaged (327) but they said that they wouldn't know for at least 4-6 weeks what the timeline looked like because the reception area was pretty much destroyed by the water damage.

 

[chapjim]

I was left a rather puzzling voice mail a week ago. It said my Unit 221 (Wk 46) was not damaged but said nothing about my three other units, the amount of damage, state of repairs, or re-opening. Obviously reading a script and probably quite happy no one answered the call.

If 327 was undamaged, 427 (Wk 47) should be as well.

 

[klpca]

I was left a rather puzzling voice mail a week ago. It said my Unit 221 (Wk 46) was not damaged but said nothing about my three other units, the amount of damage, state of repairs, or re-opening. Obviously reading a script and probably quite happy no one answered the call.

If 327 was undamaged, 427 (Wk 47) should be as well.

I got the impression that they were going down the list by week, so maybe they haven't gotten to your other weeks, and haven't made the connection that you own multiple weeks? They also asked for my email address so that they could email future information to me. What a time consuming process!

 

[chapjim]

Could be. They called about Wk 46 and I have Wk 47 and 52. I have a reservation for October 2 but that's the result of an internal exchange with Wk 21 and will be a candidate for another exchange.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

I got the impression that they were going down the list by week, so maybe they haven't gotten to your other weeks, and haven't made the connection that you own multiple weeks? They also asked for my email address so that they could email future information to me. What a time consuming process!

I think you are correct. The person that called me was referencing my week 46 430. I had to volunteer the info for my week 51 430 and week 51 328. I figured they were only hitting the reservations that are definitely being cancelled.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

It will be a minimum of 6-8 months. Canceled weeks will be auto banked for internal usage. I don’t know how they are going to be able to accommodate everyone’s replacement weeks. Wouldn’t there me way too many?

 

[klpca]

It will be a minimum of 6-8 months. Canceled weeks will be auto banked for internal usage. I don’t know how they are going to be able to accommodate everyone’s replacement weeks. Wouldn’t there me way too many?

Did they call you back? Is it 6-8 months from now? Or from the time of the fire? I am surprised that they are closing the entire place for that long, but I am sure that they have tried thinking of alternatives and this is their best solution. I feel sorry for the staff as well as other owners.

 

[scootr5]

Has there been any indication that this will be covered by insurance, or if they will need to do a special assessment?

 

[Sugarcubesea]

Yes, I received the same info except that they wouldn't guarantee that my week 8 would be available. My unit was not damaged (327) but they said that they wouldn't know for at least 4-6 weeks what the timeline looked like because the reception area was pretty much destroyed by the water damage.

When they called me, they also would not guarantee my week 3 usage in 2021, they suggested that I call in November to determine usage? During my ownership I have never had a special assessment from them. Have any of the folks that have owned longer then 6+ years had special assessments?

 

[klpca]

When they called me, they also would not guarantee my week 3 usage in 2021, they suggested that I call in November to determine usage? During my ownership I have never had a special assessment from them. Have any of the folks that have owned longer then 6+ years had special assessments?

I bought my unit in 2016 so I am no help there. Hopefully the insurance covers everything except the deductible, but I guess we will find out this fall when invoices are sent out.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

Did they call you back? Is it 6-8 months from now? Or from the time of the fire? I am surprised that they are closing the entire place for that long, but I am sure that they have tried thinking of alternatives and this is their best solution. I feel sorry for the staff as well as other owners.

As expected they called me on my week 51 units like they hadn't already called me. Not sure why they didn't call based on an owner name list rather than week or unit numbers. It was 6-8 months from now and not the fire although 6 months from now is the same as 8 months from the fire. I wonder if business dropping due to Covid has anything to do with them dragging their feet on repairs. I am not judging or criticizing but just stating the possible reality. Would we really have these low maintenance fees for 37 years straight if they were not able to consistently rent out extra units? Staying closed may save us from a special assessment. Not from the repairs but from the lack of revenue due to Covid. This is assuming they are heavily cutting operating expenses during this period but that should go without saying.

As far as insurance goes, they have insurance, and a fire is clearly a covered event. They dropped named storm coverage after Katrina and went self insured for only that.

Based on another post 6 years ago by someone who bought in 1998 there doesn't seem to have been a special assessment since then. The place itself goes back to 1983 though so it is possible.

Interesting but unrelated fact. You will notice the elevator in the lobby also opens at the back. The back opening goes to other wholly owned condo units that are not part of the QH1 or QH2 associations.

The founding company is Oak Ridge Park, Inc and began in 1979. I believe the same attorney/developers are still in charge after all these years.

 

[scootr5]

I received a brief update from Nikki today:

"our building is closed temporarily until the end of the year. We are in process of the last stages of remediation and starting on the demolition to the areas that were affected. It is too early for us to give you a date of our reopening but as soon as we get those dates we will alert the owners. Our check- in area was affected dramatically by the water that was used to put out the fire along with the entire first floor of the building. All the owners that this fire has affected will receive another week in 2021. We will let all the owners know when we are getting to the rebuild stage as we will be able to give a better timeline for a reopening once demolition is over."

