NEW ORLEANS — A day after pieces of the old Plaza Tower in the Central Business District crashed to the ground below, the owner of the skyscraper said selling the blighted building wasn’t out of the question.
Piece of the building hit a man on a bicycle Thursday afternoon, reigniting pleas for something to happen at the site that’s been vacant for nearly two decades.
City inspectors and the building’s owners on Friday began to work on a plan to try to prevent anyone else from getting injured.
“They plan to immediately place a fence and also make sure that there’s no access to the building,” said Tammie Jackson, the city’s director of safety and permits. “Long-term, there’s mesh going to go up to make sure debris can fall further.”
In the meantime, much of Howard and Loyola avenues would remain closed to traffic.
Strong winds were to blame -- in part -- for the falling debris.
“I, frankly, wasn’t terribly surprised,” said Michael Duplantier, president of the Lafayette Square Association.
He said his response is because of what he sees each day.
“We’ve noticed in the last several years -- and even worse, of late -- the building is deteriorating rapidly,” Duplantier said.
The Plaza Tower opened in 1969, the anchor of what was supposed to be a complex of similar skyscrapers, but closed in 2002 because of issues including asbestos and a poor design.
It’s gone through a series of owners in recent years who all promised something would be done with it.
“Hopefully this unfortunate thing that happened last night will spur some action on the part of the city and, of course, the owner,” Duplantier said.
Since 2014, that owner has been Alexandra Land & Development, operated by Ryan Jaeger, the son of developer Joe Jaeger.
Joe Jaeger was at the building on Thursday afternoon but declined to comment.
On Friday, Joe Jaeger’s MCC realty issued a statement that read, “Our team and contractors are on site working in conjunction with city officials and emergency responders to secure the structure and the immediate vicinity around Plaza Tower.
“We will be taking additional steps immediately to create the safest possible environment around the building until development plans are finalized or the property is sold.”
City records show the building has racked up at least 18 citations for code violations since 2004.
City Councilman Jay Banks, who represents the area in which the Plaza sits, said he wants the Cantrell administration’s code enforcement department to get more aggressive with the property.
“I understand that government cannot make someone develop it. However, we can make them keep it safe,” Banks said. “And if we need to put in sanctions or fines or whatever needs to happen to secure it, then let’s do that.”
In 2013, an effort led by then-Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell allowed the prior owner to open the blighted building’s garage for paid parking -- under one condition.
“This will get the lights back on with the understanding that the developer will come back to the CPC in two years from now with plans for full redevelopment,” Cantrell said at the time.
That never happened, and the building has fallen apart under the new owners.
Sandra Stokes with the Louisiana Landmarks Society, says years of citations have meant nothing.
“It’s a cost of doing business now instead of an incentive to get work done,” she said, adding that in a city full of historic properties, people who buy them have a responsibility.
“These buildings can’t sit for years and years and languish,” Stokes said. “Fix it or sell it to someone who will.”