Real Estate & Capital Investment
Infrastructure

New Orleans Infrastructure Assets

As the historical center of commerce in the region, it’s no surprise that New Orleans boasts unparalleled business infrastructure to set the foundation for incredible economic opportunities. The city is home to the deep-water Port of New Orleans, one of the nation’s fastest growing airports, six Class I railroads and five major interstate highways to efficiently and cost-effectively transport your assets anywhere in the world.

Advantage Through Location

Road

New Orleans has direct connections to 5 major interstate highways, and direct coast to coast driving access via I-10, I-55, I-59. The city is approximately 11 hours driving distance to 11 top markets and more than 34.4 million people.

Travel Times to Cities & Locales:

Baton Rouge, LA
1 hour, 20 minute drive
Cajun Country
2 hour drive
Jackson, MS
2 hour, 45 minute drive
Birmingham, AL
5 hour drive
Houston, TX
5 hour drive
Dallas, TX
7 hour, 20 minute drive
Atlanta, GA
6 hour, 40 minute drive
St. Louis, MO
10 hour drive
Orlando, FL
9 hour drive

Advantage Through Location

Ship

A major seaport, New Orleans boasts one of the world’s top cargo transportation systems. The Port of New Orleans is now the fourth-largest port in the U.S.

Port NOLA now reaches 58 global ports of call directly and more than 450 ports via transshipment with containerized and breakbulk cargo.

Port NOLA, the sixth-largest cruise port in the United States
Connects U.S. river traffic and global routes via the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico
One of the largest container terminals along U.S. Gulf Coast
Moved more containers in 2018 than at any time in its history, totaling 591,253 twenty-foot equivalent units, up 12.3% compared to previous year.
Port is 1 in 4 cities in the United States that owns a railroad, greatly enhancing its competitive advantage

Advantage Through Location

Rail

The port’s multimodal capabilities include unmatched access to six Class 1 railroads (two northbound, two eastbound, and two westbound). The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB) is a Class III switching railroad. It is a neutral carrier, with direct connections to those six large Class I Railroads, 2 Class III railroads, and Amtrak.
NOPB has 26 miles of mainline track
Handles a variety of commodities, including: natural rubber, plywood, steel products, minerals, frack sand, and much more
NOPB also has a full-service car repair shop, track maintenance and repair division, and railcar storage capabilities.
NOPB owns the Huey P. Long Bridge, one of the longest and highest steel railroad bridges in the US
  • Memphis: Same Day PM
  • Chicago: Next Day AM
  • Detroit: 3 Days
  • Toronto: 3 Days
  • STL: Next Day AM

Advantage Through Location

Air

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) includes America’s newest terminal and direct flights to cities worldwide.

The completion of the new $1.3 billion terminal makes New Orleans the first major American city in a decade to replace its airport terminal.

Throughout the last ten years, the airport increased in traffic by 60 percent, making New Orleans the third fastest-growing airport in America. Here costs per passenger are lower than the average of similarly sized airports.

Click here for more information
Currently hosts 15 airlines
Serves 53 nonstop destinations
Approximately 156 annual average daily departures.
Direct international service to London, Frankfurt, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, and Panama
AdvancingCities Initiative

AdvancingCities is a $500 million, five-year initiative launched by JP Morgan Chase to drive inclusive growth and create greater economic opportunity in cities across the world. New Orleans was selected through a competitive RFP process and awarded $5 million for a three-year grant that began in 2020.

Prioritizing Green Infrastructure And Stormwater Management

  • Green Infrastructure
    An approach to water management that protects, restores, or mimics the natural water cycle.
  • Stormwater Management
    The effort to reduce runoff of rainwater into streets, lawns, and other sites and the improvement of water quality.
  • Our Focus
    1. Create a seamless pipeline to identify and train under and unemployed individuals in high growth jobs
    2. Expand the capacity of small businesses, particularly disadvantaged business enterprises
    3. Connect business to potential employees
    4. Build local blue/green infrastructure expertise in New Orleans
Click here for more information
Tax Advantages & Incentives

The State of Louisiana offers some of the most aggressive business attraction, retention and expansion incentives in the nation.

Headlining the array of incentives are the Digital Media and Software Incentive

35%

ten-year tax credit
on software development labor expenditures

25%

tax credit
on production expenditures, with no caps, no minimums and no sunset
Contact Louis David for more information
New Orleans

The City of New Orleans, along with the Industrial Development Board, also may provide incentives for specific projects. The City is empowered to offer Restoration Tax Abatements or other discretionary incentives for qualifying projects, and the Industrial Development Board may offer a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT).

The New Orleans Business Alliance provides third-party financial analysis for projects seeking public support and can assist developers seeking appropriate local and state-level incentive programs.

Please contact us for more information.

Louisiana

Louisiana offers low taxes and a competitive business climate. According to an analysis by the Tax Foundation and KPMG, Louisiana ranks as having the lowest tax burden for new capital-intensive and new labor-intensive manufacturing operations in the United States.

Lowest

corporate income tax in the nation
City of New Orleans/ KPMG, 2016

#2 Lowest

cost of Doing Busines
City of New Orleans/ Business Facilities, 2016

#9 Lowest

Startup Costs
SmartAsset, 2017

Locating in Louisiana offers cost-cutting opportunities with our low utility rates. From 2011-2013, Louisiana electricity rates were approximately 19 percent below the national average. Industrial gas during the same period were also below the national average, at approximately 18 percent, and the lowest in the southern United States.

