New Orleans will pay up to $79 million to buy 70 acres of land north of downtown for a planned Veterans Affairs hospital and to relocate the residents.
The city will use its federal community development block grants for the program, along with $4 million of city funds.
The property is adjacent to the site for Louisiana State University’s proposed $1.2 billion academic hospital. The hospitals will be operated separately, but they could share some support and laboratory spaces.
The Louisiana Legislature has allocated $74.5 million to acquire the land and begin design work. The state also plans to issue $400 million of revenue bonds for the LSU hospital.
Mayor Ray Nagin committed in 2007 to buy the land for the VA hospital, but declined to say how much the property would cost. A new version of the agreement between the city and the state was made public last week.
