The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is poised to make sweeping changes to its long-delayed River District project after the developer leading the effort repeatedly missed payment deadlines.
At a pivotal meeting Thursday afternoon, the Convention Center’s oversight board is expected to approve a plan that would remove the River District Neighborhood Investors consortium — led by local developer Louis Lauricella — from much of the multibillion-dollar project and return direct control of several prime parcels of riverfront land to the Convention Center itself, according to official documents filed ahead of the meeting.
Jim Cook, a longtime hotel executive who took over as the center’s CEO in August, said he expects the changes to help move the project forward…