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Media Clips Vacant apartments to be demolished
Demolition of an Algiers apartment complex that has sat vacant since Hurricane Katrina will begin next month as part of the city of New Orleans' efforts to eradicate blight. Devonwood Apartments, 3800 Texas Drive, will be torn down starting June 16. At a May 6 blight hearing, officials from the city's Housing and Neighborhood Development Division decided to suspend fines against the owner, 1500 Lorene LLC of Harvey, since a representative showed that the company had obtained permits for demolition. The hearing was the result of efforts by the city and officials from the Algiers Development District to push for blighted commercial properties to be torn down or fixed. Twelve properties have been listed for inspections to initiate the hearing process, according to Algiers Development Director Kathy Lynn Honaker. Among the properties are the former Conoco buildings on Gen. de Gaulle Drive; Higgins Gate apartments on Garden Oaks Drive; JoEllen Smith Hospital and Touro Shakespeare Home, both on Gen. Meyer Avenue; and a block of lots on the corner of Opelousas Avenue and Bouny Street. The Development District plans to target each of these properties to speed up the recovery process in hopes that the buildings will be torn down to make way for viable businesses. District officials are encouraging Algiers residents to testify during the blight hearings on the effect that the derelict properties have on their quality of life. "We're hoping the owners will come back in and build something nice in Algiers," Honaker said. After four years, Devonwood Apartments remain abandoned, posing a safety hazard while owners said they wrestled with insurance problems. Several major fires, which the New Orleans Fire Department believed were the work of arsonists, have taken place at the two-story apartments since Katrina. The complex has been without power since the storm. The owner "didn't do anything for four years until we got involved," Honaker said. "It would have been sitting there for another four years, and no one would move in because it's a safety issue. It's a place for drugs. Kids could get in there. Ceilings could fall. Businesses wouldn't come in. It hurts Algiers."
C.J. Lin can be reached at clin@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3796. |
