The Real Estate Magnate Betting on New Orleans’ Black Musical Legacy
The most influential music venue and cultural hub during the Jim Crow era is open again. Here’s how Curtis Doucette Jr. brought the Dew Drop Inn back to life.
Curtis Doucette Jr. by the pool of the Dew Drop Inn.
Photographer: Evan Ortiz for Bloomberg Pursuits
Real estate developer Curtis Doucette Jr. grew up so immersed in the culture of New Orleans that he took it for granted for much of his life. Although his family lived in Tremé, a historically Black neighborhood adjacent to the French Quarter, he says he was “a mere participant” in the city’s musical fabric—whether it was Mardi Gras or “second line” band processions.
That helps explains why Doucette, now a top developer of affordable housing in the city, had never heard of the Dew Drop Inn until five years ago.