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New Orleans, Jefferson Parish leaders plan West End transformation after years on hold 13%
By Lara Nicholson0%
7/16/2026, 10:45:00 PM
Keywords: Hardwall
BS Summary: This article contains 11 faulty reasoning types, including Unattributed Quote, Framing Effect, and Halo Effect, with Optimism Bias as the most egregious example at 12.4% saturation with 121 hits. Analysis detected 388 faulty-reasoning hits from 975 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 29.6% and a BS Rank of 13% (14,615 of 16,721 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 87.40% of the article peer group.
After more than a decade of stalled negotiations, New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno and Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng on Thursday announced a new agreement to redevelop an area of West End Park once known as a restaurant and entertainment hub.
In a rare joint press conference between leaders of the two parishes, Moreno and Lee Sheng were joined by state Rep.
Stephanie Hilferty, R-New Orleans, and other leaders to celebrate what's known as a cooperative endeavor agreement.
The finalized pact, which was stalled for years over how sales taxes of any new businesses would be doled out, will allow them to pursue redevelopment proposals and split sales tax revenues for the portion of West End that's sat idle since Hurricane Katrina.
Redevelopment proposals could include a boardwalk or pier in addition to restaurants or others businesses, according to Hilferty, who sponsored legislation to help create an economic development district for the area.
Moreno, speaking near where Fitzgerald's, Augie’s Del Lago and Jaeger’s once stood on pilings jutting out into Lake Pontchartrain, said the new redevelopment would not only attract residents from both parishes back to the area, but visitors from across the region as well.
"Before Hurricane Katrina, this was really quite an amazing place where there were so many restaurants and entertainment venues, and I'm so excited that soon that is what it will return to," Moreno said.
"This is really an example of the progress that can take place when we can work together."
Lee Sheng said she's been working on West End redevelopment since she served as a district council member more than a decade ago, and agreed with Moreno on the importance of the land.
"It took a lot of people to make this happen, and it took a mindset change to make this happen," Lee Sheng said.
"So thank you, and we all look forward to many, many more regional projects."
Lee Sheng said the agreement is the first major initiative between the two parishes since Moreno took office in January.
In her mayoral campaign, Moreno promised more regional cooperation to tackle issues across parish lines, including emergency planning, economic development, transit and others.
So far, parish officials have taken steps like brainstorming over policy topics during a Greater New Orleans, Inc. luncheon, and holding more proactive discussions on disaster preparedness during hurricane season.
Parish leaders noted that Thursday's press conference was the first that the two parishes hosted together in over a decade, outside of occasional media appearances at the airport.
Any new development will take place on land so as not to disrupt the flow of water at the 17th Street Canal Pump Station next door.
A 2024 state law also prohibits the construction of any residential property on the land.
Overseeing the area will be the West End Economic Development District, created through Hilferty's bill in the most recent Legislative session.
The district, run by New Orleans and Jefferson Parish appointees, will be able to levy a sales tax of up to 2% on businesses on the land and use those funds for improvements to the area or the adjacent West End Park.
'Shock and disbelief'
The redevelopment announcement was a long time in the making.
Prior to Katrina, the area on the westernmost side of West End Park served as a hub for restaurants and nightclubs.
The storm devastated the area and left only wooden pilings in its aftermath that still poke out of the water.
The land was vacant for years as the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers built the nearby pump station.
Once construction on the station finished, efforts to revitalize the area remained stalled even after they came to an agreement in 2021.
Unlike most public property, any changes to the land require buy-in from the state, which owns the water bottoms, and the two parishes that share portions of the land within their jurisdictions.
According to Moreno, negotiation attempts previously fizzled because New Orleans wanted a larger share of sales tax revenue than Jefferson Parish.
"Looking for that perfect deal that was never going to happen, unfortunately is what was causing this deal to not happen at all," Moreno said.
"So I chose progress over delays."
Lee Sheng said that early into the new New Orleans administration, the mayor offered her cooperation during a meeting between Moreno, Jefferson Parish Council Member Hans Liljeberg and the Jefferson Parish attorney.
"Our parish attorney came back and they said, 'It was a great meeting, everything well, they agreed to everything, this is going to happen.'
And I'm like, 'What?'"
Lee Sheng said.
"I'm kind of still in shock and disbelief, but here we are today."
Lee Sheng said that early into the new New Orleans administration, the mayor offered her cooperation during a meeting between Moreno, Jefferson Parish Council Member Hans Liljeberg and the Jefferson Parish attorney.
"Our parish attorney came back and they said, 'It was a great meeting, everything well, they agreed to everything, this is going to happen.'
And I'm like, 'What?'"
Lee Sheng said.
"I'm kind of still in shock and disbelief, but here we are today."
West End was once considered the "the Coney Island of New Orleans" in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with amusement rides and a streetcar line.
In the 1910s, the city converted the land to the present day West End Park, with the New Orleans Municipal Yacht Harbor, boathouses and businesses sprouting there in the decades since.
Today, there are roughly 800 residents living in condominiums, apartments and boathouses in the area surrounding West End Park along with about 770 tenants in boat slips.
On the eastern edge of the park, restaurants including JB's Fuel Dock and Felix's Restaurant & Oyster Bar line both sides of the canal.
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