$10 Million Dollar Redevelopment Project At Elmwood in Jefferson Parish

Jefferson Parish will see a face-lift to the Elmwood Shopping Center. The developer, Lauricella Land, hopes to bring a new and exciting place to Jefferson Parish that will draw people in from other parishes.

Mike Yenni, Jefferson Parish President, is excited about the new project for the community. He said that the redevelopment will include higher-end housing and shops that are currently not found in Jefferson Parish.

“It’s totally thinking out of the box, but it’s the new trend,” Yenni said of Lauricella Land Company LLC’s concept for Elmwood. “It’s what’s happened in the city of New Orleans. You’ve got a lot of live, work, play concepts there with retail on the first floor and residential up above, and why can’t we do the same thing here in Jefferson Parish?”

The two year project is already underway as the old KMart building is being prepared for demolition and the new La Madeleine’s restaurant is currently under construction right next door. The plans include housing units that will be built where the KMart building stands. The first floor of the units will consist of retail and the housing will be on the upper floors with the parking garage in the back. A grocery store is also hoping to make it into the development but is still in the works.

“All he’s told me is that he’s going after a grocery store that is not even common to Louisiana right now,” Yenni said. “So it’s got me Googling, but I haven’t found it yet.”

Jefferson Parish Council has approved a special tax incentive to aid the developer in improving roads, drainage and landscaping. The drainage will prevent flooding on the south-side of Clearview Parkway by tying into the Pump to the River station.

Shoppers and retail store employees of the Elmwood Shopping Center are excited about what’s to come. The new store facades that have already been put in place are just one of the many great things to come.

“It makes it so much better than it used to be,” Dave Sepulveva, who works at a retail store at the shopping center, said. “I’ve just gotten a favorable response to what they’re hearing — what’s coming up.”

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