Old JC Penney’s building owner Tyrone Taylor has until March 3 to present a written development plan for the Main Street anchor or be hit with a $500 fine, City Judge Jwon Nathaniel told him Friday.
“You need to have a plan — we need to know … to verify what you intend to do,” the judge told Taylor, to advance improvements on the property, whose roof collapsed in July 2017.
Taylor, of New Orleans, purchased the building in April 2022 and has been ordered repeatedly in successive months to show evidence he is actively seeking to make the downtown property usable since he presented the court with a structural engineer’s opinion that the building is sound.
“I’m still moving forward with the building — that was my plan,” he told Nathaniel.
But the judge said that’s not good enough: he wants written evidence of improvement plans or provable actions that Taylor seeks to sell the building.
The case was continued until next month’s court term.
“If you come back with no information about a sale or an action plan, there will be an additional fine,” Taylor was told by Nathaniel.
The brick-façade building once housed the State Bank and Trust and Jacobs Movie Theater before hosting the JCPenney national retail chain for decades before it moved to then-Edgewood Mall. The building’s Kramer Roof was the scene of large social gatherings and weddings across the years.
The Jubilee Performing Arts Center, its final tenant, was forced to close after the collapse.
In another case, Robert Molder of Jackson told the court the city has re-filed its insurance claim to pay for repairs on a business at 1230 Delaware Ave., damaged when a police vehicle was involved in a wreck.
The judge agreed to a March 3 internet hearing with Molder to verify the repair status, although the owner may be required to appear in person later if progress is not made.
Molder told Nathaniel that his insurance company estimated a $12,000 cost to replace broken windows in the structure, not including replacement of safety poles in front of the business.
