Who Really Owns New Orleans Now, Part II: A Deeper Dive

Editor’s Note:

Our first piece, Who Really Owns New Orleans Now, sparked a strong response — not just in readership, but in what readers asked for next: more depth, more evidence, and more answers. While that article was designed as a broad overview of a long-standing problem, it quickly became clear that a deeper investigation was warranted.

This follow-up dives further into the neighborhoods most impacted by speculative ownership and shell LLCs, with more documentation, clearer timelines, and a closer look at how — despite significant policy reforms — the problem persists. We’ve also highlighted the actions taken by the New Orleans City Council and laid out what enforcement and structural changes are still urgently needed.

Due to the scale and significance of this issue, we’re launching a focused editorial series on housing and development in New Orleans. Future installments will take a neighborhood-by-neighborhood approach, building on this foundation and continuing to follow the money, the policies, and the people most affected. To be clear, the article below only begins to uncover a problem that, while widespread, remains largely invisible to the public eye.

Introduction

In 2023, the New Orleans City Council passed what was then hailed as one of the strictest short-term rental (STR) laws in the country: a cap limiting STRs in residential areas to one per square block. The reform came after years of complaints from residents about entire neighborhoods turning into tourist zones—pushing up rents, displacing locals, and warping the housing market.

But as community advocates soon found out, the devil was in the exemptions. A loophole allowed as many as two additional permits per block, as long as they were approved through a special process. That process quickly became a workaround for large-scale STR operators—often using a web of LLCs to apply under different names on the same block.

So in March 2025, the City Council voted unanimously to eliminate all exemptions to the one-per-block rule, closing what Councilmember JP Morrell called the “last major loophole” in STR enforcement. The move was applauded by housing advocates—but also raised a more difficult question: Now that the rules are clear, will New Orleans enforce them?

Early signs suggest that may be an uphill battle. STR platforms continue to host illegal listings. Investors keep buying properties under new LLC names. And neighborhoods from Bywater to Hollygrove are still feeling the pressure from rising rents, reduced housing supply, and absentee landlords.

This article is a follow-up to our previous investigation, but this time we peel back the curtain a bit more. Drawing from public records, assessor data, and city enforcement reports, we’ve tracked how out-of-state buyers, shell companies, and lax enforcement continue to shape who owns New Orleans—and who gets pushed out.

Bywater: The Block-by-Block STR Battle Isn’t Over

Bywater has become ground zero in the fight over short-term rentals in New Orleans. Once a historically working-class neighborhood, it’s now caught in the crosshairs of tourism-driven real estate speculation. When the city passed the one-per-square-block STR cap in 2023, it was aimed directly at neighborhoods like this—where entire blocks had been converted into Airbnbs and STR “ghost hotels.”

Still, enforcement has struggled to catch up with reality.

In 2024, several properties in the Royal Street and Chartres Street corridors appeared on STR platforms with expired permits or no visible license at all. One example, known online as Magnolia House NOLA, operated just blocks from Crescent Park. While no formal citations have been made publicly available, housing watchdogs flagged the listing for potential violations, and it was later removed from Airbnb without explanation.

Bywater’s STR density has long outpaced legal limits. Inside Airbnb data from 2023–2024 showed more than 220 entire-home listings in the 70117 ZIP code—far above the number of legal STR permits issued for the area. While the city has cracked down on new registrations, a large number of legacy and illegal listings remain active, often using evasive tactics like host aliases or re-listing under new LLCs.

In March 2025, the Council moved to eliminate all exemptions to the STR cap. The vote was unanimous. Councilmember JP Morrell said:

“The community said: No more loopholes. This closes the last one.”

But loopholes aren’t just written into policy—they’re embedded in enforcement gaps. As of late 2023, the city had just eight inspectors responsible for STR compliance across all of New Orleans. While additional staff may have been added since, housing advocates argue enforcement still lags far behind the scale of abuse.

Councilmember Helena Moreno has emphasized that policy without enforcement is meaningless, stating:

“If we can’t back up the rules, bad actors will just keep finding new ways to work around them.”

Bywater residents have seen it firsthand. According to public assessor records, dozens of properties in the neighborhood are titled to LLCs with mailing addresses in other states, including Texas, Florida, and Wyoming. In some cases, one block may have multiple homes owned by different LLCs that share a common registered agent—a red flag for coordinated ownership.

Longtime resident Andrea D., speaking at a neighborhood meeting in March, put it plainly:

“My neighbor’s house isn’t a home anymore. It’s a rental for bachelorette parties. And the owner? They live in Phoenix.”

