Bayou Secret

Bayou Secret LLC is a Louisiana company that leases and operates the St Roch Market on St Claude Avenue in New Orleans. The company was formed in 2014 by Birmingham attorney David Donaldson, his son, Will Donaldson, restaurateur Surin Techarukpong‎ and digital animator Barre Tanguis. Active partners Will Donaldson and Tanguis had formerly been involved with "Launch Pad", a co-working space on Magazine Street.

The partners also formed St Roch Forage LLC which runs the market's produce sales, and St Roch Libations LLC, which operates the Mayhaw Bar in the market hall. They are also partners in Arcadia Court LLC which purchased a vacant building next door to the market for possible redevelopment as a restaurant and banquet hall.

After the existing neighborhood market was closed due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina, the City of New Orleans renovated the 1875 market building with a $3.1 million Disaster Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and $600,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The city then sought proposals from private operators to lease the space. Bayou Secret's proposal to sublease stalls to small business owners was selected. They hold the master lease and manage shared functions like utilities, restrooms, table busing and marketing and also manage a central payment system for each vendor. In return the vendors pay a daily fee along with a graduated percentage of sales.

St Roch Market's redevelopment, in a neighborhood with high rates of poverty, has been criticized as a striking example of gentrification. It was vandalized by an unknown group shortly after opening and has generated considerable controversy locally even as its prominence as a visitor attraction has increased. The owners have responded to some criticisms about the affordability and accessibility of the market to its neighbors while pointing to the market's economic benefits to small business owners and property owners in the area.

References

• Okun, Andru (July 2015) "Another Round: The Remiss Management of the St Roch Market" Antigravity - accessed May 16, 2016
• Price, Todd A. (July 7, 2015) "St. Roch Market operators answer critics, share their vision." New Orleans Times-Picayune/NOLA.com