Opportunity Zones
Opportunity Zones are a new community development program designed to drive much needed investment to communities that are low income, or have lacked critical investment. Established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, this new federal capital gains tax incentive program is designed to drive long-term investments to low-income communities. The new law provides a federal tax incentive for investors to re-invest their capital gains into Opportunity Funds, which are specialized vehicles dedicated to investing in designated low-income areas.

Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund Types

  • Qualified Opportunity Zone Partnership Interest
  • Qualified Opportunity Zone Business Property
  • Qualified Opportunity Zone Stock

Opportunity Zone Investment Types

  • Construction & Commercial Real Estate Development
  • Development & Renovation of Existing Property
  • Creation of New Business
  • Expansion of Existing Business

Types of Investments

  • Startups
  • Housing
  • Commercial Developments
  • Innovation Districts
  • Brownfield Redevelopment
  • Energy Assets
  • Main Streets
  • Transit-Oriented Development

Key New Orleans Opportunity Zone Locations

  • Claiborne Corridor
  • New Orleans East
  • Algiers
  • Port of New Orleans – Industrial Canal Warehouses

BUXTON PANEL DISCUSSION: Investing in Growth and Driving Recovery


With historic federal stimulus funds on the horizon, both public and private institutions across the U.S. are strategizing on how to rebuild their local economies with smart, data-driven strategies.

This informative panel discussion hosted by Buxton featured NOLABA CFO Norman Barnum and community leaders from around the country on what they've learned throughout the pandemic and what it will take to develop sustainable local economies in the months ahead.

New Orleans Opportunity Zones

Click here to see the detailed map
Site Selection

We Are Here To Help

Business Insight 
Tool

Find local information from this elegant, powerful, comprehensive tool to make smarter, faster decisions.

Launch

Searching for the perfect site can be an arduous process. The New Orleans Business Alliance economic development staff is here to help in your search. No matter where you are in the process of starting, relocating or expanding your business, the Business Alliance offers a multitude of services to assist in your site selection, including narrowing site options, site visits, incentive research, market research and workforce development.

To assist your search further, the Business Alliance would like to work with you to understand your specific requirements and present a customized site presentation. 

Contact Us

VIRTUAL SITE TOURS

FEBRUARY 2022 FOOD ENTREPRENEURS SITE TOUR

Our first Virtual Site Tour Series event of 2022 showcased the vast potential in New Orleans for current and prospective food entrepreneurs, highlighting several manufacturing/production spaces. Attendees gained valuable advice from three local experts who have managed to expand their operations in the past year despite the many challenges presented by COVID-19:

  • Christa Cotton, CEO of El Guapo Bitters
  • Zach Foster, CFO of Louisiana Pepper Exchange
  • Sinnidra Taylor, Founder of Friends of Codey’s NOLA & Crazy Waffle Bar

MAY 2021 STARTUPS SITE TOUR

NOLABA's Louis David hosted a Virtual Tour of New Orleans from the view of startups as part of NOEW 2021. The event highlighted co-working, community resources, quality of life, and educational amenities. Also, showing off the types of offices in New Orleans popular with startups.

NOVEMBER 2021 RESILIENT CORRIDORS SITE TOUR

For this installment of our Virtual Site Tour Series, we welcome the following business owners and industry experts to explore various sites ripe for development — particularly for food, media and technology businesses — in Tremé, Algiers & New Orleans East.

SEPTEMBER 2020 FOOD SITE TOUR

In September 2020, NOLABA launched a Virtual Food Site Tour series to provide more information for interested manufacturers and developers relative to food production in the city of New Orleans. The first online event featured valuable advice from the following industry experts:

MARCH 2021 SMALL OFFICE SPACE TOUR

NOLABA invited expert panelists Genevieve Douglass from Urban Properties and Austin Lavin from Corporate Realty to provide insights into the current New Orleans office market. In addition, owner of Cajun Fire Brewing Company Jon Renthrope gave a tour of his company's main headquarters located in New Orleans East.

E-Commerce Distribution Opportunities in New Orleans

The third installment of our virtual site tour series was focused around the booming e-commerce industry in New Orleans, featuring a panel discussion with local industry experts and business owners thriving in this space. The free online event also provided attendees with information on available sites across the city perfect for e-commerce distribution and development.

Other Site Selection Resources

View Available Properties
View the Property Finder

Learn more about New Orleans and the services provided for site selectors:

Data & Demographics

Learn why New Orleans is your company’s new home through these data sets and maps of the area’s demographics.
Learn More

Qualified and Available Workforce

Our qualified workforce will provide your business with highly-skilled talent to help your company succeed.
Learn More

Living in New Orleans

New Orleans and its neighborhoods have a lot of history and have continued to grow for centuries.
Learn More

Reports

Learn more about NOLABA through their Annual Reports, Business Retention & Expansion Report and Retail Report.
Learn More

For more information, please contact

Louis David

Interim President & CEO

ldavid@nolaba.org

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1250 Poydras St., Suite 2150
New Orleans, LA 70113
info@nolaba.org | 504.934.4500