NEW ORLEANS-The Domain Companies will develop a mixed-use, transit-oriented project in the heart of downtown. The project, dubbed South Market District, has a price tag of $185 million and will be financed with a mix of New Market Tax Credits and traditional debt, according to Matthew Schwartz, principal of the firm.

It will combine 450 luxury apartments with 170,000 square feet of upscale retail, restaurants and entertainment venues. The company plans to break ground on the first phase of South Market in late 2011, with completion expected in the second half of 2013.

“This is something we’ve been working on for a long time,” Schwartz says. “We’ve built about $125 million worth of residential and retail in New Orleans post-Katrina and we’re closely tied to the development of the Medical Center and its impact on the city. The Center will generate as many as 7,000 new jobs and that knowledge-based workforce has a greater propensity to live in downtown mixed-use environments.”