Emails reviewed by The Advocate show the Jindal administration told legislative staff last year that an unfavorable appraisal on state-owned land near the State Capitol was unavailable because it had been “discarded.”
State Sen. Gerald Long’s staff asked for the appraisal while preparing for a public hearing on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s bid to sell 17 lots bounded by North Fifth Street, State Capitol Drive, North Sixth Street and Lakeland Drive.
Jindal initially hoped to generate $5 million by selling the property that once was home to Huey P. Long’s alleged assassin and now holds a parking garage.
An appraisal dated Jan. 17, 2012, by Sharon D. Pruitt valued the property at $4.9 million. The appraisal was unusable by the summer because state law requires an appraisal to be obtained within six months before the sale of state-owned land. A subsequent appraisal, by Cook, Moore and Associates, valued the property at $2.8 million.
Continue reading Emails detail conflicting appraisals by Michelle Millhollon.