It seems like this will really happen, unlike the countless other iterations of supposed redevelopment of the abandoned Charity Hospital facility in New Orleans which has become an eyesore amid a semi-moribund area of the city. Tulane University, which is sitting on a mountain of money, apparently, is buying in big.
Tulane University is moving toward a larger role in the long-awaited redevelopment of the former Charity Hospital building in downtown New Orleans.
The university announced it signed a purchase and sale agreement with 1532 Tulane Holdco, LLC, the original developer on the project. Tulane leaders described the agreement as a major step toward turning the historic building into a center for education, health care, research and innovation.
Tulane’s role in the project would shift from tenant to owner and lead developer. University leaders said the change reflects Tulane’s commitment to bringing the building back into use.
The project would dedicate more than 650,000 square feet of the former hospital to Tulane programs. The full building is about 1 million square feet.
Tulane and 1532 Tulane Holdco plan to work toward financial closing, which is expected by the fall. Before major construction can begin, both sides still need to complete a development agreement and resolve several other issues.
“This is a significant step forward in what would be the largest and most consequential effort of its kind in the history of Tulane and perhaps in the history of New Orleans itself,” Tulane University President Michael A. Fitts said.
Essentially, what Tulane wants to do is set the old Charity building up as the hub for a biomedical district in that part of New Orleans, and that does make sense – it’s next door to Tulane’s current med school, and LSU’s med school is just down the street, and there are three other hospitals within spitting distance. Talk of creating a true medical district and adding research capability, in an effort to mirror what Houston has done, in New Orleans has gone on forever. Up until now it’s mostly been talk, but between Tulane’s capital and a massive amount of private donation funding, they’re going to make a go of this.
At least, that’s the word.
Tulane claims that the projected economic impacts from this undertaking include:
- A one-time $1.2 billion impact on Louisiana’s economy during redevelopment.
- Roughly 7,300 jobs created during construction and $10.5 million in state tax revenue.
- Post-completion: More than 2,400 permanent new jobs and an ongoing annual economic impact of about $530 million.
We’ll see if that pans out.
It’s hard to get too optimistic about anything that looks like economic development news in New Orleans, because almost all of these announcements ultimately dissipate into the ether. And we’ve heard lots of fantastic stories about things which were supposedly going to happen to the Charity Hospital building. So far that’s all been a zero.
But it’s long overdue for something to happen there. And Tulane is an interesting player, because Tulane doesn’t have to generate a profit. They just have to generate donors and get grants and enroll medical students – all of which they’re pretty good at doing.
So we’ll see. Perhaps all the money getting invested into this facility might raise up the neighborhood around it, which is a concrete jungle of government buildings, homeless shelters, cemeteries and “affordable housing” interspersed between those medical facilities. If a rebuilt and revitalized facility replaces Charity Hospital, who knows – maybe that’ll become a cool part of town again.
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