Rendering via Carpenter & Co.

The New Orleans Building Corp. on Tuesday gave its official approval for the city to sign a lease with Carpenter & Co. and Woodward Design + Build for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center into a Four Seasons Hotel & Residences.

This approval confirms the city’s selection of the development team to develop the building.

 There were, however, two changes to the deal since awarding it to Carpenter & Co.

First, the agreement removes a cap on rent payments so that the city can potentially earn more money throughout the life of the lease.

Second, Carpenter will be able to rent a bigger portion of land on the riverfront than the city had originally put forth as part of the deal.

The Carpenter team has proposed a $364 million redevelopment of the old building into a 350-room Four Seasons hotel, with 76 hotel-serviced condominiums.

Next, the lease goes to the City Council for final approval, which will likely happen in early May.

You can read more about the Four Season’s proposal here.