The owners of an apartment building that caught fire twice and was demolished after it was declared a public nuisance have agreed to pay $1.5 million to Juneau.
The City and Borough of Juneau announced the settlement last week, ending its litigation to recoup the nearly $1.6 million spent on demolishing the building in January 2016, the Juneau Empire reported.
"This settlement is the end of a long struggle and it creates the path for redevelopment of these downtown properties," city manager Rorie Watt said. "CBJ is glad to put this issue behind us."
The Gastineau Apartments, owned by James and Kathleen Barrett, was damaged in a fire in 2012. The property was condemned and sat vacant for four years. The city declared the building a public nuisance in 2015 and later demolished it. The city then filed a lawsuit in March 2016 against the former owners to collect the demolition costs.