Urban South Brewery Finds A Potential Home on The Lafitte Greenway

A former laundry warehouse at 2606 St. Louis Street is slated to become the future Mid City location of Urban South Brewery, along with a yet-to-be-named restaurant, according to The Times-Pic.  The property's new owner GCE Green Development LLC is seeking the city's approval to renovate the 32,000 square foot historical space that sits on the long-awaited, $9.1 million dollar Lafitte Greenway (the beauteous biking/walking path that will connect the Quarter with City Park).  There are a few problems though: Parking (rather, a complete lack thereof) and the fact that a new zoning overlay for the Lafitte corridor doesn't allow for breweries (though that can be bypassed if the building—operated as an industrial laudry since the 1940s—gets the historical zoning nod the owners are hoping for).

GCE Green Development LLC has already spent over $2 million fixing up blighted properties in the Bienville and Broad Street area, which is quickly becoming a hot spot due to the gargantuan future Medical District, not to mention the addition of a Whole Foods and plans for an art house theatre. As for Urban South Brewery, it's the brainchild of Jacob Landry, a Tulane MBA alum who recently threw in the towel as Jefferson Parish public school system's chief strategy officer to become a full time beer nerd. Landry has already ordered equipment and has reportedly stated that opening a brewery is "a $1 million venture," but no word on who the head brewmaster is yet.