NEW ORLEANS — City Councilwoman Lesli Harris is vowing to move forward with her effort to punish the owner of the abandoned Plaza Tower skyscraper for repeated emergencies there, ignoring pressure from Mayor LaToya Cantrell and building owner Joe Jaeger for the council to work with Jaeger instead.
Harris proposed a motion by the City Council, and it’s on the agenda for Thursday’s council meeting. It asks the city’s Code Enforcement office to cite Jaeger’s Alexandra Land & Development for all code violations at the 45-story Plaza Tower and directs the Cantrell administration to develop a plan for securing the site and to pursue legal action to recover costs the city incurred responding to emergencies and falling debris at Plaza Tower, including having to close adjoining streets for long stretches.
Pieces of the building have fallen onto the streets below, once striking a passerby. In 2021, Jaeger put what he called a “hairnet” on top of the iconic structure, but more debris fell earlier this year. On April 24, a fire broke out in the building. Vagrants fled the structure as the New Orleans Fire Department arrived, and a man fell to his death. Harris said stronger action was needed to secure the property.
“I know there’s a chain-link fence up, but clearly, people are going in and out of it, so that’s not secure enough,” Harris told WWL-TV shortly after the incident. “I spoke to the owner a few months ago about additional security measures, including patrols around the building. Of course, he said that was costly. But is there anything more costly than someone losing their life?”
After Harris proposed the council motion this week, Jaeger fired off an email to her and Cantrell, saying he had two viable offers to purchase the building and hoped to sign letters of intent this week to begin the process of selling the property. But his email also warned that media coverage of Harris’ motion “will turn the buyers off, and they may move on.” He then threatened that if the motion passes, “this will turn into a legal battle.”
He ended the email by writing: “Again, we do not want to get into any litigation confrontation if at all possible.”
Mayor Cantrell responded by email Tuesday, saying she was “excited” about Jaeger’s options for Plaza Tower and commiserated with him about the City Council’s proposed motion.
“I am extremely familiar with ordinances they tend to move forward that do more damage than provide a pathway toward real solutions,” she said. “It is my hope that the Council responds favorably to your request or enough of them, that is.”
Later Tuesday, Harris sent an email offering to meet with Jaeger, but he responded Wednesday that he had conflicts during the proposed meeting times next week.
Also, on Wednesday, Cantrell blasted Harris at a news conference.
“I have not seen any action by the councilmember at all and engagement with that property owner at all,” Cantrell said. She then urged the City Council not to pass Harris’ motion and to work with the city and Jaeger on solutions.
"The Mayor is mistaken in saying I have not met with Plaza Tower's owner or sought action on the property,” Harris said in a statement. “She has not discussed this with me or my staff, and she is not privy to interactions I have with property owners or citizens. If she were, she would know that I have met with Mr. Jaeger, am in daily contact with his representatives, and constantly demand action to improve the site.”
Asked if Harris would pull down the motion, her chief of staff said Harris planned to move forward with a vote on Thursday.
Plaza Tower was the tallest building in the city when it opened in 1969, but it’s been abandoned for more than 20 years and was riddled with asbestos. Jaeger purchased the 45-story building in 2014 with grand plans to bring it back into commerce.
Those plans haven’t come to fruition in nine years. The building has been riddled with blight, and in May 2021, pieces of the top fell off and struck a passing bicyclist. But the city’s Safety and Permits director, Tammie Jackson, said Jaeger wasn’t being fined because large developers need time to get financing for major projects.
In August 2022, Jaeger ordered the doors welded shut, but in October, thrill-seekers were videoed entering the building and scaling the outside about 12 stories up. WWL-TV and The Times-Picayune interviewed Jaeger in November and asked him who would be responsible if someone fell to their death.
“I'm not sure,” Jaeger said. “Because if I weld the doors up and somebody comes and cuts the door and gets in there and does whatever, how can I stop that?”
After someone did fall to their death last month, Jaeger wrote to Cantrell and Harris that he is working on replacing the fencing with a more secure type. He wrote that the new fence could be delivered as soon as next week.
CORRECTION: The original version of this story erroneously reported that Harris’ motion was a non-binding resolution. A motion, if passed, is binding.
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