Despite the 2025 reform, enforcement remains reactive. Listings come down only after complaints are filed, permits are sometimes issued without verifying homestead exemptions, and many violations are simply ignored. In Bywater, as in much of New Orleans, the real fight may not be over what the law says—but whether it means anything at all.

Mid-City: A Shell Game Hiding in Plain Sight

Mid-City sits at the crossroads of New Orleans — a neighborhood defined by its diversity, streetcar lines, and historic doubles. It’s also become a magnet for real estate speculation. While not as visually saturated with STRs as Bywater, Mid-City has quietly become a hotbed for shell LLC ownership, homestead exemption fraud, and enforcement evasion.

Since 2023, public records show a growing number of residential properties in the 70119 ZIP code have been acquired by LLCs — many with out-of-state mailing addresses or overlapping registered agents. In one example, two homes on South Alexander Street were purchased by Canal Uptown Properties LLC and Bayou Keys Management LLC within months of each other. Both LLCs list mailing addresses outside Orleans Parish and were registered around the same time.

According to InsideAirbnb, Mid-City still has a significant number of entire-home STR listings, despite new laws capping STR density. Housing advocates estimate that as many as 60–70% of these listings lack valid permits, often flying under the radar by rotating between different LLCs or falsely claiming resident status.

A 2023 report from the New Orleans Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed widespread abuse of homestead exemptions — a requirement for STR permits that many LLCs and non-residents circumvented. Mid-City was among the neighborhoods with the highest rates of fraudulent filings, according to the report. In many cases, the owners listed themselves as full-time occupants, despite living in other parishes or out of state.

Councilmember Helena Moreno has emphasized that without strong and timely enforcement, housing reforms risk falling short — and that neighborhoods like Mid-City could continue losing homes that should be serving local residents.

Rents in Mid-City have risen significantly in recent years, outpacing wage growth for many residents. While exact figures vary, housing advocates — including the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center — have pointed to short-term rentals and absentee ownership as key contributors to housing cost pressures, especially along corridors like Canal Street, Banks Street, and Iberville.

Residents say the impact isn’t always visible — but it’s real. Robert Jackson, who leads a neighborhood housing group, says one common tactic is the “double dip”:

“They’ll buy a double, rent one side long-term to stay under the radar, and use the other as a full-time Airbnb. It looks legal until someone digs deeper.”

Despite the March 2025 STR reforms, enforcement data suggests illegal operations persist. Permit counts in 70119 remain below the number of active listings, and city inspectors continue to cite properties for noncompliance — often long after violations have been reported.

As Councilmember JP Morrell put it bluntly during a 2025 hearing:

“If we don’t show residents we’re serious about this, we lose Mid-City. Not in ten years — in two.”

New Orleans East: Ownership Without Accountability

New Orleans East covers the largest stretch of land in the city — and much of it has become a zone of speculative ownership. Unlike the STR-saturated blocks of Bywater or Mid-City, the East is defined less by short-term rental conversions and more by absentee landlords, blighted properties, and under-enforced housing codes.

One of the most glaring examples came in March 2024, when the City Council voted unanimously to revoke a tax break from The Willows Apartments, a massive complex long criticized for unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Residents there had endured mold, rodent infestations, and repeated flooding. The owners — a Tennessee-based group operating under a nonprofit housing shell — had benefited from a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement. Councilmembers, including Oliver Thomas and Helena Moreno, called the situation “inhumane” and pledged to crack down on landlords who profit from public subsidies while neglecting basic maintenance.

But the Willows is just one part of a larger pattern. A review of Orleans Parish Assessor data reveals that dozens — possibly hundreds — of single-family homes and lots in the East are currently titled to LLCs registered outside Louisiana, with mailing addresses in Texas, Florida, Georgia, and California. Many of these LLCs list P.O. boxes or generic office suites, making it difficult to identify the actual property owners.

In 2024, one property on the I-10 Service Road corridor was flagged by local housing advocates for persistent exterior damage and vacancy. The owner, listed as an out-of-state LLC, failed to respond to city communications, according to neighborhood organizers. These absentee owners often allow properties to languish—some vacant for years—causing property values in the surrounding area to stagnate or drop.

Short-term rentals are less common in New Orleans East, but they do exist — especially in larger, higher-end homes in Eastover and Venetian Isles. Several of these have been marketed as “event rentals” or vacation retreats, raising red flags about whether they comply with STR permit laws. While specific citations have not been publicly posted, Airbnb listings in these neighborhoods have operated without visible permit numbers, a potential violation of the city’s ordinance.

