Permits were filed to demolish a handful of structures near the Hard Rock building, according to the Vieux Carre Property Owners, Residents, and Associates (VCPORA).
Demolition permits were filed for three addresses, according to VCPORA, and they include: 1019 Canal St., 1027 Canal St. and 1022 Iberville St.
The permits for the Canal properties show they are “located in the Red zone” of the Hard Rocket Hotel at 1031 Canal St. and demolition of the structures are “necessary to facilitate demolition operations and planning required” at the partially collapsed building.
The Hard Rock Hotel partially collapsed on Oct. 12 at 9:12 a.m., according to various reports, killing three workers, injuring dozens more and strewing debris near the intersection of Canal and North Rampart streets.
Several videos of the collapse emerged hours later on social media.
The cause of the collapse is still under investigation.
A partial implosion of the building on Oct. 20 toppled the construction cranes, leaving one dangling and the other crashing down onto North Rampart Street.
But the remainder of the building remains standing. The hotel project reportedly cost $85 million.
The two Canal street buildings are owned by LLCs registered to the same officer and manager of the Hard Rock property, VCPORA said.
The developer listed for the Hard Rock building and adjacent properties is listed as 1031 Canal Development LLC, which wants to demolish the 18-story Hard Rock building and adjacent structures.
The demolition requests will appear for approval before the Jan. 8, 2020 meeting of the Central Business District Historical District Landmarks Commission.
“We seriously question the need for further removal of this block and are trying to find out more,” VCPORA said on its Facebook page Dec. 18.
The Oct. 12 collapse killed Anthony Magrette, 49; Quinnyon Wimberly, 36; and Jose Ponce Arreola, 63.
The bodies of Wimberly and Ponce were reported to still be trapped inside the rubble, according to The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate.
The newspaper reported that relatives of those who were killed in the collapsed have filed lawsuits against the groups behind the construction–including 1031 Canal Development LLC and Citadel Builders.
Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma, a Honduran national and Hard Rock worker who survived the collapse and later voiced his concerns to investigators, was deported on Nov. 29, WWLTV reported.