The Central Business District ( CBD ) is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans , Louisiana , United States .
30-635: The Energy Centre , located in the Central Business District of New Orleans , Louisiana , is a 39-story, 530 feet (162 m) -tall skyscraper designed by HKS, Inc. It is the fourth tallest building in both the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. A four-story parking garage is adjacent to the tower, one block upriver. The garage is accessible from both Loyola Avenue and South Rampart Street . The building experienced minor damage during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Some windows near
60-583: A boutique hotel. Notable structures in the CBD include the Greek Revival Gallier Hall (the city's former city hall ); Caesars Superdome ; the Smoothie King Center ; the city's present-day, International style city hall; and Hancock Whitney Center , the city's tallest building and headquarters for Royal Dutch Shell 's Gulf of Mexico Exploration and Production. Other significant attractions are
90-482: A large store one block off Canal, on Baronne Street. Bookstores, theaters, and movie palaces abounded with the neon marquees of the Saenger , Loews State , RKO Orpheum , Joy , and Civic theaters nightly casting multi-colored lights onto surrounding sidewalks. In the 1950s, six-lane Loyola Avenue was constructed as an extension of Elk Place, cutting a swath through a low-income residential district and initially hosting
120-676: A modern civic center . The New Orleans Civic Center is today much diminished due to the Louisiana Supreme Court building being torn down in the wake of the court's 2004 departure for the French Quarter, the Louisiana State office building having suffered the same fate, and Duncan Plaza itself having been fenced off. The United States Postal Service operates the New Orleans Main Post Office at 701 Loyola Avenue in
150-654: Is a landmark building in New Orleans , Louisiana , United States , at the downtown lake corner of Canal Street and Basin Street . It housed one of the city's leading department stores for over 90 years. In 2009 it was redeveloped into condominia by Elie Khoury . In 1903, Krauss Department Store was opened at 1201 Canal Street, New Orleans by Leon Fellman and his nephews, the Krauss brothers—Max, Alfred, Leopold, and Fritz. The building cost $ 25,000. Because of its location—right on
180-749: Is a subdistrict of the French Quarter /CBD area. Its boundaries, as defined by the City Planning Commission are Iberville, Decatur and Canal Streets to the north; the Mississippi River to the east; the New Orleans Morial Convention Center , Julia and Magazine Streets , and the Pontchartrain Expressway to the south; and South Claiborne Avenue , Cleveland Street, as well as South and North Derbigny Streets to
210-649: Is also headquartered downtown as is the New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLA BA), the public-private partnership agency leading economic development efforts for the city proper. The World Trade Center of New Orleans (WTCNO) began operating in 1943 and at one time was at 2 Canal Street. That location is now the Four Seasons Hotel and the WTCNO is at One Canal Place . The Consulate of Mexico in New Orleans
240-403: Is in the CBD. The consulate re-opened in 2008 because of a dramatic increase in the local Mexican immigrant population, many of whom arrived in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to assist in rebuilding the city. In addition to Mexico , France maintains a consulate in downtown New Orleans, a reflection of the long-standing ties between that country and Louisiana in addition to France 's role as
270-650: The United States flocked to the city. Consequently, the district began to be referred to as the American Sector . While traditionally Canal Street was viewed as the dividing line between the French Quarter and the American Sector, legally both sides of Canal Street are today considered part of the Central Business District for zoning and regulatory purposes. Through the 19th and into the 20th century,
300-538: The United States Census Bureau , the district has a total area of 1.18 square miles (3.1 km ). 1.06 square miles (2.7 km ) of which is land and 0.12 square miles (0.3 km ) (10.17%) of which is water. The City Planning Commission defines the boundaries of the Central Business District as these streets: Iberville Street, Decatur Street, Canal Street, the Mississippi River , the New Orleans Morial Convention Center , Julia Street, Magazine Street,
330-433: The catastrophic flooding of 2005's Hurricane Katrina . The Central Business District is located at 29°56′59″N 90°04′14″W / 29.94972°N 90.07056°W / 29.94972; -90.07056 and has an elevation of 3 feet (0.9 m). As is true of most of metropolitan New Orleans , the parts of the district nearer the river are higher in elevation than areas further removed from it. According to
