Louisiana Commercial Realty announced today the completion of negotiations and the purchase of 2200 Royal Street for the newest location of a Sukho Thai restaurant in New Orleans. Robert Hand, president of Louisiana Commercial Realty, says, "After an exhausting search including hundreds of possible locations, we are pleased to have completed negotiations for our client to purchase this terrific location for a new Sukho Thai restaurant."
New Sukho Thai location at 2200 Royal Street
Like many New Orleans businesses, Sukho Thai is steeped in local tradition: Sukho Thai's owners, Keith and Supreeya Scarmuzza, are relatives of Al Scarmuzza, of Seafood City fame. Old New Orleanians remember Al's famous family presented commercial and theme song around crawfish season.
The new Sukho Thai location at 2200 Royal Street is the newest addition to the current locations at 4519 Magazine Street and 1913 Royal Street. The building was purchased for $750,000 and is approximately 3,780 square feet on two floors with authentic architectural detail and a corner location at Elysian Fields and Royal Street. One obstacle to putting the vacant property back into commerce was the HMC-2 zoning which required 21 parking spaces, and, like many properties around and in the French Quarter, the property had very little parking.
Commercial real estate broker Hand explains, "My company specializes in complex commercial real estate, so we immediately got to work to solve our client's problem. First, we researched the zoning permitted uses and parking requirements since the restaurant would be a change in use of the property from the previous office use, even though the building had been vacant for a long time. Second, we procured a letter from New Orleans' Safety and Permits Department verifying the number of grandfathered spaces at 7, which left a final parking requirement of 14 spaces. Third, we negotiated an extension in time with the seller to allow us to resolve the parking issue, and we also negotiated space with nearby parking lot owners as a back-up plan, and proceeded to help our client file an application for a parking waiver with the New Orleans' Board of Zoning Adjustments. Every neighbor within 300 feet was notified about the application for a parking waiver, and a meeting was held for neighbors to voice concerns. The meeting's results and a floor plan of the new restaurant were submitted, and a hearing was conducted by the Zoning Board who ruled to waive the parking requirement. The whole process was completed in under 8 weeks."
After a complete renovation of the inside which keeps the architectural detail and makes the space functional, the Sukho Thai restaurant will occupy the ground floor. The second floor will be for lease as office space and will include four private offices and a conference room. The restaurant is expected to open around the end of the year.
