May Community Connect – Gabrielle Begue

“We shape our buildings; and thereafter, our buildings shape us.” – Winston Churchill

Among many things, New Orleans is a city with rich history, an abundance of culture, and rare architecture. Walking through parts of the French Quarter can feel as if you’ve been transported back in time. The architecture of our great city is the foundation of our story as a community. It is the glue that connects us with our past, present, and future. Therefore, by preserving our city’s incredible architecture, we are in turn solidifying what makes us unique as a city. This is a complex, yet essential, task undertaken by individuals with a passion for preservation, such as Gabrielle Begue. We are excited to highlight this Faubourg Marigny native and the work that she does for May’s Community Connect newsletter.

Featured in the Gambit’s 40 under 40 in 2017, she is the co-founder and principal at Clio Associates LLC, a historic preservation consulting firm with a focus in research, documentation, planning, and design. She leads the firm’s architectural history division, as well as its research and historic rehabilitation tax credit consulting services. Specifically, Gabrielle utilizes national and state tax credits that offer economic incentives for historic rehabilitation. According to the Office of Cultural Development, the Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation administers two historic tax credit programs: The Federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program, and the Commercial Tax Credit Program, both for income producing buildings. As a graduate of the Tulane School of Architecture Master of Preservation program, Gabrielle uses her educational experience, passion for New Orleans architecture, and tax credit knowledge to help rehabilitate and protect the architecture of our great city and our most basic foundation.

Gabrielle’s most recent tax credit consulting work focused on several well-known buildings, including the World Trade Center/Four Seasons redevelopment, the Sts. Peter and Paul Hotel restoration in Faubourg Marigny, and the Pontchartrain Hotel on St. Charles Avenue. She also assisted with the historic district design guidelines for the City of Gretna, property research for individual structures, and historic context for Façade RENEW, a commercial corridor revitalization grant program. Her National Register projects include 2 mid-century office buildings, a 1930s-era public market, a former cotton oil mill in Natchitoches, an early 20th-century utilities complex in Baton Rouge, and a postwar maternity home and hospital, among others. Gabrielle meets the Secretary of the Interior’s professional qualification standards in historic preservation, history, and architectural history.

For more information about Gabrielle and how her firm can help you with preservation projects, please visit www.clioassociates.com