The owner of the former Travelodge Motel site in Lafayette was given 45 days to complete demolition work or face more penalties.
During a Sept. 9 hearing regarding the lack of progress at the site at 1101 W. Pinhook Road, a judge gave Ravi Daggula 45 days to complete asbestos demolition or face fines or other penalties, a Lafayette Consolidated Government spokesperson said.
On Thursday, the property was granted a demolition permit by LCG, records show.
The property will also go before Lafayette Consolidated Government’s city planning commission on Monday for a plat approval that will combine all four adjoining lots into one. It got a preliminary approval last month, records show.
It’s the latest on the highly visible abandoned motel along Pinhook Road, which Daggula and other investors bought in late 2021 but has had little work done on it since after initially announcing plans to reopen it as a boutique motel.
Daggula had earlier faced a notice of seizure and thousands of dollars in fines from LCG for lack of activity at the site, but the notice was lifted and fines were waived.
Daggula held a groundbreaking ceremony in May and even invited Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser for the event.
A lien was placed on the property last March, and court records indicated then fines totaled $26,215 along with a fine for every day repairs were not made.
LCG cited Daggula for not removing graffiti on the building’s exterior, not maintaining the building’s exterior and overhangs, failing to maintain the pool and not installing a fence around it, records show.
Daggula said last year construction has been slowed due to the regulations for historic preservation and the earlier shutdown of the federal government.