International Trade Mart

About June, about July 1963 this financing contract was entered into between the International Trade Mart and Bloomfield Building Industries, which later built the building, and Blyth & Company for the sale of bonds to finance the new 33-story structure and the contract provided that the closing date would be October 8, 1963, a period of 90 days.

During that time the Trade Mart was under the obligation when the bonds were to be issued to do many things, one of which was to get bonafide leases to support the bond issue. The bond issue was to be for $12,800,000.00 and it was necessary to inaugurate a crash campaign to get leases from tenants, which leases were to produce $1,425,000.00 as I recall it, gross annual rental to support the $12,800,000.00 bond issue, and the bond issue ultimately concluded on October 10, 1963 in New York.

Q: Now during the say three months preceding October ’63, did Mr. Shaw have any duties in connection with the negotiating of these leases for the proposed Trade Mart?

A: Well, as I have described it, it was a crash operation and as President of International Trade Mart, and the man responsible for putting the deal together and bringing about the issuance of the bonds to make the Trade Mart possible, it was my responsibility to delegate work, and the work load of obtaining the leases was delegated to Mr. Shaw for many reasons. There were about 40 or 44 foreign consuls here in New Orleans and Shaw had been working with them over a long period of years so naturally he was delegated to try and obtain leases from them, which in turn meant in many instances the changing of the offices then occupied into the new building. He was also in direct charge and was responsible for obtaining other leases to make up the total the investment company and the insurance company standing by would require before they would buy the bonds.