Waveland recently solved theirs with last weeks announcement that Claiborne Hill was coming to town though the insurance plan was not made public. Thanks to Editilla I noted our friends in New Orleans are having the same problem in parts of town. In the case of the Marigny and Bywater residents who shopped at the now destroyed Roberts Fresh Market on St Claude Ave., grocery shopping means taking a hike over the industrial canal to St Bernard.
Our readers may remember we’ve mentioned the Roberts grocery store chain on Slabbed before in connection with a large verdict in their favor against United Fire and Casualty Company. To their credit UFCC didn’t try to BS the reason they drug their feet on a legit wind claim as the company admitted in court they “delayed and refused to make payments because of the financial stress put on that company because they didn’t purchase enough reinsurance…”
Of course UFCC wanted Robert’s money up front in the form of insurance premium and it is an insurance dispute that is keeping residents of the Marigny and Bywater grocery store deprived as this article in City Business makes clear:
“The area is in tremendous need of a full-service grocery store,” Carter said. “We’ve been working pretty hard for some time now trying to help that process along.”
Robert said he has every intention of re-opening his Marigny store. He said his lease on the property is good for another 30 years.
The grocer has opened three other stores since Katrina. Stores at 5016 W. Esplanade Ave. in Metairie and at 135 Robert E. Lee Blvd. in Lakeview reopened in 2005 and 2007, respectively, while a new location at 8115 S. Claiborne Ave. in New Orleans opened about three months ago.
But before any construction can begin on the St. Claude site, a legal dispute that reportedly centers on insurance coverage on the property must be settled.
Robert declined to elaborate on the details of the dispute, except to say a hearing on the matter is scheduled for early next year.
Three years and counting fighting over insurance; the continuing story of our post Katrina coast.
sop
The interior of the store was damaged by Mr. Robert NOT hurricane Katrina. For that matter, most of the damage to the 2222 St. Claude store is man-made damage and not from Hurricane Katrina. There is a story inside a story here.
He gutted the building, even though the building did not flood. He removed a load bearing supporting wall causing a roof failure one and a half years after Katrina. This is an independant roof system separated by a parapet wall from the main store. Aerial photos of Google Earth show the time sequence of the Robert caused roof collapse at 2222 St. Claude Avenue. (Schwegmann pharmacy area parallel to the Shoe Store building) Mr. Robert also removed from the rear of the main sales area “built in” refrigeration departments of dairy and meat, causing huge repairs that would be Mr. Robert’s responsibility to replace. Mr. Robert has received all of the betterments and improvement monies but the building owner’s funds are still tied up in court.
The building was gutter is a reckless manner with bobcats and unskilled labor.