GNO, Inc. Sunday Night Highlight – Downtown New Orleans Dazzles

Super Bowl LIX showcased a rejuvenated downtown New Orleans, with sportswriter Jeff Duncan enthusing, “The city never looked so beautiful, its landmarks so majestic… Downtown blazed like a Pixar movie brought to life.”

On the heels of this success, the Downtown Development District (DDD) has released its “2025 State of Downtown” report. Per the DDD,

• 7.8 million people visited Downtown New Orleans last year, a 6.4% increase year-over-year
• Over $600,000 was invested in placemaking projects in 2024 (murals, signage, lighting, etc.) via partnerships with GNO, Inc., the BioDistrict, and Entergy
• Despite industry headwinds, the vacancy rate in Downtown New Orleans is 13%, compared to 21% nationally
• 8 co-working spaces, 9 incubators/accelerators, and 3 higher education institutions are located Downtown
• Xavier University is planning a new HBCU medical school Downtown, in partnership with Ochsner Health

Moreover, Downtown New Orleans is benefitting from over $3B of recent or planned investment, including:

• $560M renovation of the Caesar’s Super Dome
• $435M new 340-room hotel tower for Caesar’s Hotel Casino
• $550M renovation of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
• $50M Five O Fore Golf on the former site of the Times-Picayune headquarters
• $1B+ River District ground-breaking, 39 acres of one of the newest mixed-used neighborhoods in the country
• The National World War II Museum also broke ground on the Floyd Education and Collections Pavilion – a two-story educational facility
• Planned 1,000 room new Headquarter Hotel at the Convention Center
• Tulane University and partners leading on the 500M+ Charity Hospital redevelopment
• Work recently commenced on the Governor Nicholls Street wharf, which will give walkers, joggers, and cyclists nearly 2.3 miles of continuous riverfront access on the Mississippi

You can see the full DDD report here.