The development was built in 1946 on an 18.5-acre tract of land bounded by Florida Avenue and North Dorgenois, Mazant and Gallier streets in the Upper 9th Ward.

It contained 47 two- and three-story brick buildings, arranged around courtyards and largely isolated from the rest of the community, for a total of 734 units housing 1,297 residents.

The majority of the Florida killings in 1994 were fueled by drug wars, specifically between the notorious Hardy Boys and the Poonie Crew.

The homicide spike in Florida and Desire contributed to New Orleans being dubbed "the nation's murder capital".

[1][2] That year the city's homicide rate reached 424, 47 of those killings occurring in HANO developments.