 

[NOLA47]

It sounds like this story is unfolding piece by piece and still no mention of cause of fire.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

I received a brief update from Nikki today:

"our building is closed temporarily until the end of the year. We are in process of the last stages of remediation and starting on the demolition to the areas that were affected. It is too early for us to give you a date of our reopening but as soon as we get those dates we will alert the owners. Our check- in area was affected dramatically by the water that was used to put out the fire along with the entire first floor of the building. All the owners that this fire has affected will receive another week in 2021. We will let all the owners know when we are getting to the rebuild stage as we will be able to give a better timeline for a reopening once demolition is over."

I'm thinking with this new info, that my week 3 for 2021, will probably not be available. I feel sorry for QH, as with COVID-19 I bet it will be hard to hire contractors to fix the affected areas by the fire...so sad as I love my QH purchase and all of the staff at QH.

 

[scootr5]

I'm thinking with this new info, that my week 3 for 2021, will probably not be available. I feel sorry for QH, as with COVID-19 I bet it will be hard to hire contractors to fix the affected areas by the fire...so sad as I love my QH purchase and all of the staff at QH.

Construction and building trades are generally considered "essential workers", so they've been in full swing mode all spring and summer.

 

[kparam]

Got a call from the Quarter House in early August, one of our units (305) had extensive water damage and can't be occupied in time for our December week. It is above the office/check in unit. They offered to get us a different unit but we had already deposited it into RCI weeks (not points). The other Unit, a June/July penthouse supposedly didn't have any water or smoke damage, but I can't imagine it not smelling like smoke because it is on the 5th floor.. Because we had already deposited points for it, the Quarter House notified us they "removed" the points from RCI and will add them back in when all is open again. If we had planned to go in June, we would have been scheduled to check in the week after the fire.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

Construction and building trades are generally considered "essential workers", so they've been in full swing mode all spring and summer.

The reason I stated that is in MI, the contraction crews were not allowed to return to work till Jun 1st, they were not considered essential workers, our lawn service company could not cut our lawn till the last week in May.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

Got a call from the Quarter House in early August, one of our units (305) had extensive water damage and can't be occupied in time for our December week. It is above the office/check in unit. They offered to get us a different unit but we had already deposited it into RCI weeks (not points). The other Unit, a June/July penthouse supposedly didn't have any water or smoke damage, but I can't imagine it not smelling like smoke because it is on the 5th floor.. Because we had already deposited points for it, the Quarter House notified us they "removed" the points from RCI and will add them back in when all is open again. If we had planned to go in June, we would have been scheduled to check in the week after the fire.

Smoke alone is pretty easy to treat with Ozone. From what I was told the actual unit destruction is only 501-506. The other 5th floor units are believe are also technically in the next building but the hallway is obviously open between the two.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

Update from QH Facebook Post....

Quarter House Fire Update 8/27/2020:

To Our Owners and Guests,

As you may know, the fire occurred on the rooftop of our Lobby building, where our Front Desk Check-In and Lobby is located on the ground floor. The Lobby area and floors 2-5 suffered major water damage due to the large amount of water used to put out the fire. The rooftop (5th floor) also suffered fire damage.
We have begun the demolition of the damaged areas and begun hauling away the debris caused by the fire. Immediately, as the debris is removed we are beginning the renovation and refurbishment of the water and fire-damaged areas. Our contractors have been instructed to make every effort to keep affected areas safe for workmen on our property. Our contractors have also promised to minimize disruptions to our neighbors during this time

We will update you periodically as soon as we know, on the status of returning our Jewel of the French Quarter to better than its former state.
Please contact us with any concerns during the course of the project and thank you for your understanding in advance.
Nikki Krivjanick, General Manager

 

[klpca]

FYI, I logged in to Interval this morning and when checking my units, my week 8 was available for deposit. I hadn't checked for awhile, but ever since the fire it hasn't been available for deposit.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

Update from QH - Email sent to me:

Dear Quarter House Owner,

As you may know, the fire Occurred on the rooftop of our lobby building, where the Front Desk Check-In and Lobby is located. The Lobby area and Floor 2-5 suffered major water damage due to the large amount of water used to put out the fire. The rooftop (5th floor) also suffered fire damages. We have begun the demolition of the damaged areas and have begun hauling away all debris caused by the fire. We are in the final stages of demolition and are beginning some renovations on the ground floor. We are attempting and hoping to re-open sometime in the beginning of the 2021, but it is still too soon to predict a specific date. We will contact you again, and let you know ahead of time of our reopening date. Thank you for your patience.



Piedra Atkins

Front Desk Manager

Quarter House Resort

129 Chartres Street

New Orleans, La. 70130

504-523-5906 ext 160

 

[moonstone]

When the fire first happened our oldest DS, who is a senior project manager for the commercial division of a major North American restoration company, said he figured the resort would be closed for at least a year for restoration from what his US counterparts were saying, despite what the resort initially said. He thinks it will be next summer or fall when it is fully restored. The good news is that often after a major restoration the building is in better shape than before the fire. Many south Florida resorts need the same thing!

~Diane

 

[Sugarcubesea]

When the fire first happened our oldest DS, who is a senior project manager for the commercial division of a major North American restoration company, said he figured the resort would be closed for at least a year for restoration from what his US counterparts were saying, despite what the resort initially said. He thinks it will be next summer or fall when it is fully restored. The good news is that often after a major restoration the building is in better shape than before the fire. Many south Florida resorts need the same thing!

~Diane

I pretty much figured I would not be able to use my week # 3 in 2021, here's hoping we can all get back to QH in 2022