When it opened in 2024 inside the former Louisiana Children’s Museum in the Warehouse District, Common House New Orleans was an ambitious bet on a trendy idea: a private social club and co-working space appealing to remote workers and transplants.
Now, after less than two years, the building’s owners have brought in a new management team and rebranded the club as 420 Julia, raising questions about the future of a high-end, members-only business model that has proven volatile in other markets.
Beginning June 30, Schulte Hospitality Group, the Louisville, Kentucky-based hotel management firm that also operates the Pontchartrain Hotel on St. Charles Avenue, took over management for building owner AJ Capital Partners, according to a joint statement from the companies involved.
“As the club enters its next chapter, ownership and Common House have mutually agreed that now is the right time for Schulte Hospitality Group to lead the property’s future operations,” a joint statement from AJ Capital, Schulte and Common House said.
It’s unclear what, if anything, will change at the 20,000-square-foot club, which includes a restaurant, bar, rooftop pool, fitness center, courtyard, conference room and coworking spaces, along with event programming such as wine tastings, guest speakers and live music.
In their statement, company representatives said programming and hospitality will remain the same and that “new opportunities” will be available in the future.
They declined to disclose how many members the club had at the time of the turnover in management.
Common unhoused
The building at 420 Julia was built in the 1840s as a home for Alphonse Loubat, a French wine merchant and inventor who designed early streetcars in Paris and New York. It was converted to a warehouse for the Port of New Orleans in the 1880s and for much of the 20th century housed Dixie Art Supplies.
In the early 1990s, it became home to the Louisiana Children’s Museum, which added its distinctive blue shutters.
AJ Capital purchased the building after the museum relocated to its current location in City Park and invested millions in renovating much of the historic two-story structure. It partially demolished the rear and added five stories that now house a mixture of hotel rooms and apartments, already managed by Schulte, which also operates more than 200 properties under brands such as Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt, while running its own boutique and lifestyle division.
Looking to introduce the private social club model to the local market, AJ Capital originally sought to partner with the trendy London-based Soho House to run the club, as it did in Nashville, Portland and Chicago. When that deal fell through, it brought in Common House location instead.
Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, Common House launched in 2017. It went on to add locations in Richmond, Virginia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and New Orleans, where members paid nearly $2,000 a year to belong to the club on top of a $500 initiation fee.
But this year, Common House has fallen on hard times. Over the past three months, all four owners of the buildings that housed its clubs have severed ties with the company.
In April, Common House CEO Ben Wood — a former WeWork executive hired to lead the company in 2024 — abruptly announced the firm’s original location would close due to a “landlord dispute.”
The building’s owners attributed the closure to Common House’s failure to pay rent, even at a reduced rate, local media reported.
In May, management of the Richmond location was turned over to Schulte, according to local media reports.
Later that month, Schulte also took over management of the Chattanooga club after Common House was unable to “agree on a sustainable, long-term solution” with the owners of the building it leased, Wood told members.
It’s not clear if the owners of the Common House brand are plotting a revival of the concept in a different location in the future. Wood did not respond to a request for comment.
Ahead of the opening of the New Orleans location, Common House reportedly had about 4,000 members across its three original locations.
No information about how many members remain was available on Monday, and company representatives were not made available for an interview.
The Louisiana Children’s Museum located at 420 Julia St. in New Orleans, La. Tuesday, June 18, 2019.
Roof top happy hour at Common House private social club in Richmond, Virginia.
