Metairie Towers up for auction after years of sitting empty

METAIRIE, La. (WGNO) — The Metairie Towers condominium complex, a seven-story building on Metairie Road that’s been empty since Hurricane Ida, is officially up for auction.

A local developer, Darren Aschaffenburg, purchased the property in 2024 for $24.5 million with plans to turn it into “The Tower Residences of Old Metairie,” a luxury condo project complete with upscale amenities and hurricane resistant upgrades. But when financing fell through, the project stalled, and the site has remained vacant ever since.

“This property needs to get back into commerce as quickly as possible,” said Jefferson Parish councilman Hans Liljeberg. “If somebody wants to go in a different direction, that could be a much more drawn-out process.”

Opening bids for the property start at $10 million, though experts say it could be sold for as much as $30 million.

In an email to WGNO, Aschaffenburg described the project as “shovel ready,” writing in part:

“The project is essentially ‘shovel ready’ with all plans, permits, variances, engineering, reports, budgets, designs, Government approvals, etc., completed. This project offers that rare unicorn combination of low risk and high reward.”

Meanwhile, store owners in the area say they just want to see something finally happen at the long-vacant property.

“We’re just looking to see it really get renovated and occupied,” said Beth Harris, a nearby business owner. “I think they talked about putting some commercial in the bottom, which would be great. We really do need places like that in this area.”

The auction runs through Wednesday morning on Loopnet.com. As of today, the listing has been viewed more than 2.2 million times, with 100 confidentiality agreements signed by potential bidders.

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