Something is happening across New Orleans and the surrounding parishes — a quiet transformation that’s changing how we experience the outdoors. From a former industrial salvage yard turned riverfront gathering spot to a living shoreline protecting Lake Pontchartrain’s edge, the region is reimagining what public green space can be. And for the first time in generations, New Orleanians are getting unprecedented access to the Mississippi River, their neighborhoods and nature itself.
The Batture
Ben Jacobson and his partner Casey Burka spent eight years — from 2015 to 2023 — working to purchase 10 acres of riverfront that, until recently, most New Orleanians didn’t even know existed. For 170 years, this stretch of land beside Audubon Park was closed to the public — first owned by the Bisso family before the Civil War, then used as a marine salvage yard filled with scrap metal and heavy equipment.
“As native New Orleanians, the Mississippi River has always been a defining presence, yet there are surprisingly few places for locals to truly experience it,” Jacobson said. “Finding 10 acres of undeveloped riverfront, tucked beside Audubon in the heart of Uptown, was unforgettable. Like most people, we had passed it countless times without noticing it. Then suddenly it was, ‘Wait — someone owns this?’”
After closing on the property in October 2023, they began the transformation where Magazine Street meets The Fly. “When we first walked the site, it was still an active salvage yard — filled with marine scrap, heavy equipment and very little greenery,” Jacobson said. Their first order of business was to clean up debris, relocate structures, and introduce plants and green space. The former Bisso office headquarters became The Rigs, a coworking space that opened in October 2024.
Today, The Batture opens Fridays through Sundays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., plus Tuesday mornings for the Crescent City Farmers Market. “I have overheard people saying things like, ‘How have we never been here before?’ or ‘If we can be here, why would we ever be anywhere else?’” Jacobson said. “One moment that stayed with me was hearing an older woman quietly say, ‘A whole different world, so close.’”…