New Orleans Gets Down to Business

This year and next couldn’t be bigger or more exciting for New Orleans and the greater state of Louisiana, which is marking its 200th year of statehood in 2012. New Orleans is gearing up to host this year’s SEC and NCAA Men’s Final Four basketball championships and next year’s Super Bowl, in addition to the usual fun that can be found at Mardi Gras, the Jazz and Heritage Festival, French Quarter Festival, and innumerable other events. 

Visitors will enjoy a crop of new and renovated hotels, venues, and facilities—including the recently overhauled Mercedes-Benz Superdome and $300 million in upgrades to the Louis Armstrong Airport (a new rental car structure, free Wi-Fi throughout the airport, and improved restrooms, among other changes). 

All of this work around town has contributed to New Orleans being named the “most improved” city on MarketWatch’s Best Cities for Business list, released in December. New Orleans, which finished dead last on the list two years running, has undergone a renaissance, thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of an influx of new residents, says Kelly Schulz, vice president of communications for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

The city now ranks 15th in economic output, according to the MarketWatch report, and business is booming in a downtown development district, in part because of a new “creative class,” says Schulz. “Young, creative, smart businesspeople are coming and making a living in New Orleans.”  

New residents are drawn by the same things that draw groups: a walkable downtown, a whopping 1,200 restaurants for its 300,000 residents, a vibrant culture, and the opportunity to get business done. 

The list of places to stay in New Orleans grew with the January opening of the Saint Hotel on Canal Street. Housed in the former Audubon Building, the property has 166 guest rooms, 1,450 square feet of event space, and multiple food and beverage outlets, including a rooftop bar. 

And the famed Hotel Monteleone opens the new Criollo Restaurant and Lounge this month, offering up dishes with a mix of traditional creole flavors and new spice combinations, resulting in what the property has dubbed Louisiana Fusion. The hotel’s Carousel Bar reopened following a six-month, multi million-dollar renovation, which added new windows, furniture, and an additional bar. 

Next on the list for New Orleans is the Great Hall at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, which is scheduled to open in January, with 60,300 square feet of space. Also coming to the center is 25,400 square feet of prefunction space, a 5,700-square-foot executive club lounge, and a 3,420-square-foot rooftop terrace.