The New Orleans Six Flags site rotted for years. A developer just leased it and has big plans.
Bayou Phoenix took control of the 227-acre property on Wednesday; plans call for $500 million in amenities, attractions.
By STEPHANIE RIEGEL | Staff writer
Oct 25, 2023
The yearslong effort to redevelop the former Six Flags amusement park in New Orleans East took a major step forward Wednesday as the 227-acre property was formally turned over to Bayou Phoenix, the local group selected to tackle the ambitious project.
At a ceremony held during the annual meeting of the World Waterpark Association at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Troy Henry, who leads the Bayou Phoenix consortium, signed the lease to cheers from residents and applause from public officials.
Henry's plan is to turn the blighted property into a sprawling complex of water parks, youth sporting facilities, two hotels, an 8.5-acre clear lake for swimming, a movie studio, amphitheater, retail outlets and other amenities.
And while the group hasn't yet secured funding or partners to operate the attractions, Henry and city officials said signing the lease was an important step in the process of eventually bringing the area back to life.
“Today is just the beginning. There is an incredible amount of work that needs to be done, but we are here for it,” said Jeff Schwartz, economic development director for the City of New Orleans.
Revitalizing the property, which was flooded during Hurricane Katrina and lay fallow and rusting ever since, has been a top priority for Mayor LaToya Cantrell. In 2021, Bayou Phoenix won the right to pursue the project after a separate development group backed by Drew Brees withdrew its application.
Over the past two years, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, which controls the land, has worked with Bayou Phoenix and other agencies and officials to navigate a series of complicated ownership and legal hurdles in order to reach the point of signing a lease.
Now that the document is finalized and Bayou Phoenix has control of the property, Henry said his group can begin the difficult task of figuring out how to turn their vision into reality.
“We just got the keys, so now we have to assess the property because we need to understand if the master plan we have designed can physically be located in the way we have laid it out,” Henry said.
A long way to go
While today’s ceremony was a significant milestone, many questions about the project remain.
Over the next 12 months, the developers plan to assess the site and clear it out, demolishing the rusting old amusement rides and removing junk from the property. The Bayou Phoenix master plan will also likely change during that process as the partners get a better understanding of the land and determine what is feasible.
Henry’s partner in Bayou Phoenix is Thomas Tubre, who owns a construction company.
“They do all the technical stuff, all the crazy stuff most people cannot do,” Henry said. “So, once they get in there, we may have to move some of the components around. They’ll be the same components, but maybe not in the same place.”
Bayou Phoenix can also now begin negotiating with outside operators to sublease the various components of the development, such as the water park, hotels and sports facilities — that they will run.
The developers have had initial discussions with several operators, including nationally known brands that are interested in taking on various pieces of the project, Henry said. Because Bayou Phoenix did not have a signed lease agreement until Tuesday, however, it has not engaged in serious talks or, even, secured letters of intent with any specific partners.
For those same reasons, the group has not secured any financing commitments yet. The price tag for the project has previously been mentioned as ranging from $500 million to nearly $1 billion, though Henry said Tuesday that it will likely be closer to $500 million.
Of that, an estimated 20%, or $100 million, is expected to come from city, state and federal funds, including the possible creation of a special taxing district and “other creative, innovative government programs,” Henry said.
The rest would come from private investors and bank loans.
Milestones
Bayou Phoenix signed a 50-year lease with NORA, a state agency, agreeing to pay $1 a year for the right to develop the land. The group is obligated to hit certain development milestones along the way, though it can ask for extensions if it is running behind.
Its first deadline is 12 months from the date of the lease signing, October 25, by which time it must have a sublease in place with an operator for at least one component of the project. That portion of the project must be completed in early 2027, according to the lease.
The developers will be considered in default if they do not hit the milestones, though the lease contains clauses that allow for extensions.
Bayou Phoenix has already spent more than $1 million getting the project to where it is today, Henry said, and he expects it will spend several million dollars more over the next few months as it begins working on the property and the plans in more details.
Current plans for the project take up about 160 acres of the site, not the entire parcel. Henry said depending on how the buildout goes, Bayou Phoenix could expand in one direction or another.
We’re going to do everything we can to make sure this project happens,” he said. “We’re excited about it. this is something very unique for our state and our city.”
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