Another piece of the old B.W. Cooper footprint is officially getting a second act. Providence Community Housing is breaking ground April 8 on a 103-unit affordable senior community at 3401 Erato Street, turning the former public-housing site into one-bedroom apartments for residents 62 and older. All units are aimed at households earning at or below 50 percent of the area median income, with Project-Based Section 8 vouchers expected to subsidize the rents. The ceremonial shovels hit the dirt at 10:30 a.m., and if construction stays on track, residents are slated to start moving in by spring 2027.
Groundbreaking details and who will speak
The April 8 ceremony will feature a full lineup of city and housing officials. Scheduled speakers include Councilmember Lesli Harris, Housing Authority of New Orleans Executive Director Marjorianna Willman, City Director of Housing Jeff Schwartz, Columbia Residential President Carmen Chubb and Providence CEO Terri North, according to New Orleans CityBusiness. The outlet also reports that the Erato Street community is expected to open its doors to its first residents in spring 2027.
What’s being built and how it’s financed
On paper, the project goes by BW Cooper Senior, a single building with 103 one-bedroom units designed for independent seniors. State filings put the total development cost in the mid-$30 million range. To make the numbers work, the Louisiana Housing Corporation signed off on issuing up to $19.5 million in multifamily housing revenue bonds and preliminarily recommended about $1.76 million in low-income housing tax credits, with additional layers that include CDBG-DR gap loans and Fannie Mae debt, according to Louisiana Housing Corporation. Columbia Residential is listed as the management company in the financing documents.
Who will run it and what residents will find
Residents earning at or below 50 percent of Area Median Income will be eligible for the new apartments, and Project-Based Section 8 vouchers from the Housing Authority of New Orleans are expected to cover every unit, providing long-term rent stability, as reported by New Orleans CityBusiness. Plans call for shared community spaces such as gardens, a fitness center and a business center, along with energy-efficient appliances throughout the apartments. Day-to-day operations and maintenance will be handled by Columbia Residential, an Atlanta-based developer and manager founded in 1991 that reports managing roughly 10,000 apartment homes across the Southeast, per Columbia Residential.
Neighborhood context and Providence’s role
The BW Cooper site sits on land that was once part of the Calliope public-housing footprint and appears on the city’s pipeline of subsidized housing developments, underscoring a broader local push to grow senior rental options. Providence Community Housing, which reports that senior housing makes up more than half of its operating portfolio and that it manages dozens of properties serving older residents, will lead both development and resident services at the Erato Street site, according to Providence Community Housing and the City of New Orleans project pipeline. Officials and developers have said they plan to release construction and leasing timelines as the project moves from ceremonial groundbreaking into full build-out.
