Since the pandemic sent many office workers into remote mode, many downtowns across the U.S. have become shells of what they once were. New Orleans has managed to buck the trend.
New Orleans has avoided the downtown desertion in part because unlike other cities, it didn't have a huge expansion of downtown office space in the years leading up to the pandemic.
"The health of the office market is top of mind in many downtowns, and in many respects, downtown New Orleans was shielded in that we didn't have a glut of new office product," said Downtown Development District President and CEO Davon Barbour.
Barbour says they are working on reducing the 12 percent office vacancy rate in the DDD, with everything from recruitment of potential downtown tenants to crime reduction.
"We know that it's a concern for many community members," said Barbour.
Barbour says that's why they pay for round-the-clock security with private patrols in downtown, provide grants for building owner to add exterior lighting, and their downtown "safety rangers" are there to help the public as wall as act as extra eyes and ears.
"And then we also engage the hardworking men and women of the New Orleans Police Department," he said, "so we're in this all together."
Programming note: This week, WWL is exploring important local issues concerning downtown, and this Sunday at 10:00am we present an hour long special, "The State of Downtown."