Beyond rentals, the concern is land-banking and speculative flipping. LLCs such as Redhawk Properties NOLA LLC and Lakefront Equity LLC have been active in acquiring properties — including blighted homes and undeveloped lots — along Chef Menteur Highway and in the Michoud corridor. While not the largest property holders, these firms represent a growing class of investment entities shaping the area’s future from afar. To verify this information, readers can search Orleans Parish property records at the Assessor’s Office or check Louisiana Secretary of State business filings to see ownership patterns and acquisitions by entities like Redhawk Properties NOLA LLC and Lakefront Equity LLC.

Councilmember Oliver Thomas, who represents much of New Orleans East, has called for greater ownership transparency, saying:

“We need to stop pretending that LLCs are people. They’re shields. And they’re hurting New Orleans East more than they’re helping.”

Housing advocates echo that concern. While large developments like the Willows draw headlines, much of the damage is more dispersed — one vacant house per block, one blighted lot per street, slowly draining the neighborhood’s stability.

And without systemic enforcement, that pattern is unlikely to change. Enforcement agencies struggle to hold out-of-state LLCs accountable, especially when there’s no local representative to cite or subpoena. City Hall has yet to pass legislation requiring disclosure of beneficial owners — the people who actually profit from each LLC — despite calls from advocates to do so.

New Orleans East isn’t fighting gentrification in the traditional sense. It’s fighting erasure through neglect — a slow-motion exodus enabled not by tourism, but by disconnection. Homes are becoming investment assets. Land is bought and sat on. And in a neighborhood that has long been under-resourced, the cost of inaction is growing by the day.

Carrollton/Riverbend: When the Shell Game Breaks

Uptown’s Carrollton and Riverbend neighborhoods — where tree-lined streets, double-shotguns, and corner stores have long defined the rhythm of daily life — have seen a steady influx of speculative investors in recent years. Many of these buyers have used webs of LLCs to acquire and convert homes near Tulane and Loyola into student rentals or short-term rentals, often just blocks from the St. Charles streetcar line.

From 2021 through 2024, companies such as Broadway Street Holdings, LLC, Audubon Street Holdings, LLC, and Zimpel Partners NOLA quietly acquired multiple properties in close proximity — including sites on Broadway, Audubon, and Zimpel Streets. Public records from the Louisiana Secretary of State show that several of these entities share registered agents or common mailing addresses, indicating a single ownership group operating behind multiple LLCs.

At least one property tied to these entities — 7200 S. Claiborne Avenue — was flagged in 2024 for unpermitted renovation work, according to city permit records. And by early 2025, some of the investment activity appeared to be unraveling. While no public bankruptcy filings were found at the time of writing, Broadway Street Holdings was reportedly facing legal and financial pressure, with multiple properties sitting mid-renovation or temporarily vacant.

In a March 2025 Council session, Councilmember Joe Giarrusso, whose district includes Carrollton, expressed concerns about the use of multiple LLCs to acquire properties within a single block, highlighting the potential risks to neighborhood stability when such investment strategies fail.

On streets like Broadway and Birch, the signs of speculative disruption are hard to ignore: boarded windows, half-installed fencing, dumpsters that linger for months, and STR listings that appear and disappear without clear licensing. According to assessor data, several blocks in Carrollton have multiple homes owned by LLCs with out-of-state or anonymous registration, including P.O. boxes in Delaware and mail forwarding addresses in California.

Residents say the instability is not just visual — it’s structural. Barbara G., who has lived in the Riverbend for over 30 years, testified during a February 2025 STR hearing:

“You look up who owns the place next door, and it’s a company that didn’t even exist two years ago. They flip it, rent it, or sit on it. But they never show up for the neighborhood.”

The city’s March 2025 reforms, which eliminated STR exemptions, were designed in part to prevent exactly this kind of concentration. But as of April, many properties remain in legal limbo — some entangled in litigation, others awaiting inspection or permit denials.

Giarrusso and other councilmembers have floated proposals requiring beneficial ownership disclosure on property records — a step that would prevent individuals from hiding behind multiple LLCs to circumvent rules. Advocates are also calling for increased staffing in enforcement and real-time listing monitoring, arguing that fines alone are insufficient.

In Carrollton, the cost of inaction is measured not just in property values or rental rates, but in trust. Residents say the neighborhood feels less like a community and more like a portfolio — and without structural reform, that trend may continue.

Hollygrove: A Quiet Battleground for Ownership and Stability

Hollygrove may not attract as much attention as Bywater or Carrollton, but this historically Black, working-class neighborhood is increasingly in the crosshairs of speculative real estate ownership. In recent years, developers and LLCs have quietly moved in, buying up homes one by one — not always for short-term rentals, but often for flips, passive rentals, or long-term hold strategies.

A review of public assessor data shows that since 2023, dozens of properties in the 70118 ZIP code — which includes Hollygrove and parts of Dixon — have been purchased by LLCs with out-of-parish or out-of-state mailing addresses. These include entities like Oak Revival NOLA LLC, Riverlake Property Partners, and others. While the names may differ, several filings list similar registered agents or contact information, suggesting coordinated acquisition strategies.

