Another milestone for LC as Mid-City Lofts opens

Published 8:42 am Thursday, January 22, 2026

In the first month of 2026, Lake Charles has reached another recovery milestone.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Mid-City Lofts development, 2701 Lake St., was held Wednesday morning.

The Mid-City Neighborhood Transformation project is a multimillion-dollar, 46-unit, mixed-income housing development on the 1.5-acre vacant block on the southwest corner of Lake and West 18th Streets.

Lake Charles Mayor Marshall Simien, Jr., called the transformation an act of “strengthening the fabric of the city” after five years of “some of the most devastating series of events that have ever occurred.”

“But we always say that we’re a resilient community and we’re building our way back,” he said. As the city continues moving that way, we’re going to start putting up resiliency hubs to make sure that when anything like this happens, not only will these buildings be standing, but recovery will be in place so that we can recover faster, stronger and more resilient than ever.”

The Mid-City Neighborhood Transformation project is one of the catalytic projects for Just Imagine SWLA, the 50-year resilience master plan for SW La., following a period of natural disasters and a global pandemic.

The Mid-City project aims to combat displacement through the development of mixed-income housing in Lake Charles, focusing on the redevelopment of older subsidized housing in the Lake Street area, located between W. Sallier St. and I-210.

The approach helped the City of Lake Charles and the Lake Charles Housing Authority secure a $40 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant (HUD CNI Grant) in 2023. This grant focuses on creating mixed-income housing, enhancing neighborhood connectivity and providing social support and services.

The former 38-acre 240-unit Lloyd Oaks housing development was chosen as an ideal location to build multiple housing developments to provide over 500 mixed-income apartments, retail and community program spaces.

For a community vacated after a disaster, Mid-City Lofts are a welcome sight. Speaking as both a resident and president of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, Brian Abshire, District 5, witnessed the area change “from a vibrant housing community to a desolate piece of property” following the hurricanes.

“We’re opening doors to opportunity, stability, and dignity on the heels of unprecedented disasters and tough times that the people of our parish have endured,” he said. “I have the pleasure of driving this corridor every day and watching this development happen, and we all remember what it looked like before.”

The Mid-City lofts are the first completed (and the only planned off-site) development. The development has 46 units, secure off-street parking, a fitness center, and a computer lab with printing capabilities and high-speed internet.

Each unit comes with a washer and dryer, a walk-in closet, a dishwasher and a refrigerator.

Mid-City lofts have 40 one-bedroom apartments and 6 two-bedroom apartments. Twenty-five are replacement units reserved for former Lloyd Oaks residents, three are permanent supportive housing and eight are affordable workforce housing rentals. Ten units are listed at the market rate.

With eyes already set on the next goal, “momentum” was a theme at the ceremony. Prior to the ribbon cutting, officials broke ground on the next Mid-City project. The infrastructure updates include the construction of new streetscapes, including 6,000 feet of new roadways, and the installation of new resilient infrastructure, all of which is expected to be built over the next year.

“Incredible housing” should be available in late 2027 and early 2028, President of HRI Communities Joshua Collen said. Several other developments are in the works, including the 72-unit mixed-income Mid-City Crossing and the 55-unit Mid-City Oak Townhouse. “Incredible housing” should be available in late 2027 and early 2028, he said.