‘Zombie apocalypse movie’: City leaders warn Bayou Phoenix time is running out on Six Flags redevelopment

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Frustration is mounting at City Hall over the redevelopment of the former Six Flags amusement park in New Orleans East.

City leaders questioned whether the $500 million project will ever become a reality during a budget hearing Wednesday.

The 130-acre property has been abandoned since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Five years ago, development group Bayou Phoenix won the rights to revitalize the site with a master plan that includes a youth sports complex, a water park, movie studios and a 400-room hotel.

“We’re building a transformative project in Eastern Orleans, and we’re doing everything we can to make that happen,” Bayou Phoenix developer Troy Henry said Thursday. “As you know, when you’ve got projects of this order of magnitude, they take time. But we’re pretty confident that the financial pursuits that we are looking for are very close.”

However, city officials warned Wednesday that the developer could soon face a year-end deadline to secure remaining investments or risk losing the deal entirely.

“The people who live adjacent to that property in that community, they do not like living next to an offset of a zombie apocalypse movie,” New Orleans City Council President JP Morrell said during the budget hearing Wednesday.

Brenda Breaux, executive director of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, or NORA, told council members she is uncertain if developers will close those deals by December.

“I don’t know what that’s going to shake out to be,” Breaux said at the budget hearing. “I don’t have that crystal ball to be able to do that. They’re looking for investments now to the tune of a little over $300 million for the project as originally designed.”

NORA owns the site, and Breaux warned that if Bayou Phoenix cannot secure financing before the end of December, “NORA and its board will have to take steps.” She did not detail what those steps would be.

“I certainly encourage you to work with the developer in the short term,” Morrell said. “See if they can get a mechanism to deliver what was promised to the people of New Orleans East.”

Morrell added that if the development cannot be done as promised, the city is prepared to “pivot aggressively to going back to the market” and “find a new developer with iron-clad financing for a development that will have jobs and redevelop that property.”

Henry said NORA has not contacted him regarding a December deadline.

“It’s our hope that we’ll have a financing commitment at that point in time before the end of the year. It’s our target, and that’s what we’re working towards. We just got to stay focused on what we’re doing,” Henry said. “And so this artificial deadline, we’re not too concerned about that,”

Henry noted the development group is in talks with international investors.

In a statement to FOX 8, Henry cautioned officials against making remarks that could jeopardize potential funding partners.

“The Bayou Phoenix team is in significant pursuit of the necessary financing for the project. Based on financing proposals already shared with the City officials, we are very optimistic about the prospects of this project moving forward in the near future Any negative de-stabilizing comments can only serve to undermine the underwriting process for prospective financing partners,” the statement said.

The statement also said the Bayou Phoenix project has “not received a dime of public support or assistance.”

“Despite multiple requests, thus far our team has been the sole investor in this initiative,” the statement said.

Breaux declined a request for an interview Thursday regarding the future of the site.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Subscribe to the Fox 8 YouTube channel.