The Rules for West End's Empty Lakefront Lot Were Written Before Any Developer Applied

At the western edge of West End Park, beyond the harbor's boats and boathouses, a fenced lot has sat empty for two decades. Broken wooden pilings stick up out of Lake Pontchartrain where Fitzgerald's once served fried shrimp. Weeds cover the old parking lot, and boats, trailers and building materials are scattered inside the fence. That is how The Times-Picayune described it in March 2026.

On October 30, the State of Louisiana, the City of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish signed a cooperative endeavor agreement to redevelop the site, directly across from the 17th Street Canal. No developer has been chosen. Even so, the main limits on what this land can become were set before anyone submitted a proposal. For people who walk the seawall, launch a boat or fish off the new pier, those limits say more about the West End they will see than any rendering yet.

Three limits were in place before the solicitation opened

The City is looking for a developer through a two-step process. The first step, a Request for Qualifications, closes November 16 at 2 p.m. Whoever responds will be working within these rules:

1. Nothing goes on the old pilings. The Army Corps of Engineers has banned construction over the lake so nothing interferes with the 17th Street Canal Pump Station next door. The pilings that held Bruning's, Fitzgerald's, Augie's Del Lago and Jaeger's above the water will stay pilings.
2. No new housing. State Rep. Stephanie Hilferty's 2024 legislation let the city sublease the property for a small commercial or recreational project and banned new residential development. The Times-Picayune reported the ban was a response to residents' worries about what condos or apartments would do to traffic.
3. A two-parish board with its own tax. Hilferty's 2026 bill, HB 892, became Act 590 and took effect July 1, 2026. It created the West End Economic Development District. Under the enrolled text, the district may levy a sales and use tax of up to 2% inside its boundaries, set by board resolution. The act directs the money to the district's benefit and to economic development and infrastructure projects.

Together, these three rules point toward a small commercial or recreational project with no residents, one that leaves the old pilings alone and pays a tax set by a board drawn from both parishes. The City's own description of the goal matches. It wants a project that builds on the site's history and fits in with the boathouse community and the natural setting around it. In the same 2024 Times-Picayune article, Hilferty set expectations for scale:

"So many people have fond memories of what this area was. I don't think it would ever be the scale it was before Katrina. But we want to return it to something that people will enjoy."

The condos were once on the table

The residential ban matters more once you see what earlier plans proposed. In 2012, the Regional Planning Commission put forward concepts with more park space, an amphitheater and condominiums on the old restaurant parking lot. One version also covered over a lagoon and added more condos at the east end, Fox 8 reported. At the time, the Corps was keeping anything from being built on the parking lot while pump station work went on.

That same year, The Lens counted the bodies with a say over the site: Orleans, Jefferson, the state, the levee authorities, the marina, private leaseholders, FEMA and the Corps. It also reported that the delays from Corps staging helped push Coconut Beach to move to Kenner.

The next ten years went the same way. Orleans and Jefferson approved a cooperative agreement in 2021 to draft a solicitation, according to The Times-Picayune, but what would be built was still open. By April 2023, Fox 8 reported that officials were still working out who was responsible for what, and the yacht harbor board had ordered a new feasibility study.

The main obstacle was ownership. The state owns the land, the city manages it, and about a third of it lies in Jefferson Parish, so any change needs all three to agree. Joe Giarrusso, now Mayor Helena Moreno's chief administrative officer, told The Times-Picayune that the previous administration had wanted terms that were not part of earlier agreements and were not favorable to Jefferson Parish. The City announced on July 16, 2026 that the two parishes had agreed on final terms, and the October signing made it official.

Who holds which piece now

After twenty years of shared control and stalled talks, the agreement gives each piece to one party:

Both the Yacht Harbor corporation and the Building Corporation are city-owned public benefit corporations. Two board seats go to each parish's district council member and the fifth goes to the mayor. That means the people who represent the lakefront on both sides of the parish line control most of how the tax money gets spent.

The pier showed up before the project

While the lot stayed fenced, the land around it kept improving. In 2024, the marina agency said it wanted new revenue to improve lighting, get more use out of the park, maintain the boat launch and build a fishing pier. The pier came first. The Municipal Yacht Harbor Fishing Pier, at the north end of West End Breakwater Park, held its ribbon-cutting on January 6, 2026.

The City's October release also lists a 400-slip floating-dock marina and a new Community Sailing facility in the yacht harbor community. It describes the site as nearly five acres of lakefront with 500 feet of seawall. One road leads in, and it also serves the marina, the boathouses, boat repair shops and other sailing businesses. Whatever gets built will share that road with everyone already using it. That makes the parking and noise questions practical ones.

A short drive east, Pontchartrain Conservancy's New Canal Lighthouse at 8001 Lakeshore Drive is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., as a science and history museum. Its Lights on the Lake evening is scheduled for December 12, 5 to 8 p.m.

The decisions still open

The rules took housing and the old pilings off the table. What's left is mostly about the size, hours and character of a commercial project. At earlier public meetings, some residents asked for green space or a pelican nesting area and raised concerns about parking and late-night noise. Others suggested pickleball or bike rentals, and some supported commercial development at a careful scale. In March 2026, the West End Lake Shore Park Civic Association was still pushing for a bird sanctuary, pickleball courts or more parking. That month, The Times-Picayune also reported that the Historic District Landmarks Commission had made no recommendation the previous November on nominating West End Park for the National Register of Historic Places.

Those are the questions that matter now. The City says two more public meetings will be held in November, and the feedback will be considered as the site is planned. Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said in the City's release that she expects the project to bring recreation along with food and drink, and more public access to a lake that much of her parish can't reach. The RFQ closes November 16, and the second round follows.

This post describes public legislation and agreements for general information and is not legal or tax advice. Anyone weighing how the district or its tax affects them should confirm the details with a qualified professional.

If you live along the lakefront, a redeveloped West End will become part of how people describe your street, from the evening walk to the drive home on that single road. When you want to know how it figures into your home's story, The Martzolf Group can walk you through it. Request your home valuation and we will bring the West End timeline to the conversation.