New Orleans plans to turn a 100-year-old firehouse into affordable housing, childcare center
By Joni Hess | Staff writer
Construction is set to begin on a blighted, century-old firehouse on Louisiana Avenue that will become New Orleans’ first city-owned property to include both affordable housing units and an early childhood education center, city leaders said Wednesday.
As part of a joint initiative between the city and the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, the $8 million project will have seven second-floor housing units above a childhood education center on the first floor.
City officials said at a Wednesday news conference that they hope the renovation will help address blight, an affordable housing crisis and the need for more childcare seats.
The project will be the first under a new Redevelopment Framework between the city and NORA that puts neglected city-owned properties back into use in the form of affordable housing and commercial development.
“It also highlights the power of public-private partnerships in addressing our city’s most pressing needs," NORA Executive Director Brenda Breaux said in a news release.
City leaders said they hope the project serves as a model for investments in other vacant and abandoned properties.
Early education
The childcare center will have a 65-seat capacity and will accept both private pay and publicly funded assistance, while the housing units will be open to families who earn 50%, 60% or 80% of area's median income.
Funding is pooled from a mix of sources with a large chunk coming from state and federal tax credits.
A slice of the money is expected to come from the city-wide early childhood education millage, which along with state matched funds, supports 2,000 children annually from low-income households.
A spokesperson with the millage-funded City Seats program facilitator Agenda for Children said all publicly funded seats — including state-funded programs — are at capacity, which speaks to the “overall need for more child care centers and options in New Orleans.”
Local affordable housing developers People's Housing+ and Alembic Community Development are leading the project, with CDW Services as the general contractor and Kiro Studios as the project architect.
“We're really excited to bring this important building back into service to the community,” Oji Alexander, CEO of project developer People’s Housing+, said Wednesday.
The building is expected to be operational by the start of the 2026 school year.
Housing a priority
Council member Lesli Harris, whose district includes the firehouse, and Alexander said the project is an example of one that could be supported through a permanent affordable housing fund that voters will consider on the Nov. 5 ballot.
The Housing Trust Fund would not be a new tax, she said, but rather a reallocation of 2% of the city’s budget to affordable housing programs.
“This is a reinvestment of ourselves into our city to make sure that we're not using New Orleanians; to make sure we're keeping people in city centers so they can get to their homes and jobs easier,” she said.
If passed, the City Council’s proposed housing fund would be cemented into the city charter, where it could only be diverted by a unanimous council vote for an emergency or another public vote.
The measure has drawn support from housing advocates, developers and policy experts, while critics — such as policy research group the Bureau of Governmental Research — say redirecting millions from the city’s budget is too restrictive for other priorities.
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