Top Construction Projects 2026: 5. Bayou Phoenix studio to anchor Jazzland redevelopment

Ready, Set, Action. By the end of 2026, e. ross studios Jazzland is expected to become the first operational tenant anchoring the new Bayou Phoenix development, leading the long-awaited return of commerce to the former 227-acre Six Flags and Jazzland site in New Orleans East.In March 2025, Emmy Award–winning composer Elvin Ross and his company, E. Ross Studios, signed an agreement with Bayou Phoenix LLC – a private development partnership between Henry Consulting LLC and TKTMJ Inc. – to operate a movie and production studio on 25 acres within the Bayou Phoenix development. Designed as a premier destination for content creators, studio executives, production companies, and regional residents, the studio will integrate music, media, technology, creativity, and artistry to produce film and television content.

Following on-site demolition in 2025 of the former rides and amusement park equipment, the project transitioned into the facility condition assessment phase in early 2026. Once those assessments are finalized, construction of the movie and production studios is expected to begin later this year. “We are excited about our progress,” said Henry. “This is a critical year for us to see the first steps of our vision finally coming into place.”

Henry said they are targeting the development to be completed in phases, with the movie and production studios by the end of 2026; the sports complex by mid-2028; and the hotel, water park, retail and dining options completed by the end of 2028. Henry said he aims to have agreements in place by the end of the first or second quarter with operators for the youth sports complex and fields, the hotel, the indoor water park, and Clear Water Beach.

“That’s our goal – to finalize our operators and tenant partners this year. The timing of those signed agreements will depend on the results of the facility condition assessment,” Henry said. “Once that process is complete, we can work closely with each operator to determine the exact acreage and placements within the development.” Plans call for a 185,000-square-foot indoor sports complex with eight NBA travel hardwood courts, 16 volleyball courts, one championship arena court with seating, 12,000 square feet of retail, 15,000 square feet of performance training, and restaurant-quality food and beverage.

The outdoor sports fields will consist of 30 acres of next generation, synthetic turf fields, including FIFA size soccer fields, youth tournament regulation little league baseball fields, NCAA softball fields, and fields that accommodate lacrosse, football, and rugby. All fields will be illuminated with professional level lights. There will be four acres of shaded structures, permanent structures for food service and restrooms, and a parking lot for more than 3,000 vehicles.

Plans for the indoor water park include a family wave pool, action river, interactive play areas, and a slide complex. The development also features an eight-acre family beach with waterfront dining and retail, a clubhouse, amphitheater, and event spaces such as a wedding peninsula and cocktail lawn. Additional elements of the early plans include an entertainment center, green-space courtyards, a central courtyard with an overpass walkway, and 100,000 square feet of dining and retail spanning food and beverage, apparel, sporting goods, and general merchandise. The 227 acres has been unoccupied since 2005 when Six Flags closed for Katrina and never reopened after floodwater damaged the property. Before Six Flags, Jazzland opened in 2000, before filing for bankruptcy in 2002, and being bought by Six Flags.

In 2009, the City of New Orleans terminated its lease with Six Flags, Inc. The City’s Industrial Development Board (IDB) took title to the property while the City pursued development opportunities. In 2021, the City chose Bayou Phoenix LLC as the developer; NORA took the title of the property from IDB and executed the development agreement/lease with Bayou Phoenix.In 2023, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) executed a development agreement and draft lease with Bayou Phoenix LLC to redevelop the 227 acres located near the intersection of Interstate 10 and Interstate 510. In January 2025, Bayou Phoenix held a “Pathway to Progress” demolition event to invite team members and elected city officials to witness a milestone in the redevelopment. The demolition included the dismantling of more than 60 structures, such as the towering Mega Zeph roller coaster that was seen from the interstate.

“New Orleans East deserves a development that will support local commerce, generate permanent, high-paying jobs, and strengthen the community,” said Henry. “We feel very good about how the project is converging, and we are excited to move forward and make some big announcements this year.”Read the full article on Neworleanscitybusiness.com.

NORA Debuts 1st Double Up! Duplex Home

NORA Debuts 1st Double Up! Duplex Home. Getty image.

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority will mark the completion of the first home built through its Double Up! Duplex Program with a ribbon cutting ceremony March 10, highlighting a new approach aimed at expanding affordable homeownership while allowing residents to generate rental income. NORA: Expanding Homeownership Through Double Up! Duplex Housing Launched in June 2025, the Double Up! Duplex Program is designed to help families build wealth by pairing owner-occupied housing with a secondary rental unit. The program partners with local developers including People’s Housing+, Habitat for Humanity and CNTRD to construct duplex homes on NORA-owned lots across the city. Each duplex includes a primary residence for the homeowner along with a smaller rental unit that can be leased to generate passive income or used to house extended family members. Officials say the model allows homeowners to offset mortgage costs while building equity. The first completed home is located at 3333 Fourth Street in Central City. The ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at noon on March 10 and is expected to include New Orleans City Councilmember Lesli Harris, who represents District B, along with leadership from the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority and People’s Housing+. The pilot program is expected to produce four duplex homes, representing eight total housing units, in neighborhoods including Tremé, Central City and the Seventh Ward. City leaders say the initiative reflects growing interest in small-scale multifamily housing models that can increase neighborhood housing supply while supporting long-term homeownership for local residents. The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority works with public and private partners to stimulate redevelopment, attract investment and support economic development projects throughout the city. The program reflects NORA’s broader focus on expanding housing opportunities through innovative development strategies. In its 2025 annual report, the agency highlighted several initiatives aimed at increasing affordable housing and neighborhood investment across the city. “Our focus remains on creating opportunities that last and outcomes that matter,” said NORA Executive Director Brenda Breaux. “Every project represents our commitment to creating quality housing and investing in long-term opportunities that strengthen communities across New Orleans.” Read the full article on the Biz New Orleans.

