Elmwood Center, owned and developed by Lauricella Land Company, LLC, has a unique history of being a premier location for retailers looking to break into the New Orleans-area market. Currently, the site houses commercial giants such as Home Depot, World Market, Guitar Center and Hobby Lobby. The family-owned company has been a pioneer of savvy economic development in Jefferson Parish for the last twenty years and has called the next phase of growth a “game-changer.”
That’s not to say that the company hasn’t already been making innovations. Recently, Elmwood Center underwent a $2.5M “facelift” of the major retail front, adding high-end retailers like Banana Republic Factory and Express Factory Outlet to its lineup. Plans have been released for La Madeleine to relocate to a brand-new building later this year, and Creole Cuisine Restaurant Group is opening its second Boulevard American Bistro in the former La Madeleine location. True to its nature, Elmwood Center will host the first New Orleans location of a national organic grocer set to open in 2020.
Now, Lauricella Land Company is bringing the concept of New Urbanism to Elmwood Center. The company plans to redevelop the Kmart site into a “town center,” complete with residential, dining and retail components, all within walking distance from each other.
“We’ve carefully studied trends in more dynamic markets and decided to bring some of these ideas to Elmwood,” said Louis V. Lauricella, Managing Member of Lauricella Land Company. “It will offer an authentic ‘live, work, play, shop’ environment that will simply exist nowhere else in Jefferson Parish.”
The company will release final plans for the town center by the end of this year and anticipates that construction will begin in the second quarter of 2020. The estimated date of completion for the project is the fourth quarter of 2022, and will include upgrades to water management and external roadways.
For the residents of Jefferson Parish, Elmwood Center’s innovative developments offer many new opportunities. Lauricella explains that the town center structure of the new development will allow for walkability and greener spaces, promoting a sense of community and better lifestyle choices for its citizens. Plans for the ten-acre site include an apartment complex, covered parking, landscaping, and most likely a grocery store on the first floor of the building. Construction on this scale will provide hundreds of jobs to people in the area, and permanent jobs will be available once the development is complete. The company anticipates overall sales in Elmwood Center to dramatically rise within the next five years, in part due to the creation of the town center.
The Center will also help address housing needs in Jefferson Parish. “Moreover, the development of the town center will help to redistribute the aging population trend of Jefferson Parish,” said Lauricella.
“We will likely witness aging baby boomers looking to downsize and relocate into these more walkable, vibrant and highly amenitized communities,” he said of the town center. “And, those family homes will become available for younger families to move into East Jefferson.”
The creation of the town center will likely cause a shift in the commercial layout of Jefferson Parish, too. As Elmwood Center develops high-quality retail and residential opportunities, the surrounding areas will likely follow suit. The distribution and manufacturing operations in East Jefferson will naturally migrate to the other side of the Huey P. Long Bridge, ceding their high value real estate to other high-quality retail and residential developers.
“All in all, it is my strong belief that Elmwood is the linchpin that will spur a new wave of real estate activity throughout Jefferson Parish,” Lauricella said.
