Newlab New Orleans Breaks Ground at Former Naval Support Activity Site

NEW ORLEANS — The transformation of the former Naval Support Activity East Bank site officially began today as project partners broke ground on a multi phase effort to return the long dormant federal campus to active use as a center for innovation, housing, and neighborhood serving spaces. Led by Brian Gibbs Development, the redevelopment will reimagine the historic riverfront site as a modern mixed use campus that supports New Orleans’ role in the future of energy and industry while delivering tangible community benefits and long term economic growth.

The redevelopment of the former Naval Support Activity East Bank site represents one of the most significant mixed use investments in New Orleans in decades. The multi phase plan will deliver affordable housing, neighborhood serving retail, a world class venture platform, and shared community spaces that reconnect a long isolated riverfront campus to the surrounding neighborhood. Together, these elements are designed to strengthen connections between residents, workers, and the broader Bywater community, establishing a place that supports daily life as much as long term economic growth.

“This groundbreaking marks an important step in putting long idle public land back to work for New Orleans,” said New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno. “Through partnerships like Newlab New Orleans, we are building on Louisiana’s strengths in energy, maritime, and industrial innovation to help local talent and businesses grow, while also delivering real community benefits, including much needed affordable housing for the Bywater community.”

A key initiative of this development is Newlab New Orleans, an innovation and technology hub designed to help startups and industry partners develop, test, and scale the critical technologies that will shape future industries in the state. Newlab New Orleans is anchored by a public private partnership that includes Louisiana Economic Development, the City of New Orleans, Future Use of Energy in Louisiana (FUEL), Louisiana State University, Greater New Orleans Inc., and Shell.

“Reactivating the former Naval Support Activity site reflects how Louisiana is rethinking innovation, industry, and community,” said LED Secretary Susan B. Bourgeois. “By embedding advanced technology development within our legacy industries, Newlab New Orleans will help new companies scale, modernize existing industries, and deliver sustained economic benefits to communities. This is Louisiana innovation, driven by purpose and anchored in partnership.”

Newlab’s platform is built around a simple but powerful premise: scaling the next generation of critical technologies will require deep public private collaboration, purpose built infrastructure, flexible capital, and real world deployment opportunities. Newlab New Orleans will focus initially on advanced energy and power solutions, carbon management, industrial efficiency, and maritime innovation, sectors where Louisiana’s existing assets and workforce create a clear competitive advantage. Through structured programming with industry and government partners, the platform will help founders move from technology development and lab scale testing to first field deployments and commercial scale.

“Today marks a defining moment in Newlab’s long term commitment to anchor industrial innovation in the region,” said Newlab CEO David Belt. “We see in New Orleans, and the state more broadly, both the capability and the momentum required to lead, making this region and the NSA site the perfect place to build a home for scaling critical technologies.”

Newlab New Orleans is being built specifically for industrial scale innovation. The new facility will support startups as they fabricate, assemble, and pre commission first of a kind systems, allowing technologies to be tested and proven in real world conditions before being deployed at commercial scale. By lowering the cost and risk of early deployment, Newlab accelerates commercialization timelines and helps attract companies that might otherwise build and scale elsewhere.

“Today is more than a groundbreaking; it is the start of a redevelopment that will transform the neighborhood and the city,” said Michael Hecht, President and CEO of Greater New Orleans Inc. “The NSA site will seamlessly combine the practical with the aspirational, providing hundreds of units of affordable housing while launching Newlab, the most successful venture platform in the world, right here in New Orleans. We are grateful to all of the committed and creative partners who have brought us to this day.”

Newlab’s approach has delivered measurable results in other legacy industrial cities like Detroit, Michigan, and Brooklyn, New York, where its hubs have supported high growth startups, generated billions in economic activity, and anchored high wage jobs. In New Orleans, the goal is to apply Newlab’s model in a way that is tightly aligned with the state’s economic development strategy, manufacturing base, and skilled workforce, positioning the region as a launchpad for scaling critical technologies.

“FUEL’s investment in the Newlab partnership will put Louisiana energy startups on a faster path from lab to market,” said Mike Mazzola, Executive Director of Future Use of Energy in Louisiana (FUEL). “When combined with FUEL’s other investments, our founders will have access to the tools, capital, and partnerships needed to scale.”

Newlab New Orleans is one of several major components of the broader NSA redevelopment, a multi phase effort led by Brian Gibbs Development to transform the former military operations site into a vibrant new campus that delivers housing, retail, and long term community and economic value for New Orleans. Designed as an integrated campus, the redevelopment aligns these elements to create community and economic activity while delivering long term value for the surrounding neighborhood.

Lincoln Avenue Communities’ NSA East Bank Apartments will anchor the housing component of the redevelopment through an adaptive reuse project that will deliver 294 units of affordable housing and approximately 30,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The development will include one, two, and three bedroom units serving individuals and families earning between 20 percent and 60 percent of Area Median Income, including 74 Project Based Voucher units.

At 197 million dollars, the Lincoln Avenue Communities investment represents the largest affordable housing development in Louisiana history, setting a new benchmark for scale, preservation, and long term affordability. By transforming former military facilities into high quality homes, the project expands access to housing in a high opportunity area while ensuring that the NSA redevelopment delivers immediate and lasting benefits for local residents.

“This project will be transformative for the New Orleans Bywater community and will bring new life to this historic property,” said David Garcia, LAC Vice President and Project Partner. “LAC, along with Brian Gibbs Development, is proud to play a role in preserving New Orleans’ architectural heritage while creating sorely needed affordable housing for New Orleans residents.”

With construction now underway, the redevelopment will proceed in phases to deliver new homes, ground floor retail, and shared community spaces, returning the former Naval Support Activity East Bank site to active use and creating a riverfront campus that supports daily life in the Bywater while positioning New Orleans for long term growth in industrial sectors. Together, these investments represent a long term commitment to local residents and the region’s economic future.

About Louisiana Innovation (LA.IO)
Louisiana Innovation exists to ensure that the state’s unique business and policy strengths support an ongoing tradition of innovation. The organization supports and celebrates work that transforms local challenges into global scale solutions. LA.IO is where bold thinking, ingenuity, and practical action meet to create meaningful impact. For more information, visit LA.IO.

About LED
Louisiana Economic Development is responsible for driving capital investment, job creation, and economic opportunity for the people of Louisiana and employers of all sizes. Explore how LED is positioning Louisiana to win at OpportunityLouisiana.com.

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