The Urban Land Institute Breakfast Series continued on the morning of June 18th, with a presentation by Tulane University President Michael A. Fitts on the university’s expanding downtown New Orleans presence and the vision driving it.

A Decade of Growth and More Ahead

Tulane has built significant momentum over the past decade, adding eleven new uptown buildings and increasing federal research funding by 87%. President Fitts emphasized that the university’s next major chapter will be downtown.

Already New Orleans’ largest private employer, Tulane occupies about 3.5 million square feet downtown. The Hutchinson Building renovation contributes 50,000 square feet of state-of-the-art lab space, and more projects are planned.

The Charity Hospital Project

The centerpiece of Tulane’s downtown expansion is the redevelopment of the historic Charity Hospital site. Once complete, Tulane expects to have 4–5 million square feet downtown, more than its uptown footprint and more than the Superdome, Convention Center, and Riverside Hilton combined.

The Charity project is expected to include 650,000 square feet of classrooms, labs, and office space, plus 300,000 square feet of privately developed residential space. The plan brings medicine, public health, innovation, and housing together in one urban district, with completion targeted for 2029.

Building a Biomedical and Technology Economy

President Fitts outlined a 10-year goal to launch more than 200 startups through the Tulane Innovation Institute, positioning Tulane as a catalyst for New Orleans’ growing biomedical and technology economy.

This effort supports a broader medical district anchored by University Medical Center, the VA hospital, LSU Health Sciences, Tulane’s downtown campus, and the Superdome district. Together, these institutions could form a destination academic medical center that attracts patients, researchers, and talent from across the region and beyond.

A Call for Public Realm Investment

A key forward-looking theme was the need to invest in the public realm. Fitts and others stressed that improving the spaces between buildings, including streets, plazas, commercial spaces and connective infrastructure will be essential to creating a cohesive district and sustaining momentum for the larger transformation.