Mardi Gras Krewe Wins Approval for Bywater Base Amid Neighborhood Pushback | Eater New Orleans

"I learned the New Orleans City Council unanimously approved plans to convert 3300 Royal Street — a former furniture store the Krewe of Red Beans bought in 2021, next to Pizza Delicious and Bratz Y’all — into Beanlandia, a 25,000-square-foot headquarters and cultural facility. The approved zoning changes permit a “Cultural Facility with Standard Restaurant” and add live music as a secondary use, allowing a restaurant and bar with live music five days a week (performances no later than 9 p.m.), a proposed second-floor restaurant/bar, classrooms and costume exhibits, youth programming for afternoons, weekends and summers, a Saturday vendors market, and emergency supply-hub use; the krewe also seeks a 95-car parking waiver. Organizers pitch Beanlandia as a kid-friendly, community-focused space that uses sustainable tourism revenue to fund programming and builds on their Feed the Second Line and “Get Lit Stay Lit” initiatives. Neighbors object, citing concerns about alcohol near a playground, nightly crowds, live entertainment, parking, and cultural appropriation; the krewe withdrew its request for bar zoning but the restaurant will still be allowed to have a bar. The krewe hopes to partially open next year and complete renovations over five years." - Clair Lorell