The Downtown Development District’s new leader talks crime, the summer slowdown and the opportunities he’s excited to jump on.
The New Orleans Downtown Development District (DDD) is one of those agencies that almost everyone has heard of, and few people really understand. And yet, it has a prominent role in the success of an area critical to the city. At just 1.2 square miles, Downtown is home to more than 4,300 restaurants and 1,200
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The New Orleans Downtown Development District (DDD) is one of those agencies that almost everyone has heard of, and few people really understand. And yet, it has a prominent role in the success of an area critical to the city.
At just 1.2 square miles, Downtown is home to more than 4,300 restaurants and 1,200 businesses (including 102 hotels), that together employ more than 56,000 people. This densely packed area is responsible for one-third of the city’s sales tax collection — all of this was noted in the DDD’s latest “State of Downtown” report for 2025.
“I do think that we have pretty high name recognition: Most people have heard of the Downtown Development District, but I think that second question of ‘What do they do?’ isn’t always easy to answer,” noted Seth Knudsen, who became the new president and CEO of the DDD in May.
Any confusion would be understandable: The DDD is not an economic development agency, though it supports commerce and business growth and makes investments in Downtown buildings. It is not a public safety agency, though it contributes significantly to safe streets and facilities within its borders. It is not a sanitation agency, though it works diligently to remove graffiti and maintain cleanliness Downtown.
For a little bit of background, the Louisiana Legislature created the DDD in 1974 to serve as the nation’s first assessment-based business improvement district — meaning it works to improve the economic development, security and sanitation of a district that stretches from the Mississippi River inland to Claiborne Avenue and from the Pontchartrain Expressway east to Iberville Street — (the French Quarter technically begins at Iberville, not Canal Street).
Operating out of its headquarters at Place St. Charles, the agency is governed by an 11-member board of commissioners and has a staff of about 35 people. Its primary funding comes from a dedicated city millage, which is augmented by bonds, grants and other revenue sources. The DDD then uses its funding to distribute grants to businesses within its operating area for various items such as sidewalk improvements, lighting and façade improvements.
A native New Orleanian, Knudsen’s long career in public service has included stints with the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, Housing Authority of New Orleans and City Planning Commission, among other governmental agencies. Recently, he sat down with Biz New Orleans to discuss his take on the agency and Downtown New Orleans in general, as well as his plans and visions for this critical economic engine for the entire greater New Orleans region.
How would you describe the DDD?
Legally and technically speaking, it is a government agency. It’s a state-chartered agency that operates within exclusive boundaries. It’s similar to NORA (New Orleans Redevelopment Authority), operates in Orleans Parish, is set up by state statute. It’s similar to the Sewerage and Water Board on some level, in terms of administrative structure. I think if you look at the organization, maybe “quasi-governmental” comes to mind, but there really isn’t any private sector component to it.
What do you see as being the main role of the DDD?
The DDD is here to create a superior environment to live, work, play and invest in Downtown. That includes things that people can see, in terms of cleanliness, sanitation and safety, but also some things many people can’t see on the policy side. We’re here to work with and support the city in creating a superior Downtown.
Prior to coming here, you worked at several other New Orleans government agencies – how will this experience inform your work at the DDD?
I have a lot of experience in housing, economic development, planning, infrastructure in this market. I have a good understanding of the landscape, how things work and, in some cases, how things don’t work. I also have an appreciation for the role of special-purpose, small government agencies, the opportunities for partnerships and to supplement what City Hall is doing on a day-to-day basis.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the DDD right now, and what are you doing to address them?
There are a few notable challenges, but they’re also opportunities. I think the No. 1 challenge is the perception of Downtown as an unsafe place.
It’s very interesting — the crime statistics tell a very different story than the average city or greater New Orleans resident thinks about Downtown. It’s been trending in the right direction for several years now. Eighth District crime statistics suggest that 2025, despite some high-profile criminal activity that’s taken place this year, is on track to be one of the safest years in the last 50 or 60 years. And if you talk to folks who live and work
Downtown today, they recognize this disconnect. And yet there is this very persistent perception from friends, relatives and folks who don’t come Downtown on a regular basis that perhaps Downtown isn’t as safe as it is. That’s the single biggest challenge.
What do you do to try to overcome that?
One thing I’ve learned from having grown up here: It’s hard to get people to change opinions that have built up over long periods of time. We see part of our role as trying to amplify the good news coming out of Downtown.
One thing we have that is a great resource is a weekly newsletter that highlights what is going on Downtown, both in the public sector and private sector.
We are also talking to some of our partners at the city, the Chamber of Commerce, New Orleans & Company and others about how we get the good news out about crime being down. It’s a good problem to have — it’s not one that has been a persistent challenge in terms of always having good news to report, but for once in this post-Katrina era we have a solid trend line in a positive direction for several years, and we need to get the word out.
I think one of the things that we must work on collectively is more local usage and presence in Downtown. There’s been a lot of discussion about the challenges businesses face in summer, it’s the slow season for hospitality, and Downtown and the French Quarter are both areas that have that challenge. Folks remark to me all the time, ‘Oh, I’m really sorry that restaurant closed.’ But if you ask them when was the last time they went, it’s been a long time — too long for those restaurants to survive.
These businesses really need our support, particularly in these more challenging summer months.
I think one of the things we’ll be working on next year is whether we can develop some programs to create some incentives for folks to take another look at Downtown and come down during the summer.
