Work is getting underway on a new $80 million Virgin Hotel, which will go up at the corner of Baronne and Lafayette streets in New Orleans' Warehouse District.
Greater New Orleans, Inc. says the Virgin Hotel New Orleans has been under development since 2015.
"There are currently only two other Virgin Hotels, in Chicago and San Francisco. New properties are also being planned in Dallas, Nashville, New York, Las Vegas and Edinburgh, Scotland," according to an email from GNO Inc. President & CEO Michael Hecht.
Branson said that New Orleans will be one of the Virgin Hotel destinations the company can promote through its new cruise line, which will debut its first ship out of Miami in 2020.