The battle over how to demolish the partially-collapsed and unstable Hard Rock construction site is far from over.
It’s been more than six months since the building under construction, collapsed, killing three workers and causing $5 million in damages and emergency response as estimated by the city.
On-going negotiations between the city and 1031 Canal Development LLC kept stalling, first, it was over who the contractor will be to do the demolition.
Back in March a deal between the developer, 1031 Canal, and the city’s preferred demolition contractor, D.H. Griffin, to implode the site, fell apart.
Then, the developer couldn’t come up with the $50 million in insurance required by the city to move forward with the demolition.
1031 Canal’s latest plan for demolition was submitted to the city for approval on Friday. It calls for a new contractor, Kolb Grading, to do a more traditional demolish rather than an implosion the city wants to do. It also calls for the demolition of three other buildings around the Hard Rock site.
Related: Deadline: Fail. Hard Rock owners miss delivery date to get demolition plans to city
Plans to move forward looked promising when New Orleans City Attorney Sunni LeBeouf sent a letter to Orleans Parish Civil Court Judge Kern Reese who is overseeing the negotiations, encouraging Reese to let the demolition move forward at an upcoming hearing on Thursday.
But negotiations have hit another snag. WWL-TV reports the attorney for 1031 Canal, Lori Mince, sent a letter to the city’s attorney Sunni LeBeouf on Tuesday, accusing the city of standing firm on using its choice of contractor, D.H. Griffin, to do an implosion. In the letter, Mince accuses the city of engaging in “bad faith delay tactics” as reported by WWL-TV.
1031 Canal has also filed a new court motion on Tuesday asking Judge Reese to stop the city from forcing the developer to begin demolition next week.