The result: more homes being pulled off the owner-occupant market — and more renters navigating unstable housing situations.

The STR footprint here is lighter than in other parts of the city, but not absent. In early 2025, at least two listings on Colapissa Street and Monroe Street appeared on STR platforms without visible permits. While formal citations are not publicly available, housing advocates say this kind of low-visibility STR activity often emerges as enforcement tightens elsewhere.

What’s more prevalent in Hollygrove is the flip-and-flip-again trend. Some properties purchased at $150,000–$180,000 in late 2023 were listed by early 2025 for over double that price after only modest renovations. One such example was a home on Mistletoe Street, which saw a rapid turnaround with cosmetic upgrades and a 90% price hike in under 12 months. These flips are often managed by LLCs registered outside the neighborhood — with no long-term connection to the community.

Local housing groups say that dynamic is stripping the neighborhood of its stability. “It’s not just about displacement,” said Keith D., a Hollygrove resident and volunteer with a local housing initiative.

“It’s about the feeling that someone else is playing Monopoly with our block.”

Amid this pressure, Hollygrove also saw progress. In late 2024, the Grove Place affordable housing project — developed in partnership with the Finance Authority of New Orleans — opened 32 new units, reserved for residents earning below the area median income. The project was hailed as a rare win for equity-based development in a city where new construction too often skews luxury.

Still, the systemic threats remain. Councilmember Eugene Green, who represents parts of the area, has supported proposals to expand ownership transparency, increase enforcement resources, and incentivize local ownership. In a March 2025 meeting, he acknowledged that the balance is fragile:

“The best way to preserve a neighborhood is to keep ownership local. And the best way to do that is to make sure outside investors don’t outpace us in cash and legal tricks.”

As citywide enforcement ramps up against STRs and housing fraud, Hollygrove is poised to be a proving ground. The neighborhood still has strong community networks, long-term residents, and housing stock worth protecting. The question is whether the city will intervene before the quiet encroachment becomes irreversible.

Policy Alone Won’t Save New Orleans

Over the last two years, the New Orleans City Council has taken long-overdue steps to address the housing crisis: passing the 2023 one-per-block STR rule, closing the exemption loophole in 2025, and revoking tax breaks from negligent landlords like those at The Willows Apartments. These were necessary and bold moves — but they’ve only scratched the surface of a much deeper problem.

In neighborhoods across the city, the tactics have evolved faster than the enforcement. LLCs mask true ownership. STR listings reappear under new names. Out-of-state investors scoop up homes while local residents are priced out. And through it all, the city’s tools — underfunded inspectors, incomplete data, limited legal authority — have proven too weak to hold the system accountable.

Our reporting found that, even after reform:

• Illegal STRs are still operating in places like Bywater and Mid-City.

• Speculative flipping and absentee ownership are accelerating in Hollygrove and New Orleans East.

• And in neighborhoods like Carrollton, shell companies have created a level of anonymity and legal separation that makes real accountability almost impossible.

According to a recent AP News investigation, as of 2025, New Orleans has more than 7,000 active Airbnb listings, yet only about 1,350 are legally licensed.

This disparity echoes findings from Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative, which has long warned that illegal STRs continue to hollow out residential neighborhoods and displace long-term renters in areas like Tremé, Mid-City, and the Marigny.

This isn’t just a housing problem — it’s a power problem. It’s about who gets to profit from the city’s neighborhoods, and who gets displaced in the process.

To address that, the next phase of reform must go beyond just passing short-term rental regulations — it must ensure those rules are enforced, transparent, and truly equitable. While New Orleans has taken steps in the right direction, key measures still need to be strengthened or fully realized:

• Beneficial ownership disclosure must go deeper, so no one can hide behind layers of shell LLCs — especially when buying up dozens of properties across neighborhoods.

• Real-time data sharing with platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo is now required by law, but it must be fully enforced, regularly audited, and made partially accessible to the public to ensure meaningful compliance.

• A rental property registry exists, but it should be expanded to clearly identify actual ownership — not just front-facing LLC names — so residents can see who really controls the homes on their block.

• And the city’s enforcement agency needs full funding and authority to shut down illegal operators — not just issue fines that large-scale investors write off as the cost of doing business.

Without these measures being implemented with real teeth and transparency, predatory investors will continue finding loopholes — and New Orleanians will keep paying the price.

The receipts are clear. Residents are watching. What happens next will determine whether New Orleans can protect its people — or if its future will continue to be carved up, LLC by LLC, until nothing is left but the brand.