River District Update.
They posted on Instagram that the infrasture (roads, sewer, etc) should be done by mid-2026 and that they would break ground on the apartments in 2026. Shell office tower is expected to be done in early 2027.
However, this seems uncertain based on anticipated board meetings today. Given the complete inability to handle the full project, it is probably a good thing that the Convention Center is taking control. The convention center has a track record of actually getting recent projects completed.
https://www.nola.com/news/business/n...rce=featured-2
"The convention Center's oversight board is expected to approve a plan that would remove the River District Neighborhood Investors consortium — led by local developer Louis Lauricella — from much of the multibillion-dollar project and return direct control of several prime parcels of riverfront land to the Convention Center itself, according to official documents filed ahead of the meeting.
"The Authority has been considering the progress of the River District development for some time," Cook said by text Thursday. "We believe the Authority's considered action today with our partner RDNI will be a productive one."
The move follows months of frustration and warnings to the development team, which has received multiple extensions on rent and lease payments since 2021 with limited tangible progress. By late summer, Convention Center officials made clear that patience had run out.
Under the new terms proposed Thursday, the Convention Center would terminate RDNI’s leases on several key parcels, leaving only the Shell Riverside lease intact, according to documents made public ahead of the meeting.
Three tracts — including the site planned for the Louisiana Music and Heritage Experience, a proposed $165 million museum that recently received a $28.5 million state allocation — would revert to direct Convention Center control. Two other tracts, known as Parcels 7 and 8 at the upriver end of the site, would also be reclaimed.
RDNI would lose its leases on four other tracts but would retain the right, through the end of 2026, to purchase them outright if it can secure financing and formal development plans. Those include the site for the Rivana, a 220-unit residential project with mostly affordable units, and the former Topgolf site.
The board also is expected to approve on Thursday an additional investment by the Convention Center on infrastructure related to the Rivana residential project. City Hall had been pressing the Convention Center to match its commitment of $6 million to move the project forward, but the Convention Center had been pressing RDNI to make the investment instead, according to a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
The Topgolf plan collapsed after legal challenges from nearby residents over zoning procedures for the project, which would have included netting and poles rising hundreds of feet next to existing residential neighborhoods. That parcel will now be redesignated for mixed residential, retail and entertainment use, plans show.
The proposed restructuring would mark the most significant reset for the River District since its inception — and signal that the Convention Center is prepared to take a far more active role in managing its own redevelopment.
The board is also expected Thursday to approve half of a planned $70 million investment in the proposed $590 million “headquarters” hotel on Convention Center Boulevard, adjacent to the Mississippi River Heritage Park. The hotel is envisioned as a critical anchor for the entire district, providing the on-site lodging and connectivity that New Orleans has long lacked compared to other convention destinations.
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