Long-vacant city-owned lot on edge of French Quarter to become mixed-income apartment building Quarter to become mixed-income apartment building

BY JONAH MEADOWS | Staff writer  Mar 21, 2026

Construction is underway on a mixed income apartment complex that will bring 50 apartments, including 37 "affordable" or rent-restricted units, to a long-vacant, city-owned property on the edge of the French Quarter, Treme and Faubourg Marigny. Developers and city officials held a groundbreaking Friday on the Esplanade Delille Apartments, set to be completed in April 2027, on a site that was part of the St. Aloysius School campus until the 1960s.  In 2023, HRI Communities and New Orleans Restoration Properties were selected to do the project by the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, which is leasing the property from the city. The developer's plans call for constructing three buildings — a main structure fronting Esplanade Avenue with 40 apartments above two ground-floor retail storefronts, and a pair of smaller, camelback-style houses along Henriette Delille Street will five apartments each. Most of the units will be one-bedrooms.  The $22.2 million project comes as the city continues to struggle with a shortage of workforce and affordable housing. Housing advocates have said the city needs 55,000 more units of affordable housing than is currently available. "The general approach to this one was they wanted a lot of housing, because we have such a housing need in the city," said Josh Collen, president of HRI Communities. "But it's a tight site. It really is a very, very small site, and so we had to stretch to get 50 units onto the property." Long-term affordability Thirty-seven apartments will be set aside for affordable housing for renters earning 60% or less of the area median income, which currently restricts it to people earning about $38,800 if they live alone or $43,200 for two-person households. The terms of the project's financing require those 37 units to stay affordable at that level for at least 45 years, although the fact that the land has been leased from the city means that the public can effectively keep them affordable far longer. Of those, 15 will be covered by project-based vouchers from the Housing Authority of New Orleans, including a dozen designated as official replacement housing for units that were lost when the city demolished the Iberville public housing development.Under the terms of a $30.5 million federal program, the Iberville-Treme Choice Neighborhood Initiative, the city was required to build 859 replacement apartments and 1,549 total units in the neighborhoods previously served by the Iberville development — the area between St. Bernard and Tulane avenues and between Broad and Rampart streets. Fifteen years later, that money has long been spent. But the completion of the Esplanade Delille project — along with two other projects near the Lafitte Greenway that are currently under construction — will bring the total number of units built as part of the initiative to 1,580, and the total number of replacement units to 859, according to Maggie Merrill, senior director of asset management, development and modernization for the Housing Authority of New Orleans. Finding the financing Funding for the Esplanade Delille comes from a variety of sources. They include a 9% low-income housing tax credits from the Louisiana Housing Corporation — accounting for about $13.5 million of the construction cost through First Horizon’s Community Investment Group — a $6.5 million loan from the city, a $500,000 loan from the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority and a deal with Finance New Orleans to pay a fixed $10,000 a year instead of property taxes.  "This is a totally replicable model," Collen said, describing it as "best practice" to use quasi-public groups like HANO or NORA to leverage private capital in order to get vacant or blighted city-owned properties back into commerce. "The real secret here is having the city have enough funding to go along with these properties to win the scarce resources that the state of Louisiana puts out," Collen said. "A lot of their programs, they don't give you enough money to get the whole thing done." Friday's groundbreaking comes less than a year after the same contractors and development team completed another affordable apartment building about a third of a mile away in the 7th Ward.“They are very comparable,” Collen said. “Where they really differ is in their building shapes and historical context.” Read the full article on NOLA.com.

Redevelopment of historic school, originally opened for Black students and shuttered after Katrina, must include educational component

by Safura Syed

March 5, 2026

Officials in the New Orleans public school district and the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) are moving forward with the redevelopment of an historic 7th Ward school property, which was donated nearly a century ago under the condition that it only be used for education. 

NORA and the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) on Wednesday (March 4) heard community input for planned redevelopment of the Valena C. Jones Elementary school building, one of the first public elementary schools for Black children in New Orleans, which was closed after Hurricane Katrina. The building takes up almost an entire city block on Galvez and Annette streets. 

The school board has partnered with NORA to redevelop two of its long-vacant school properties — Valena C. Jones and the Israel Augustine School building — to generate extra revenue for the NOLA Public School district, which faces financial trouble due to decreasing enrollment. While the properties likely won’t be reopened as schools, given the shrinking number of students in the school district needed to fill them, they can be repurposed into other types of developments for which the school board would serve as a landlord.