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#1732854956379360-621: The 1980s, the intersection of Gravier and Carondelet streets was the de facto heart of the city's financial district. Though still a vibrant area, that part of the CBD witnessed the migration of much business slightly upriver to Poydras Street, as many modern high-rise office towers were constructed there in the 1970s and 1980s. The widening of Loyola Avenue, Poydras Street and O'Keefe Avenue aimed to simultaneously create an effective downtown circulator high capacity road network for automobile traffic and make room for large-scale redevelopment (e.g., Duncan Plaza, Caesar's Superdome ). However, many of
390-743: The 2000 Census. The CBD, its subdistricts (e.g., the Warehouse District), and the bordering neighborhoods of Tremé , the French Quarter, and the Lower Garden District had 21,630 residents, according to the 2000 Census. The New Orleans City Hall and surrounding structures, including the circa -1960, architecturally award-winning Main Branch of the New Orleans Public Library face Duncan Plaza, an exercise in 1950s-style urban renewal embodying then-mayor Chep Morrison's desire to create
420-663: The CBD closer to the Mississippi River and upriver from Poydras Street is known as the Warehouse District , because it was heavily devoted to warehousing and manufacturing before shipping became containerized . The 1984 World's Fair drew attention to the then semi-derelict district, resulting in steady investment and redevelopment from the mid-1980s onward. Many of the old 19th-century warehouses have been converted into hotels , restaurants , condominiums , and art galleries . For further information, read about Loft 523 ,
450-627: The CBD. The Union Passenger Terminal is the terminus for three of Amtrak's long-distance trains, the City of New Orleans train, the Crescent train , and since 2005 the Sunset Limited (with the elimination, due to Katrina damage, of the eastbound portion of the Sunset Limited route), and also offers inter-city bus service via Greyhound Lines . Interstate Highway access is provided by I-10 , via
480-779: The Central Business District continued developing almost without pause. By the mid-20th century most professional offices in the region were located downtown, the hub of a well-developed public transit system . Canal Street was the primary retail destination for New Orleanians, as well as for residents of the surrounding region. Local and regional department stores Maison Blanche , D.H. Holmes , Godchaux's, Gus Mayer , Labiche's, Kreeger's, and Krauss anchored numerous well-known specialty retailers including Rubenstein Bros. , Adler's Jewelry , Koslow's, Rapp's, and Werlein's Music . National retailers like Kress , Woolworth , and Walgreens were present alongside local drugstore K&B . Sears operated
510-824: The Claiborne and Pontchartrain Expressways. When I-10 curves to the east by the Louisiana Superdome and becomes the Claiborne Expressway, elevated above N. Claiborne Avenue, the Pontchartrain Expressway continues as U.S. Route 90 Business and crosses the Mississippi River on the twin-bridge Crescent City Connection . Significant thoroughfares in the CBD include St. Charles Avenue , Camp Street, Carondelet Street , Gravier Street, Poydras Street , Tchoupitoulas Street , Howard Avenue, and Canal Street. Prior to
540-481: The New Orleans I.P. (Intellectual Property), home to many creative industries firms, and a substantial number of bioscience companies are established at the New Orleans BioInnovation Center inside of BioDistrict New Orleans. The regional economic alliance Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO Inc.), the New Orleans metropolitan area 's lead economic development entity for the ten-parish New Orleans region,
570-790: The Piazza d'Italia, Tivoli Circle , Mississippi River Heritage Park, Spanish Plaza, and the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Plaza. Museums include The National World Ward II Museum , the Ogden Museum of Southern Art , the Louisiana Children's Museum, the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, and the Confederate Memorial Hall Museum . New Orleans CBD was one of the few areas of New Orleans which escaped
600-523: The Pontchartrain Expressway, South Claiborne Avenue, Cleveland Avenue, and also South Derbigny Street and North Derbigny Street. As of the census of 2000, there were 3,435 inhabitants of the census tracts best corresponding to the boundaries of the New Orleans Downtown Development District. The population density was 1,692 /mi (664 /km ). Another 4,142 inhabitants of the adjacent French Quarter neighborhood were recorded in
