World Construction
New Orleans collapse claims settle for $106 million
By Staff Writer | 7 August 2026
A Louisiana judge has approved a combined $106 million settlement arising from the 2019 collapse of a hotel under construction in central New Orleans.
The order brings a six-year civil case closer to payment for people and businesses affected by one of the city's most serious construction failures. Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Kern Reese approved the settlement on Thursday. The funds will be allocated through a special master rather than paid immediately in equal shares.
The unfinished 18-storey hotel partly collapsed on 12 October 2019 at 1031 Canal Street. Three construction workers died. Other workers were injured, nearby businesses were disrupted and surrounding property was damaged. City authorities later filed their own claim against the project's owners, partners and contractors.
The approved settlement totals $106 million and covers a consolidated case involving hundreds of claimants.
One case gathered years of claims
The litigation brought together claims by injured workers, families, local businesses and other people affected by the collapse. Court reporting identifies 490 plaintiffs and 21 defendants in the consolidated proceedings. The scale of that group explains why distribution will require a separate administrative process after approval.
Approval does not rewrite the history of the site. The structure stood partly collapsed for months while engineers and public bodies considered how to bring it down safely. The city maintained an evacuation zone and secured neighbouring streets while demolition plans were developed. The remains of two workers could not be recovered until 2020.
We are very, very happy with this $106 million.
Mark Glago, co-lead counsel for the claimants
Glago said the settlement would honour claimants who had lived with the consequences for years. The court's approval converts prolonged negotiations into a defined fund, but claimants must still wait for the special master to assess and distribute it.
A hard lesson in project accountability
The collapse also led to scrutiny of permitting, inspection and construction oversight in New Orleans. Public records show that the city's lawsuit named the owners and their project partners. Separate official investigations considered the events leading to the failure and the response that followed.
No criminal indictment followed the grand jury process. Civil claims therefore became the main route through which workers, families and businesses could seek financial redress from the parties they had sued. The settlement resolves that long-running collective fight without a trial across the full body of claims.
The final measure of the agreement will come when the fund reaches the people who have waited since Canal Street fell.