Netting goes up at Plaza Tower after fire, falling debris

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May 11, 2023

Netting goes up at Plaza Tower after fire, falling debris

A net surrounded the top of Plaza Tower to catch falling debris, in New Orleans,

A net surrounded the top of Plaza Tower to catch falling debris, in New Orleans, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Workers were spotted scaling Plaza Tower Wednesday afternoon, installing new netting around one of the marbled faces of the long troubled building.

It's the latest effort to placate concerns about the 50-year-old skyscraper, which has recently suffered a string of problems, including windblown debris that injured a cyclist two years ago, and more recently a fire and a homeless person falling to his death from the 45-story former office tower.

Anyone know what's going on at Plaza Tower? It looks like workers are installing nets. @AubryKWDSU @CassieWDSU pic.twitter.com/SXP4eSKiYa

The safety issues have led to calls for more dramatic action from residents and city officials — Mayor LaToya Cantrell expressed interest in demolishing the building earlier this month — and repeated closures of the roads surrounding the tower for fear of falling debris.

The building's owner, developer Joe Jaeger, is attempting to sell it and has whittled the list of interested parties down to three who are deemed serious contenders. He said he's taking steps to make the building safer in the meantime.

The latest scare was over a misaligned stone on the South Rampart side of the structure that a passerby had complained about, Jaeger said.

"We have photos from two years ago that show that same situation," he said. "Although we did not see it as an issue, we had it removed (and) we are checking all the stones on the wall, the backing, removing any suspect stones and any welds holding stones in place that did not pass a visual."

He said the new netting and cabling was an extra precaution, adding to the $1 million "hair net" at the top of the building that was put in after the cyclist incident.

Jaeger also commissioned a study by engineering firm Morphy Makofsky on the structural integrity of the building. There were no issues but they reinforced some beams at the request of the New Orleans Fire Department.

New "prison grade" fencing has also being installed to prevent metal strippers, itinerants and other trespassers from entering the site, he said.

"Although we think the professional vandals could cut through with cutting tools, the replacement of the fence gives the surroundings a more acceptable look," he said. "Hopefully, with other measures we have done it will keep out or deter them."

He has said he isn't interested in demolishing the building, despite the speculation after Cantrell's comments. Given the location of the building, tearing it down would likely be too expensive an undertaken for either a private owner or the city.

Jaeger said in early May that he's received a half dozen offers from potential buyers, now pared down to three qualified.

"We are still vetting the offers we received and taking into consideration not just the price but trying to determine as best we can the qualifications of the buyer to turn this into an acceptable use and bring it back into commerce," he said.

That process will be kept under wraps until there is a firm deal in place, Jaeger said.

Email Anthony McAuley [email protected].