After pieces of the Plaza Tower broke off and fell to the ground below, injuring a passing cyclist last month, the owner of the dying skyscraper says he still plans to turn the property into a hotel and luxury apartment complex.
Property developer and hotelier, Joe Jaeger says his plan for the decades-old abandoned property calls for a 17-floor -- 190-room hotel, and nearly 90 apartments on the upper floors, and three floors of penthouses, according to Nola.com.
"It's all going to boil down to the financing,” Jaeger said in an interview discussing the revitalization plan.
As newspaper reports, Jaeger’s 17 New Orleans hotels suffered financially when the pandemic killed tourism.
Jaeger tells the newspaper that over the last year, he suspects he took a nearly $30 million loss, which forced him to sell off his Market Street Power Plant property, and is considering selling off some of his hotels.
It is unclear when redevelopment will happen on the crumbling Plaza Tower on the corner of Loyola and Howard Avenues.
Following the cyclist’s injury, the city of New Orleans forced Jaeger to install secure fencing and netting around the building. Barricades also block Howard Avenue and S. Rampart, installed for the safety of drivers and pedestrians.
