News Roundup
Dec 19 2007
Troubled Plaza Tower Promised Fresh Start
City Business
Ariella Cohen Staff Writer
December 19, 2007
NEW ORLEANS — The long-awaited development of a mold-infested downtown landmark moved one step forward today with an announcement troubled Plaza Tower will undergo a $10-million cleanup in 2008.
“We felt that once we commenced with the environmental remediation, development opportunities would improve,” said Joe Bencivenga, a representative for owner Plainfield Direct, a Greenwich, Conn. -based investment fund and mortgage lender. Plainfield Direct bought the building at a public foreclosure auction in July after a previous ownership team defaulted on a $24-million mortgage it had issued.
Plainfield paid $583,000 for the 1001 Howard Ave. office building, which rises over the elevated Pontchartrain Expressway on the fringes of the Central Business District. Built in 1969, the 44-story high-rise was one of the city’s first skyscrapers.
Remediation has been a deterrent to development since the last tenants left in 2002 after workers complained for years about asbestos and mold in the walls and ceilings making them sick.
The previous owner partnership included former National Football League Baltimore Ravens player Michael McCrary and several out-of-state investors. They said they would convert the building into luxury condos.
McCrary is suing former development partner Edward Giannasca Jr. alleging he misused $12 million in insurance money the Plaza Tower collected because of damage sustained during Hurricane Katrina.
Bencivenga said Plainfield has already seen “some interest” in redeveloping the building but declined to detail the property’s future.
Plainfield has paid back taxes owed on the property, lessening the burden for a future developer and winning the company kudos from city officials.
“This is good news for the city, both in receiving more than $600,000 in taxes and equally important, for the indication that this landmark building will be ready for occupancy as the city of New Orleans continues to recover,” said City Council President Arnie Fielkow.
Source: City Business
Filed under: Rebuilding New Orleans
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