Prepared, Set, Motion. By the top of 2026, e. ross studios Jazzland is anticipated to develop into the primary operational tenant anchoring the brand new Bayou Phoenix improvement, main the long-awaited return of commerce to the previous 227-acre Six Flags and Jazzland web site in New Orleans East.

In March 2025, Emmy Award–profitable composer Elvin Ross and his firm, E. Ross Studios, signed an settlement with Bayou Phoenix LLC – a  non-public improvement partnership between Henry Consulting LLC and TKTMJ Inc. – to function a film and manufacturing studio on 25 acres throughout the Bayou Phoenix improvement. Designed as a premier vacation spot for content material creators, studio executives, manufacturing firms, and regional residents, the studio will combine music, media, know-how, creativity, and artistry to provide movie and tv content material.

“The extent of curiosity and alternatives generated as results of Elvin’s studio announcement has been unprecedented, and as our first operational tenant, it would breathe new life into this park and additional New Orleans as a vacation spot for movie manufacturing,” stated Troy Henry, Managing Companion of Henry Consulting and a lifelong resident of New Orleans East.

Henry, alongside brothers Thomas and Michael Tubre of TKTMJ (a New Orleans East based mostly building and improvement firm), is main the imaginative and prescient for the Bayou Phoenix improvement. The group’s conceptual grasp plan contains e. ross studios Jazzland, a sports activities advanced with indoor courts and out of doors fields, a parking facility, an indoor water park, an leisure heart, retail and eating areas, a resort, and a Clear Water Seaside lagoon space.

Following on-site demolition in 2025 of the previous rides and amusement park gear, the mission transitioned into the ability situation evaluation part in early 2026. As soon as these assessments are finalized, building of the film and manufacturing studios is anticipated to start later this yr. “We’re enthusiastic about our progress,” stated Henry. “It is a essential yr for us to see the primary steps of our imaginative and prescient lastly coming into place.”

Henry stated they’re concentrating on the event to be accomplished in phases, with the film and manufacturing studios by the top of 2026; the sports activities advanced by mid-2028; and the resort, water park, retail and eating choices accomplished by the top of 2028. Henry stated he goals to have agreements in place by the top of the primary or second quarter with operators for the youth sports activities advanced and fields, the resort, the indoor water park, and Clear Water Seaside.

“That’s our purpose – to finalize our operators and tenant companions this yr. The timing of these signed agreements will rely on the outcomes of the ability situation evaluation,” Henry stated. “As soon as that course of is full, we will work intently with every operator to find out the precise acreage and placements throughout the improvement.”

Plans name for a 185,000-square-foot indoor sports activities advanced with eight NBA journey hardwood courts, 16 volleyball courts, one championship enviornment courtroom with seating, 12,000 sq. toes of retail, 15,000 sq. toes of efficiency coaching, and restaurant-quality meals and beverage.

The out of doors sports activities fields will include 30 acres of subsequent technology, artificial turf fields, together with FIFA dimension soccer fields, youth event regulation little league baseball fields, NCAA softball fields, and fields that accommodate lacrosse, soccer, and rugby. All fields will likely be illuminated with skilled stage lights. There will likely be 4 acres of shaded buildings, everlasting buildings for meals service and restrooms, and a car parking zone for greater than 3,000 autos.

Plans for the indoor water park embrace a household wave pool, motion river, interactive play areas, and a slide advanced. The event additionally options an eight-acre household seashore with waterfront eating and retail, a clubhouse, amphitheater, and occasion areas akin to a marriage peninsula and cocktail garden. Further components of the early plans embrace an leisure heart, green-space courtyards, a central courtyard with an overpass walkway, and 100,000 sq. toes of eating and retail spanning meals and beverage, attire, sporting items, and common merchandise.

The 227 acres has been unoccupied since 2005 when Six Flags closed for Katrina and by no means reopened after floodwater broken the property. Earlier than Six Flags, Jazzland opened in 2000, earlier than submitting for chapter in 2002, and being purchased by Six Flags.

In 2009, the Metropolis of New Orleans terminated its lease with Six Flags, Inc. The Metropolis’s Industrial Improvement Board (IDB) took title to the property whereas the Metropolis pursued improvement alternatives. In 2021, the Metropolis selected Bayou Phoenix LLC because the developer; NORA took the title of the property from IDB and executed the event settlement/lease with Bayou Phoenix.

In 2023, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) executed a improvement settlement and draft lease with Bayou Phoenix LLC to redevelop the 227 acres situated close to the intersection of Interstate 10 and Interstate 510. In January 2025, Bayou Phoenix held a “Pathway to Progress” demolition occasion to ask group members and elected metropolis officers to witness a milestone within the redevelopment. The demolition included the dismantling of greater than 60 buildings, such because the towering Mega Zeph curler coaster that was seen from the interstate.

“New Orleans East deserves a improvement that may help native commerce, generate everlasting, high-paying jobs, and strengthen the neighborhood,” stated Henry. “We really feel superb about how the mission is converging, and we’re excited to maneuver ahead and make some massive bulletins this yr.”