River District Neighborhood Investors has finalized private equity financing arrangements and executed key site sub-leases for the initial phase of the $1 billion River District master plan. The joint venture—led by Lauricella Land Company, Cypress Realty Partners, and Laurel Street Residential—completed the ground-lease transfers for the first private sub-parcels across the 39-acre waterfront site along the Tchoupitoulas Street and Henderson Street corridor, adjacent to the Lower Garden District.
The completion of these private closing instruments moves the project into active civil engineering, utility tie-ins, and contractor mobilization. Initial site work near 900 Convention Center Boulevard focuses on ground-level utility infrastructure prep before crews begin subterranean foundation work.
The first private phase features approximately 500 residential units split between market-rate and affordable housing. The initial footprint also encompasses more than 100,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial and retail space designed to extend Central Business District and Warehouse District commercial density toward the riverfront.
Entertainer anchor Topgolf will occupy a 100,000-square-foot venue within the development. Additionally, Shell USA is identified as a prospective regional office tenant for the district, which could cluster significant corporate office presence on the site.
Following ongoing civil infrastructure preparation, the developer targets the fourth quarter of 2026 to begin deep foundation and piling installation for the Phase 1 residential buildings.
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