SHREVEPORT, Louisiana (KPLC) – The owners of the former Capital One Tower in Lake Charles received a notice this week about the power shutoff to a building they own in downtown Shreveport.
Hertz Investment Group is reportedly more than 90 days behind on paying a multi-thousand-dollar electric bill for the 25-story Regions Tower building, with Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) setting a deadline of Monday, August 26.
SWEPCO sent our sister station KSLA the following statement:
“Across our service area, we offer solutions to help our customers manage their energy use and pay their bills. Customer disconnection is always our last resort.
“Unfortunately, this is an account issue that the property owner is aware of. Our customer service team is working with building management to find a workable solution and minimize the impact on the building’s tenants.
“SWEPCO announced the impending outage on Tuesday and will disconnect power to the building on Monday, August 26, to give tenants time to make arrangements.”
Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell told KSLA that Hertz is working with SWEPCO to extend the deadline to August 29.
Meanwhile, the Hertz Tower in Lake Charles is scheduled to be demolished on Saturday, September 7, after standing empty for four years. Mayor Nic Hunter made the following statement on the situation in Shreveport:
“After Hurricane Laura in 2020, the city had regular conversations with the owners of the Hertz Tower. We did absolutely everything we could to support efforts to rehabilitate the tower. We met with dozens of developers and created incentive packages to support a potential renovation. At the same time, my administration was realistic about the chances of a project of this magnitude in a post-COVID environment. As a nation, even in areas not affected by natural disasters, we are seeing a trend that calls into question the viability of large office towers. The 44-story AT&T building in St. Louis recently sold for $3.6 million in 2024 after selling for $205 million in 2006. The 21-story 801 Travis St. building in Houston was recently appraised at half its 2013 appraised value. And those examples were not devastated by a hurricane.
“The Plaza Tower in New Orleans, a building that stood virtually untouched after Hurricane Katrina, was another case study for us. It offered an alternative that we would not allow here in Lake Charles. We knew we had to take the necessary steps to protect our citizens should redevelopment prove unfeasible. We knew we could not allow this building to remain in disrepair forever. For these reasons, we successfully sought to secure private funds in escrow should we end up where we are today. I know this demolition is bittersweet for many. It is for me, but it is time to move on, and I am extremely proud of my team for making private funds available to accomplish this task rather than putting the burden on taxpayers.”
The demolition is being financed through an agreement between Hertz and its insurance company.
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