The Capital One Tower in Lake Charles, a damaged reminder of Hurricane Laura, will be demolished this year, the Lake Charles newspaper is reporting.
The American Press reports that the city of Lake Charles gave the building's owner a deadline of November to either restore the building or tear it down. To read their story, click here.
The tower was damaged by Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020.
According to the newspaper, the building owner told the city it wanted to repair the tower in June 2022. A company was hired to do repairs but then work stopped, and it was put up for sale after the owner received an insurance settlement.
In an effort to protect the interests of the city, the administration intervened in the lawsuit the owner filed against its insurance company to provide for $7 million to be held in escrow to demolish the building if Hertz did not do it by November 2024, the paper reports. The first phase of an asbestos study has been completed, one of two required to demolish the building, a rep of the owner told the newspaper. Bids have been received for an implosion-style demolition, he said.
To read the paper's whole story with all the details, click here.
Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter sent us the following statement:
“The City has recently been made aware of the potential for the former Capital One Building to be demolished. We knew renovating this massive structure would be a monumental task, and this is why we injected ourselves into the insurance litigation, to protect the interests of locals. This is why the City insisted upon $7M from the insurance settlement being set aside in an escrow account.
"We visited with and cooperated with multiple parties who were interested in rehabilitating the building. Ultimately, the economics in a post-COVID environment just may not work out. Seeing this building torn down would be sad for some, but three and a half years in its current state is long enough. A single building does not define our beautiful City. Ultimately, it is better for the building to be gone than to linger any longer in its current state.”
