NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – A number of proposals have come and gone, but in a couple years, the vacant World Trade Center building should be transformed into a Four Seasons hotel. The city held a signing ceremony Tuesday, to celebrate the deal. The mayor and developers talked about funding that`s been secured and partnerships that have been arranged, that will help turn the empty building on 2 Canal Street in the CBD into a five-star luxury hotel.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu approved the lease in May for the design and development team: Carpenter and Company – Woodward LLC. After $360 million in renovations, the building will have 350 hotel rooms and 76 private condos with hotel service. The city chose the Four Seasons’s proposal over four other finalists for the 99-year lease.

It has been a long road to renovation for this 33 story, nearly 50-year-old building. The World Trade Center of New Orleans organization moved out in 2011. In 2013, two bids on the property were unsuccessful, and just last year plans to turn the building into a W hotel failed.

But the past is behind us, and the grand opening for the Four Seasons Hotel is scheduled for December of 2017. The development will create an estimated 1,600 jobs and is expected to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue to the city.

Fun little note, the WGNO newsroom used to be on 28th and 29th floors or the World Trade Center building.

We will have more coverage of the signing ceremony in our evening shows.