630-655: The area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the New Orleans Lower Central Business District . Streets in the Central Business District (originally Faubourg Ste. Marie ) were initially platted in the late 18th century, representing the first expansion of New Orleans beyond its original French Quarter footprint. Significant investment began in earnest after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, as people from other parts of
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#1732854956379660-419: The city's new civic center complex. The late-1960s widening of Poydras Street was undertaken to create another six-lane central area circulator for vehicular traffic, as well as to accommodate modern high-rise construction. The City of New Orleans partook in transforming the district from 1973 to 1993, in a collaboration between public and private sectors to spark active community participation. The portion of
690-720: The development sites created in the wake of the improvements were never built upon, leaving a noticeable and unfortunate quantity of surface parking lots along those widened streets. Entergy , the region's sole Fortune 500 firm, maintains its headquarters in the CBD, as does Reily Foods Company which markets Luzianne products and Standard Coffee. Other companies headquartered downtown are Freeport-McMoRan , Pan American Life Insurance, Superior Energy Services , TurboSquid , iSeatz, Historic Restoration Inc. (HRI Properties), Tidewater Marine , Energy Partners Ltd., Intermarine, IMTT (International-Matex Tank Terminals), International Coffee Corp., and The Receivables Exchange. The CBD hosts
720-474: The edge of Storyville—the store sold satin and lace to the ladies of the "District," as it was known. Of course, women from all over the city shopped there, as well. Krauss was the first department store to install air conditioning in 1925 and also the first to have escalators—then known as mechanical stairs. The store survived into the 1990s by stocking obscure items not available at large chains and by refusing to reduce service to its loyal New Orleans customers. It
750-649: The founder of New Orleans in 1718. At one time the Consulate-General of Japan, New Orleans was located in the Entergy Tower . In 2006 Japan announced that it was moving the consulate to Nashville . The Japanese Government moved it to be closer to industries and operations owned by Japanese companies. Honorary consuls for numerous other nations are in the CBD. Krauss Building 29°57′23″N 90°04′25″W / 29.956514°N 90.07366°W / 29.956514; -90.07366 The Krauss Building
780-410: The largely-residential Faubourg Ste. Marie ( English: St. Mary Suburb) in the late 18th century, the modern Central Business District is today a dynamic, mixed-use neighborhood, the home of professional offices in skyscrapers, specialty and neighborhood retail stores, numerous restaurants and clubs, and thousands of residents inhabiting restored, historic commercial and industrial buildings. A part of
810-734: The postmodern Piazza d'Italia , Harrah's Casino now Caesar's New Orleans, the Four Seasons Hotel which was the World Trade Center of New Orleans, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals , St. Patrick's Church , the Hibernia Bank Building , and the former New Orleans Cotton Exchange . The principal public park in the CBD is Lafayette Square which faces both Gallier Hall and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. There are other public spaces like Duncan Plaza, Elk Place,
840-421: The top of the tower were blown out, however, these windows were mostly false windows that cover the climate control systems on the roof. The ceilings of the overhangs on the street level were badly damaged but have since been repaired. The Energy Centre is located at 1100 Poydras Street , New Orleans, LA 70163-1101, at the corner of South Rampart Street . New Orleans Central Business District The CBD
870-571: The west. It is the equivalent of what many cities call their downtown , although in New Orleans "downtown" or "down town" historically used to mean all portions of the city downriver from Canal Street (in the direction or flow of the Mississippi River). In recent decades, however, use of the catch-all "downtown" adjective to describe neighborhoods downriver from Canal Street has largely ceased, having been replaced in usage by individual neighborhood names (like Bywater ). Originally developed as
900-446: Was a monument to the old-fashioned way of doing business, and proud of it. During its 94 years of existence it expanded from 20,000 square feet (1,900 m ) to 350,000 square feet (33,000 m ), all on a real estate parcel of 8.5 acres (34,000 m ) fronting on Canal Street. Krauss closed in 1997. From the long Formica lunch counter with the round red stools, to the madams and ladies of nearby Storyville who once shopped within
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