Officials with Greater New Orleans Inc. and other economic development organizations broke ground Tuesday on the Louisiana Future Energy Center, a planned co-working space and research center geared toward renewable energy located at The Beach technology park near the University of New Orleans.
Project leaders used blue sledgehammers to smash holes in an interior wall of one of the six office buildings that make up The Beach, which is home to several tech-focused startups and other firms.
The space will be reconfigured to make room for a 15,000-square-foot co-working and learning center dedicated to energy innovation in the region.
"Regardless of which side of the aisle that we're on, an 'all of the above' clean energy future is the right one for Louisiana and the right one for America and the world," GNO Inc. CEO Michael Hecht told the crowd. "The Louisiana Future Energy Center is going to be that place where the magic happens, where the world knows that this is ground zero for creating energy in a way that is less harmful to our environment."
GNO Inc., the region's nonprofit economic development organization, led the application for a $50 million Economic Development Administration grant, awarded in 2022, that is paying for construction of the center along with other regional research, workforce development and business development projects.
An additional $25 million investment is coming from the state.
The center will make its home in a 22-year-old building on the 30-acre research and technology park built on the site of the former Pontchartrain Beach amusement park. Tenants on the campus include the U.S. Navy, global food testing company Eurofins and the Water Institute of the Gulf.
The UNO Research and Technology Foundation, which operates The Beach, plans to invest up to $25 million over the next several years in upgrades to common areas, a new outdoor office space, new sidewalks and crosswalks.
The construction of the center is happening as The Beach converts the former Lindy Boggs Conference Center into what's being branded as The Sandbox.
New Orleans architecture firm EskewDumezRipple has completed the design, which includes solar panels on the roof, a renovated auditorium and amphitheater, and a coffee shop.
When construction is complete, the Louisiana Future Energy Center will be the Sandbox's anchor tenant.
"It'll be a gorgeous, brand new, state-of-the-art meeting space," said Rebecca Conwell, CEO of the UNO research foundation.
Conwell said The Beach plans to start accepting construction bids in October. The goal is for the work to be complete by the fall of 2026.