Convention Center hotel hits a roadblock: ‘I’ll vote against it,’ Senate president says
By Rich Collins and Jonah Meadows
Source: The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com
August 15, 2026
State Bond Commission approval is needed by next week for Omni developers to stay on schedule for an August groundbreaking.
Fresh questions are swirling around the future of New Orleans’ planned Convention Center “headquarters” hotel ahead of a key vote on the project in Baton Rouge next week.
Officials with the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center are set to go before the State Bond Commission Thursday to seek approval for its development agreement with the Dallas-based developers of the planned Omni New Orleans.
But state Senate President Cameron Henry, a member of the Bond Commission, said Friday the deal is not ready for prime time and that “the Bond Commission should not approve anything related to Omni next week.”
“I am adamantly opposed to putting anything related to Omni on next week’s agenda,” said Henry, a Republican from Metairie. “I will be there, and if it’s on the agenda, I will vote against it. The financing isn’t in place, and we don’t have a deal that’s good for the state.”
Bond Commission approval for the deal is needed before construction can begin. The developers have said they need to break ground in August, while the Mississippi River is low, or face months of delays and jeopardize a hoped-for opening date in 2030.
The planned Omni New Orleans headquarters hotel has been a decades-long dream of Convention Center leaders, who say a state-of-the-art facility with more than 1,000 rooms is an essential tool to land big events in the nation’s increasingly competitive meetings industry. In 2018, the center announced a partnership with Omni to build it.
Part of the deal included a complicated incentives package that critics said was overly generous, tax rebates worth more than $800 million over 45 years. Earlier this summer, the Convention Center renegotiated its deal with Omni in a way that would allow developers to break ground before the incentive package is finalized.
But Henry said it’s too soon and too many questions remain.
“The project is not dead by any means, but we’re still trying to make the numbers work,” Henry said.
The latest wrench in the years-long effort to build the dedicated Convention Center hotel comes amid tensions between Gov. Jeff Landry and New Orleans officials. Henry said the heightened political tension “obviously doesn’t help” negotiations.
Convention Center officials declined to respond to specific questions about recent developments.
“We are very confident in the discussions we are continuing to have with the governor, legislators and local leadership on this catalytic project, and we are working towards completion in the best interests of the Louisiana taxpayer, Omni and the Convention Center,” Board Chair Russell Allen and CEO Jim Cook said in a statement.
Criticism, changes to the deal
The Convention Center signed a development agreement with Omni early last year.
That agreement called for the Convention Center to pursue an incentive package that included 45 years of tax rebates from at least four separate authorities — the state; the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, known locally as the Superdome Commission; the Convention Center itself and a special subdistrict it created to levy additional taxes at the new hotel.
Those rebates could have totaled about $837 million over the life of the deal, drawing criticism from taxpayer advocates who said the rebates would subsidize the developer for far longer than is necessary for it to meet its profit goals.
The deal also called for an annual payment to New Orleans equivalent to the property taxes paid by similar hotels.
Convention Center leaders first attempted to get lawmakers to approve the state’s contributions in April, when Cook appeared before the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in Baton Rouge. Lawmakers expressed overall support for the project but took issue with the length and generosity of the deal before declining to vote on it.
The committee again deferred a vote on the issue in May. A month later, the Convention Center and Omni amended their development agreement.
The changes included reducing the term of the tax rebates from 45 years to 30 years, removing a requirement to secure the tax rebates before construction can begin and putting the Convention Center on the hook to pay Omni up to $120 million if the tax incentives are not approved before the hotel opens its doors.
Allen and Cook said in their statement that they have “considered feedback from the Legislature” as they work towards a deal.
“We know we have several pathways to get to project mobilization, and it is really a matter of which one is most acceptable to the most project stakeholders,” they said.
They noted the project has received two unanimous votes from the New Orleans City Council, though members still need to give a final sign-off on a property tax incentive with the city.
But the changes to the deal terms haven’t been enough to win over members of the Bond Commission, according to Henry. That means the Convention Center and Omni are likely to miss their original deadline to start construction.
What now?
The Convention Center and other hospitality leaders have emphasized for years that New Orleans has been losing business to Nashville, Austin, Atlanta and other Southern cities that have invested millions of dollars in new meeting space and hotels. Texas alone is investing $8 billion in convention infrastructure in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin.
The number of New Orleans business travelers hasn’t recovered to 2019 levels, and the Convention Center’s Cook has said that building this new hotel is critical to the city’s chances of booking the 2031 Super Bowl, a priority for Gov. Jeff Landry.
Bond Commission approval is one of the final hurdles the project needs to clear. It has secured several other approvals in recent months, including a zoning waiver from the City Council to allow the developers to construct a 27-story building that exceeds the existing height limit in the surrounding Warehouse District neighborhood by more than 200 feet.
It is unclear what happens to the project now or how state and Convention Center leaders can bridge their differences, especially with the clock ticking.
Allen and Cook said they remain optimistic.
“The headquarters hotel has never been closer to reality than at this very moment, and we continue to work towards bringing the project to completion,” their statement said.
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