What about the office market?
I think there are some lingering challenges from the pandemic in terms of office operations, the number of workers who are Downtown daily. We don’t have as good a way of tracking that as some other cities, where there’s card access to all the buildings and you can track comings and goings that way, but we do have a proxy for it in terms of garage usage. This office is a good example of it; there are more people in the office Tuesday through Thursday than there are Monday and Friday. That has impacts on some of the small businesses in the surrounding area that have relied on office workers being here 40 hours a week, and that rhythm has changed.
We’re still trying to have some adjustment in the market Downtown to reflect what that’s going to be like going forward.
The last big challenge from my perspective is that we have just a handful of high-profile vacant buildings. There’s Charity, there’s the Whitney complex, there’s a school, all of which are interesting opportunities for investment.
Real estate development is a challenge, and not just in New Orleans right now — this is part of a national phenomenon. Interest rates and construction costs have risen at a very notable pace over the last several years. There’s only so much we can do to address market conditions, but getting those historic buildings back online and in commerce is critical.
What do you see as some of the biggest opportunities down here?
I think Charity represents both the biggest challenge, that’s a literal and figurative challenge at a million square feet, but also the biggest opportunity, especially in that quadrant of Downtown, adjacent to the sports district, the hospitals, the Biodistrict. The potential for that area for economic development that’s meaningful not just to Downtown but to the region is really significant. I’m hopeful that the contours of the deal and Tulane’s commitment to the project mean that we are going to get to a transaction sooner rather than later. Bringing that facility back online will really unlock investment in the surrounding area.
What are some of the policy items you’ve been working on?
One of the things we’ve been doing with the city is updating the Canal Street study that was done a very long time ago. We are taking a look at Canal Street today, what the existing policy framework is, what that’s resulted in in terms of investment and development over the years, and what tweaks may be necessary to foster the continued development of Canal Street.
What would you call your signature programs?
The tagline I’ve developed for the DDD is “Cleaner, Safer, Stronger.” The sanitation activities that people are used to seeing in terms of litter pickup, pressure washing of sidewalks, those types of activities that we’re doing on a 24/7 basis, that’s where most people see DDD out in the community.
We also have public safety programs that have different levels to them. We have Public Safety Rangers who are employees of the Downtown Development District who do homeless outreach, help tourists with hospitality-related concerns and questions, and do safe walks for our residents and workers after hours if they want someone to accompany them to their home or vehicle.
On the economic development side, some of the higher-profile programs over the years have been façade improvements and investments on Canal Street.
What are some of your immediate plans?
Taking a look at all of our existing operations. I think there is always room for improvement on service delivery.Obviously that’s a very high-profile topic in an election year and also more generally.
We’re looking at our clean and safe operations, trying to figure out where there is room for improvement.
The Super Bowl had a very positive impact on Downtown. Are there any specific plans to build on that progress?
Yes, even in my short time here, there’s been a great legacy of those partnerships that were forged in advance of that event. In the case of the DDD, in particular, with GNO, Inc., the Biodistrict, I think there are some long-term opportunities for us to continue to partner with those organizations, to leverage each other’s efforts and to fulfill our respective missions together. We’ve done some investment on behalf of the Biodistrict — landscaping and some lighting analysis. We’ve also worked with GNO, Inc., on some projects like the murals on Canal Street. Those kinds of conversations are continuing.
I also think that with the new mayor and the new council coming in, there may be opportunities for the Downtown Development District to partner with the city and maybe take on an even larger role with some of those long-term maintenance projects that there was a great push to address in advance of the Super Bowl. A lot of it was deferred maintenance, and I think there is an opportunity to get past the maintenance backlog and start looking at some longer-term improvements to Downtown.
Does it make a difference to have a local person in the top position at the DDD?
I guess we’re going to find out! [laughs] I think it does, and not that it necessarily is inherently superior, but I do think it offers some very specific advantages.
Specifically in my case, having worked in and around local governments since before Katrina, I know the players, I know the landscape. I feel that I got a little bit of a head start over someone coming in from outside in terms of understanding the framework that the DDD operates in.
I did have some interesting feedback since I got the job from some friends and colleagues in government that remarked to me that it was important to them that one of these high-profile jobs actually went to someone local. It was interesting, I didn’t think of my candidacy that way, sort of like being a local option versus non-local options, but I’ve been surprised and interested to hear that feedback.
I think maybe there was an assumption that certain high-profile jobs don’t go to locals, but in this case that was challenged and welcomed by some folks in the community.
What do you wish people knew about Downtown New Orleans and about the DDD?
There’s a lot of cool stuff happening here — a lot of stuff that people don’t know is happening. There are interesting new local businesses that have opened here.
I feel like Downtown in a lot of ways is the land of “what’s next” before we know what’s next. I’ve seen evidence of that in my time here with some of the new businesses that have opened, some of the small businesses that are doing research and development in new offices Downtown that you would never know passing on the street. Honestly, people should be more aware and really proud of some of the things that are happening down here.
Regarding the DDD, I think that there’s a hope on the part of some people that if there’s a problem Downtown, the Downtown Development District can fix it. Our statutory mandate isn’t quite that broad, but if I can get folks to remember that we provide a cleaner, safer and stronger Downtown, then we can start to have a greater appreciation for what the Downtown Development District is trying to do and the opportunities it provides
Happy 504 Day! 🎉
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