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Local Events

38th Annual Christmas Extravaganza Arts & Crafts Expo 2022, December 2, 2022 – December 4, 2022

Come have pictures with Santa in Covington.

Christmas Extravaganza

When: December 2 – 4, 2022
9am – 5pm

Where: St Tammany Parish Fairgrounds
1301 N Columbia St.
Covington, LA 70433

What: $5 for age 13+, free for age 12 and under

Click Here for More Information.

Local News

Covington’s Southern Hotel to Expand

A nice southern home built close to New Orleans.

The place residents and tourists go in downtown Covington is North New Hampshire Street where the Southern Hotel is located. The Southern Hotel not only is a place for visitors, but also holds several movie houses that show all genres of films. Within the next couple of years, The Southern Hotel will see another expansion. The project will take The Southern Hotel and expand it to cover the entire block.

A patterened wall paper sets this powder room apart. The fixtures in this powder room are simple and handsome in design.

Along with the expansion there will be a new restaurant by BRG Hospitality and a renovated Star Theater. The Star Theater will offer a boutique bowling alley, upscale lounge and music stages. The expansion has around $17 million in new investments and will be considered the largest transformation of the historic district since the renovation of The Southern Hotel in 2014.

The Southern Hotel boasts 48 rooms and is a boutique style hotel in the heart of downtown Covington. With the expansion, it is planned to add additional rooms, condos and retail space. The retail space will be modeled after the 1940s-era storefronts and there will be an additional 43,000 square-foot Mission-style building built on land. The new building will be named the Summer House and have retail space on the first floor, hotel rooms on the second floor, a full-service spa on the third floor and four condos on the fourth floor. The total new building will cost around $11 million.

The Star Theater, a 1942 movie house, will be renovated and will be the largest of the downtown Covington Theaters. The theater has been vacant since Katrina and before was split into two theaters in the 1970s. The $3 million to $5 million project will include a six-lane boutique bowling alley, and an upscale lounge. Eventually there will be plans for a roof-top lounge with stages for small acoustic bands.

“We had gone past it so many times, I tried for six months to negotiate a purchase,” said Warren Salles referring to the Star.

The new restaurant by BRG Hospitality will be called TAVI and will be housed in a former barbershop and law office. TAVI will be under Fariz Choumali, who has been leading the kitchen at Shaya, and will offer a Israeli-Lebanese inspired menu.

“Downtown is becoming a night-time destination, and we have to embrace that,” says Covington Mayor Mark Johnson. The area has already begun to see an increase in activity since the restrictions from the pandemic were lifted. “We’re not Mayberry anymore. We’re Mayberry on steroids,” says Johnson.

Click Here For the Source of the Information.

Local Events

Slidell Christmas Under the Stars 2022, December, 2022

A great family fun tradition with life-size Christmas Cottages in Slidell.

Christmas Under the Stars

When: December 2 -3 & 9 – 10, 2021
Every Friday & Saturday
6pm – 9pm

Where: Griffith Park
333 Erlanger St.
Slidell, LA 70458

What: Free Event.

Call (985) 646-4375 for More Information.

Local News

Is Downsizing in Your Best Interest?

Shiplap accents can be seen in the ceiling accents.

Everyone thinks of downsizing once they are empty nesters or many homeowners just might want a change. Downsizing your home does have many financial advantages as well as less upkeep but is it the best way to go when it comes to taxes? When you downsize more than likely you will end up with cash from the sale of your larger home which could end up adding to a big tax bill.

Currently if you sell your home (principal residence) for a profit, you could qualify to knock off $250,000 ($500,000 for married filing jointly) of your capital gain. In order for you to benefit from the maximum exclusion you will need to pass the ownership and use test by the IRS. The IRS will want to make sure you have owned the home for the last two years and that you have lived in the home as your principal residence for the past two years (ending on the date of the sale).

The IRS does have exceptions to the rules when it comes to the ownership and use test. For example, if you are moving before owning the home for two years because of a job change (seen as unforeseen circumstances) it is exempt. Other unforeseen circumstances the IRS has are divorce or natural disaster. In circumstances such as these, the IRS will allow the homeowner to prorate the exclusion.

A homeowner does not have to live in the home for two consecutive years just as long as a homeowner has lived in the home 24 months out of the five years prior to the sale of the home. Also, you can only claim and exclusion once every two years.

Before you decide to sell your home, you will want to calculate your cost basis. Do this by figuring out the capital gains on the sale of your home then subtract your cost basis from the selling price. Your cost basis includes the purchase price along with settlement fees, closing costs and commissions associated with both the purchase and the sale. Take these and add to the cost of all the improvements you have done to the home which will be your cost basis.

Determining if something is a capital improvement or repair is also important because capital improvement can be added to your cost basis but repair cost cannot. Why? A capital improvement will increase the value of your home, while a repair will just restore your home to its original condition. For example, a new deck is a capital improvement while fixing your plumbing is considered a repair. A new roof would be a capital improvement however, just replacing a few shingles is just a repair.

If you are looking to downsize, you may want to consider whether to buy or rent. Renting will release you from all the obligations of owning a home but you will not be building equity and you will have to answer to a landlord. There is no right or wrong answer, it is a personal preference which is right for you.

Click Here For the Source of the Information.