NATCHEZ, Miss. — The Prentiss Club is available for purchase from the Historic Natchez Foundation. The building requires substantial investment and rehabilitation.
Built in 1905 in the Second Renaissance Revival Style, the Prentiss Club is one of the city’s most architecturally and historically significant buildings.
Considered a total loss after a 2018 fire by its insurers, the owners donated the 12,000-square-foot building to the Historic Natchez Foundation. HNF rebuilt the roof, restored the exterior, and cleaned out and stabilized the interior of the building.
There were plans for movie producers Tate Taylor and John Norris acquiring the Prentiss Club from HNF and converting it into a hotel, but that did not pan out. The Natchez Board of Aldermen in 2021 had backed tax incentives to help the developers finance the new venture, which also included plans for rehabilitating the old City Bank & Trust Company building nearby on Franklin Street.
Taylor and Norris were also planning to transform the city-owned Broadway Street railroad depot into a restaurant-entertainment venue, but that also didn’t materialize as the developers encountered various delays, cost overrruns and other hitches that made the project unfeasible.
The Prentiss Club was built for the city’s most prestigious men’s club with its founding members being almost equally divided between Jewish and gentile. The architect for the building was Francis J. MacDonnell of the New Orleans firm of Soule and MacDonnell. Throughout its life, the building has served a variety of uses. Built as a private club, it has been a restaurant, nightclub, event venue, Masonic lodge, and a luxurious private residence when interior designer and antiques dealer Buzz Harper lived in the building and decorated it in his signature ornate style. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Potential Prentiss Club purchasers can contact the Historic Natchez Foundation at 601-442-2500 and hnf@natchez.org for more information and to schedule a tour. Real estate agents are welcome.
It stands ready to be repurposed and would be an excellent candidate for historic tax credits. Federal and state tax credits can recoup 45 percent of the project cost and the Historic Natchez Foundation will complete the tax credit applications for the new owner.
Proposals for rehabilitation should include: a bid amount not less than $80,000; a proposed use for the property; proposed timeline for completing the rehabilitation; and proof of financial ability to complete the rehabilitation. The rehabilitation will be completed in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and the transfer of title will include a rehabilitation agreement between the new owner and the Historic Natchez Foundation that includes benchmarks for construction.
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