About Us

Build Now enables displaced New Orleans residents to return to new,
high-quality, elevated homes, site-built on their property.

Have you had trouble finding a home design that fits your lifestyle and your budget? Need help figuring out how to finance your new home? Confused by what the zoning requirements are in your neighborhood? Worried about finding a contractor you can trust?

Build Now can help. A licensed and insured residential contractor, Build Now provides an alternative to substantial renovations or modular homes by designing and constructing site-built, elevated houses that reflect the style and quality of traditional New Orleans architecture.?

 

But we are more than just a contractor. Since every family faces different challenges while moving through the rebuilding process, our team of expert advisors works with our clients to overcome whatever obstacles may be preventing them from building their new home. In the past, we have helped clients with numerous issues including:
  • Navigating the Road Home appeals process
  • Applying for ICC and HMGP elevation funding
  • Determining mortgage eligibility
  • Obtaining credit counseling services
  • Applying for zoning variances
  • Obtaining building permits

 

We provide our clients with peace of mind. Build Now will take care of all necessary insurance, permits, surveying, and engineering. At no extra cost, we will provide a sidewalk, a driveway, and landscaping. Our guaranteed pricing means the cost of your construction will never go above the contracted price. If we find we can build your home for less, we will pass the savings on to you.

Our Team

William Monaghan Founder & Architect

Mr. Monaghan, a New Orleans native, has extensive experience in building design and construction supervision. In the months after he waded through the waters of Katrina searching for his mother, he was moved by the circumstances of families enduring FEMA trailers, living far from home, or trying to undertake costly renovations of their flood-prone houses. Although the average value of a home in pre-Katrina New Orleans was $134,000, few builders were offering quality, affordable, new homes for this price.

Every renovation horror story intensified Mr. Monaghan's conviction that the renovation of severely damaged houses is not the right answer for most New Orleanians. Quality new homes, he believes, should be an affordable option. Families have a right to move back to safe, new houses that better equip them to withstand future storms.

Forty-two years at the helm of his own construction, design, and development business have given Mr. Monaghan the experience necessary to undertake this ambitious rebuilding project. He has built more than half a million square feet of commercial and residential space and has designed hundreds of residential plans. His supervision and eye for detail ensure the homes' high quality. Further, his extensive work in the sale of residential real estate has prepared him to help buyers find financing for their Build Now homes. Perhaps most importantly, Mr. Monaghan's New Orleans upbringing instilled in him the love for the city's distinct architectural style that guides his Build Now designs.

Mr. Monaghan graduated from St. Martin's Episcopal School before going on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at Yale University and a Master's Degree in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Tess Monaghan Director of Operations

Ms. Monaghan grew up on her father's construction sites and has cultivated an interest in architecture and development. She honed her business skills as a consultant at Bain & Company. She developed expertise in the packaged food and beverage industry, working to increase profitability for a soft drink bottling company, and developing channel growth strategy for a major candy manufacturer. She also designed a market share tracking tool for a financial services company.

Ms. Monaghan graduated from Yale University.

Nikki Najiola Sales Director

Ms. Najiola has a keen interest in housing issues and in helping fellow residents return home.  Since Katrina, she has assumed several leadership roles in citizen-led initiatives designed to revitalize New Orleans' neighborhoods.  She is a board member of Neighborhood Partnership Network; President of the Oak Park Civic Association; President of the Mid-City Business Association; and a founding board member of the Gentilly Civic Improvement Association.

Ms. Najiola is a New Orleans native and a licensed Louisiana realtor.

Cathy Scribner Sales Associate

Cathy Scribner is a California transplant to New Orleans. Before moving to New Orleans she lived on the island of Grenada in the West Indies where she developed an interest in historic homes. After working as a realtor in the Mandeville area, she moved to New Orleans and helped restore a historic home, the Lafcadio Hearn Home, which was recently placed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Cathy raised four sons in New Orleans since moving to the area in 1994. Her husband is a tenured professor at the LSU School of Public Health.

Institutional Structure

Build Now, LLC is a limited liability company registered in Louisiana that administers the program to provide housing in New Orleans. Build Now, LLC is wholly owned by The Build Now Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization formed under IRS section 501(c)(3).