03/20/2026
Restored: Town House Apartments | Once on its way to becoming uninhabitable, Fairmont Tower in Shreveport, Louisiana, is now filling a need for affordable housing.
New Orleans architect Rene F. Gelpi designed the 14-story, L-shaped building, originally called the Town House Apartments and completed in 1952. The Midcentury Modern tower’s reinforced concrete frame is faced with marble on portions of the ground level and brick on the upper stories.
By the time developer Midland Residence purchased it in 2023, the 200,217-square-foot apartment complex “was in pretty tough condition,” says Midland Principal Michael Packard, particularly the interior finishes.
Plaster was coming off the corridor walls due to water intrusion, and the front doors to the units were falling apart. Crews repaired the exterior marble, repointed the brickwork, replaced the leaking roof, and replicated original interior details in the lobby and corridors.
Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, as well as federal and state historic tax credits, helped fund the $22 million project. Midland unveiled the resulting 254 units of low- and moderate-income housing, designed by architecture firm DNA Workshop, in May 2025.
“I’m always drawn to places like this that are well built,” says Packard. “Utilizing these existing buildings, that are frankly more durable than any new stuff that would be built, makes for a better project.”
From the Transitions section of Preservation magazine Winter 2026.
Photo courtesy BOLD Photography
