The Jefferson Parish Financial Improvement Fee (JEDCO), alongside parish officers, has formally unveiled a brand new enterprise district in Previous Jefferson. Positioned close to the border between Jefferson and Orleans Parishes, the newly named Jefferson Parish Design District serves as the bottom for over a dozen design-focused enterprises. This newly acknowledged space celebrates a definite, place-based financial improvement technique that goals to stimulate continued development by way of property tax incentives, expanded entry to capital through JEDCO, and the encouragement of sustained funding by design companies, giant and small.
The world had already skilled a notable surge in organically pushed development throughout the design trade. Impressed by this development, Karin Nelson, proprietor of Design Heart New Orleans, proposed the concept to formally designate a 320-acre part of Previous Jefferson as a design and inventive hub after observing the inflow of design companies relocating to the realm. JEDCO championed the imaginative and prescient by incorporating it into the Jefferson EDGE 2025, the parish’s long-range financial improvement plan.
“The Design District initiative represents the actually collaborative nature of financial improvement,” JEDCO President and CEO stated in a information launch. “This concept was born out of discussions with an area enterprise proprietor, who noticed the potential to form her neighborhood right into a vacation spot for creativity and commerce. JEDCO recognized a lot of imaginative methods to not solely develop the Design District, but additionally to supply extra help and incentives that make the realm engaging to enterprise homeowners and entrepreneurs. By investing in companies like this, we’re laying the groundwork for a stronger, extra dynamic economic system in Jefferson Parish.”
“Louisiana has a prolonged and wealthy design historical past and we’re surrounded by a vibrant design neighborhood. With the designation of this design district, the purpose is for Previous Jefferson to turn into a design vacation spot, attracting new companies of all types to help and assist our gifted designers develop their firms,” stated Karin Nelson, proprietor of Design Heart New Orleans. “By increasing whereas protecting revenues native, our design district may also hopefully present new and thrilling alternatives and advantages to all of our residents and our neighborhood as a complete.”
In June, the Jefferson Parish Council gave its approval to formally set up the Design District, opening the door to a number of new initiatives geared toward supporting and rising design-related companies within the space. By its small enterprise financing division, JEDCO launched a specialised mortgage fund concentrating on companies and property homeowners trying to broaden throughout the district. The Council is about to ratify the district’s designation as an Financial Improvement District, permitting property homeowners to profit from property tax abatements by way of the state’s Restoration Tax Abatement (RTA) program.
“Creating areas that foster innovation and creativity is crucial to the way forward for Jefferson Parish,” Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng stated in a information launch. “The Jefferson Parish Design District is a dynamic space that drives power into the neighborhood, brings individuals collectively, and displays the entrepreneurial spirit that makes this area so distinctive. This impactful initiative demonstrates how intentional planning and help can flip natural momentum into lasting financial development.”
Related design districts thrive in cities throughout the nation, together with Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Las Vegas. These districts usually revolve round a focus of design companies, with extra retail, eating, and leisure venues serving to to reinforce neighborhood connection and engagement.
“This mission is just the start of what this space can turn into,” District 2 Councilman Deano Bonano stated within the information launch. “With its strategic location and rising community of artistic companies, the Jefferson Parish Design District has the potential to evolve into a significant regional vacation spot for design and innovation.”
The district spans a portion of Jefferson Freeway, stretching from River Highway to Earhart Expressway, and is bordered by Monticello and Brooklyn Avenues. Its placement on the boundary between Jefferson and Orleans Parishes positions it ideally to attract in design professionals, regional guests, and visitors from each parishes. Companies already working throughout the space embody Acme Locks, Amann and Associates, Arroliga Customized Millwork, B&B Flooring Warehouse, Brown & Damare’ Inc, Funds Blinds of New Orleans, Design Heart of New Orleans, DOP Antiques, Famiglio’s Ironworks, Haven Customized Furnishings, Jefferson Selection Retailer, Lowe’s Dwelling Enchancment, NOLA Rugs, Status Flooring, Shades of Gentle, Specialty Carpet Workroom, and the Salvation Military Thrift Retailer.
