Energy-focused startup space to open on former naval base
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
People work in a woodshop at Newlab headquarters in Brooklyn. Photo: Cate Dingley/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A buzzy Brooklyn innovation lab is planning to open an energy-industry-focused startup space next to the former naval base building in New Orleans' Bywater neighborhood, officials announced Monday.
Why it matters: The project brings a new use to a long-blighted area and aims to support new business growth, state leaders said.
The latest: Newlab will expand into Louisiana with a newly constructed New Orleans facility, according to a press release.
- Its goal will be to attract new startups focused on industrial power, carbon management and utilization, and shipping and maritime infrastructure and operations, the release said.
- Newlab New Orleans will be housed in a new building on the grounds of the former naval base in the Bywater.
Zoom in: Newlab will offer "industrial scale-up spaces" to allow startups to build and test out new technology onsite.
State of play: A plan to transform the massive, 1.5 million-square-foot blighted naval site into a residential complex cleared final financial hurdles at the end of March, The Times-Picayune reports.
- Construction should begin soon.
What they're saying: "Louisiana's legacy in commercial-scale energy projects, existing industrial infrastructure and technical workforce create the perfect foundation to build a startup ecosystem that will future-proof the state's economy," said Newlab co-founder and CEO David Belt in the release.
Newlab was founded in Brooklyn in 2016.