Louisiana runs two very different land banks in its two biggest cities. The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) holds 200+ parcels — much of it with post-Katrina history — and sells through programs and auctions. Build Baton Rouge posts prices on nearly everything it lists, and the numbers are startling: a median posted price around $280, among the cheapest publicly priced real estate in America.
Who sells land bank property in Louisiana
Both agencies are profiled in our directory:
- New Orleans Redevelopment Authority — the city's redevelopment agency and de-facto land bank. Its inventory traces to the post-Katrina Road Home era plus adjudicated property, and it disposes through auctions, lot-next-door sales to adjacent owners, and development deals.
- Build Baton Rouge (2007) — East Baton Rouge Parish's redevelopment authority. Its list is smaller but almost fully priced, mostly vacant adjudicated lots, with a handful of structures.
What's listed right now
The inventory splits cleanly: NORA's parcels price through programs (no stickers), while Build Baton Rouge posts prices you can underwrite from your couch. Browse the live Louisiana map to see both cities' lots.
The Louisiana buying process
The standard land bank playbook applies — full guide here — with Louisiana specifics:
- Find the parcel on the map and check which agency holds it — the program, not the parish, decides your process.
- Match the program. NORA auctions move on the auction calendar; lot-next-door sales require adjacency; Build Baton Rouge's posted-price lots take applications with program conditions.
- Get the title story in writing. Louisiana's adjudicated-property pipeline is exactly why these agencies exist — conveying usable title is the product, but deed types vary by program. See do land bank homes come with clear title?
- Budget past the sticker. At a $280 median, closing costs and lot maintenance are the real price. The first-timer's guide covers building that budget.
Where the value concentrates
New Orleans is the higher-upside, higher-homework market: neighborhood trajectories vary block by block, and NORA's programs reward buyers who show up prepared for auctions or hold the lot next door (side lots guide). Baton Rouge is the transparency play — a nearly fully priced list you can screen in an afternoon. If you're comparing Gulf-South markets, Alabama's Birmingham inventory is the application-based cousin; Tennessee's Memphis list is the volume king.
Start here
- Live Louisiana inventory map
- Louisiana's land banks, profiled
- What is a land bank? if the model is new to you