Tulane University is planning to lease and operate a new student housing complex opening fall of 2027 at the site of Ted’s Frostop, an Uptown diner that has served guests since 1955.

For many, Frostop was a living relic of roadside Americana, known for serving burgers, fries, root beer and milkshakes and housing pinball machines. 

The construction project is led by local developer RCR Claiborne Venture, an affiliate of Robert Fresh Market. The move has shocked many New Orleanians who see the diner as an iconic part of the city’s history.

Bruce Williams, a New Orleans-based fine arts photographer, took to Instagram to mourn the loss of the original Frostop.

“Dining there is/was a special place for generational families and community members to socialize in a shared space that felt welcoming to all people,” Williams said in his post. 

Williams said nearby businesses reached out to him after his post, saying they were unaware of the decision.

“It’s just interesting to see … how Tulane voted on this decision without a lot of people in the community knowing about it or even having an opinion about it until after the fact,” Williams said. 

New Orleans-based photographer Rosalie O’Connor also expressed disappointment, stressing the importance of consulting local perspectives. 

“Change is inevitable. Growth has to happen. It’s how people do it and how they treat the communication around it. And that’s where it often falls short,” O’Connor said. “People just plough forward and do things without proper channels or communication, and then people feel blindsided by that.”

Madison Roberts, a New Orleans native raised near Frostop, said the diner has played a meaningful role across multiple generations of her family.

“It’s not only important to me growing up, but my whole family grew up in this one little section of uptown on this block,” Roberts said. “My parents and grandparents and even great grandparents all know and love Frostop.”

Roberts said she, too, felt blindsided by the lack of notice about the project. She said no one in her community knew about the project until Tulane broke the news earlier this week. 

“[It] is crazy to me, as someone who is in such close proximity, and this seems like such a large project, that no one would consider communicating this idea to the surrounding neighbors before proceeding with the project,” Roberts said. 

The project comes as part of a broader Tulane initiative to provide more on-campus housing for students. In the past three years, Tulane has constructed four new residence halls, with the River and Lake residence halls opening in 2023 and Bayou and Fogelman opening in 2025.

The new development will be apartment-style, fit to house approximately 160 students. 

According to the proposed agreement between RCR and Tulane, the development team and the university would provide a food truck so that Frostop can continue to operate on campus and in the neighborhood during construction. 

Frostop will reopen as a part of the new complex. The agreement also ensures that Frostop employees will have job opportunities at the development team’s existing businesses.

RCR also plans to integrate the original 14-foot neon root beer mug and original Ted’s Frostop sign into the new building. 

“I think they knew that the news would be upsetting to people because they are trying to keep … the root beer sign and the burger sign … just kind of bolted onto like the side of this new student housing building,” Williams said. “I feel like that doesn’t really show the significance of what it meant from a historical standpoint for the city of New Orleans.”

“It will undoubtedly change the entire atmosphere and charm of what made Frostop special,” Roberts said. “The aesthetic of the building adds to the entire experience of going to the diner [and] stripping the building of that charm will give guests an entirely different experience when dining in person.” 

Locals have also raised concerns about the logistics of the location, particularly the need for students to cross South Claiborne Avenue, a high-traffic street, to reach campus.

“We recognize that having housing across Claiborne presents some issues with traffic and pedestrians who may want to cross at Ben Weiner Drive. We are engaging an engineer to conduct a study of this and design a solution,” Tulane spokesperson Michael Strecker said. 

Brady Oufnac, who grew up in Uptown and currently attends Tulane, said he believes the university’s approach to expanding student housing comes at the expense of the New Orleans community.

“I understand that it’s a bit of a juggle between trying to accommodate better housing for students … and claiming to keep this New Orleans tradition and … culture alive,” Oufnac said. “I just feel that there are better ways to go about solving the problems facing the Tulane community that isn’t making problems for the New Orleans community.” 

Roberts said the original Frostop building is a loss for the creative industry. The restaurant has been featured in shows including “Your Honor” and the movies “Hit Man” and “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.” 

“The aesthetic of the building is not only important to the people of New Orleans, but to people who also use it as a creative outlet,” Roberts said.