About

The Full Story
 

1735 began as Summer Friends in 2016—an informal community effort rooted in friendship, service, and creative action. What started as local clean-ups and conversations about healing urban spaces soon evolved into larger civic engagement. In 2019, Summer Friends partnered with The Second City of Chicago to fundraise for the family of Laquan McDonald, blending art and advocacy into a powerful campaign for justice. That same year, under the growing vision of 1735 Productions, we founded the first-ever 504 Day—a now-annual celebration of New Orleans, held every May 4 to honor the city’s culture, resilience, and magic.
 

By 2020, our creative work had expanded into community development. After discovering the potential of New Orleans Municipal Code Section 150-77, which allows residents to reclaim blighted and adjudicated properties, our team restructured as 1735 Construction Corporation, combining our storytelling background with on-the-ground property redevelopment. In the spring of 2021, we launched our flagship initiative, NOLA Repurpose, aiming to return abandoned properties to productive use. Unfortunately, in August 2021, Hurricane Ida forced 1735 to pause operations due to significant damage and resource loss.
 

Resilient as ever, we began rebuilding in 2022—offering walking tours on May 4 and using them as a soft return to public engagement. By 2024, thanks to two grants from New Orleans City Council, 1735 fully relaunched NOLA Repurpose with a refined mission: to return all adjudicated and blighted properties in Orleans Parish by 2035, while preserving their historical value and increasing the city’s property tax base to fund long-overdue urban improvements.
 

Now rebranded simply as 1735, our work is broader and more mature. Named after the year property was first recorded in Orleans Parish, 1735 is committed to using historical knowledge and data-driven research to transform public housing, fight disinvestment, and restore dignity to neglected neighborhoods. As of 2025, we proudly offer consulting, research, and public history services to individuals, organizations, law firms, and businesses in need of reliable, affordable, and expert-level historical and analytical support—powered by a team of PhD historians, researchers, and urban change-makers. Our story is rooted in community, fueled by purpose, and always looking forward.