The former Our Lady of Lourdes on Napoleon Avenue in Uptown New Orleans is becoming a new event space called the Josephine on Napoleon. (Photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The former Our Lady of Lourdes Church, dormant for two decades, has been transformed into The Josephine, a striking new event space operated by Dickie Brennan & Co. at 2400 Napoleon Ave. in New Orleans, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (Staff photo by David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)
The former Our Lady of Lourdes Church, dormant for two decades, has been transformed into The Josephine, a striking new event space operated by Dickie Brennan & Co. at 2400 Napoleon Ave. in New Orleans, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (Staff photo by David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)
The former Our Lady of Lourdes Church, dormant for two decades, has been transformed into The Josephine, a striking new event space operated by Dickie Brennan & Co. at 2400 Napoleon Ave. in New Orleans, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (Staff photo by David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)
The former Our Lady of Lourdes on Napoleon Avenue in Uptown New Orleans is becoming a new event space called the Josephine on Napoleon. (Photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The former Our Lady of Lourdes Church, dormant for two decades, has been transformed into The Josephine, a striking new event space operated by Dickie Brennan & Co. at 2400 Napoleon Ave. in New Orleans, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (Staff photo by David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)
A growing cluster of restaurants, bars and redevelopment projects along Napoleon Avenue has drawn in two prominent New Orleans business figures, who are betting that an emerging Uptown corridor can support one of the city’s most ambitious new event venues.
John Georges and William Kearney IV have joined the ownership group of The Josephine on Napoleon, an event space housed inside the former Our Lady of Lourdes Church at the corner of Napoleon and Lasalle Street. The investment aligns them with Dickie Brennan & Co., the well-known restaurant group that earlier this year acquired a controlling stake in the project and is leading its operations.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The former Our Lady of Lourdes Church, dormant for two decades, has been transformed into The Josephine, a striking new event space operated by Dickie Brennan & Co. at 2400 Napoleon Ave. in New Orleans, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (Staff photo by David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)
The Josephine occupies a striking, century-old church that has been vacant since Hurricane Katrina and has undergone a roughly $10 million transformation into a high-capacity venue for weddings, galas, corporate events and performances. Original developers David Fuselier and his sister Mimi Spiehler, who spearheaded the redevelopment, retain a 16% ownership stake following the Brennan group’s entry and the addition of Georges and Kearney.
For Georges, the investment blends personal history with what he sees as a compelling real estate and business opportunity. He grew up in the Uptown area and still lives nearby, but he said the broader appeal lies in the momentum building along Napoleon Avenue — a stretch he believes is becoming a natural commercial extension of Freret Street, one of the city’s most vibrant restaurant corridors.
“This will be like the capstone of the developing Napoleon corridor and it intersects nicely with Freret Street,” Georges said.
Georges is the chief executive of Georges Enterprises, whose holdings include Imperial Trading Co., Galatoire’s Restaurant on Bourbon Street and, together with his wife Dathel Coleman Georges, Georges Media, owner of The Times-Picayune and The Advocate. Kearney, a former CEO and continuing part-owner of Galatoire’s, is a senior vice president at the Ehrhardt Group, a public relations firm, and has become increasingly active as an Uptown restaurant owner and investor.
Two years ago, Kearney partnered with attorney Jay Adams to purchase Gautreau’s, the long-running fine-dining restaurant on Soniat Street that has been a fixture of Uptown social life for decades. He said that experience — and the relative stability of neighborhood dining compared with the downtown market — helped shape his interest in The Josephine.
“Uptown restaurants and venues have remained fairly solid even while downtown businesses have been more volatile,” Kearney said. “The established neighborhood restaurants have been really thriving, even in today’s economy.”
He pointed to Gautreau’s and other longtime Uptown institutions like Clancy’s on Annunciation Street as evidence that local demand has strong underpinnings, even as tourism-dependent businesses elsewhere in the city have faced more uneven conditions.
The Josephine is positioned to tap into that local base while also drawing clients from across the city and region. The venue’s scale sets it apart from most Uptown spaces: the former sanctuary alone provides about 4,500 square feet, with total usable space — including courtyards and ancillary areas — reaching roughly 8,000 square feet. Depending on configuration, it can host anywhere from 300 to 1,000 guests.
Much of the building’s original character has been preserved. The twin copper-domed towers, terra-cotta roof and Mission Revival exterior remain intact, while inside, the domed ceiling, choir loft and other architectural features have been restored and adapted for modern use. Former side wings are being converted into bars, and the choir loft has been reimagined as a flexible space that can serve multiple functions during events.
The former Our Lady of Lourdes Church, dormant for two decades, has been transformed into The Josephine, a striking new event space operated by Dickie Brennan & Co. at 2400 Napoleon Ave. in New Orleans, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (Staff photo by David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)
The Brennan group’s involvement brings deep experience in large-scale hospitality operations. Best known for its French Quarter and downtown restaurants, Dickie Brennan & Co. has expanded in recent years into catering and venue management across the city, including partnerships with the Audubon Nature Institute and ownership of nearby Pascal’s Manale.
Fuselier said the addition of Georges and Kearney strengthens the project well beyond the balance sheet. Their combined networks — spanning business, civic, hospitality and social circles — are expected to help ensure a steady pipeline of bookings once the venue is fully operational.
The investment also reflects growing confidence in the Napoleon Avenue corridor itself. In recent years, several high-profile transactions have reshaped key corners of the avenue, including the purchase of the buildings housing Superior Seafood and Fat Harry’s near St. Charles Avenue by Bob Kirchoff and Phil Barbaree, consolidating their ownership at one of Uptown’s busiest intersections.
Just blocks away, Freret Street has evolved over the past decade into a dense strip of restaurants, bars and cafés, drawing locals and visitors alike and supporting nearly three dozen food and beverage businesses. The Josephine sits just off that axis, close enough to benefit from its energy while offering a scale and setting Freret itself cannot easily accommodate, Kearney said.
The church building, completed in 1925, stood dormant for years amid a complicated ownership history before Fuselier and his partners began renovations in early 2023. Its revival follows a broader pattern in New Orleans, where several historic church properties have found new life as secular spaces, blending preservation with contemporary use.
In this case, the project also coincides with other redevelopment on the same block. An adjacent former school building is slated to be replaced by a Trader Joe’s, adding daily foot traffic to an area that has long been defined by residential uses.
For Georges and Kearney, the appeal lies in how those pieces fit together: a landmark building, a growing corridor and an event business capable of drawing large crowds without relying solely on tourism cycles.
“This is about the real estate, the neighborhood and the long-term prospects of the business,” Georges said.
The Josephine has already hosted weddings, fundraisers, play readings and private dinners, marking a new chapter for a building that has loomed quietly over Napoleon Avenue for generations.
Email Anthony McAuley tmcauley@theadvocate.com.
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