Residents and housing advocates on Monday urged the Atlanta City Council to do more to protect people living at a complex undergoing multimillion-dollar renovations to boost the city’s affordable housing stock, amid claims the owner has botched the work.
During an afternoon session at City Hall, a small group asked the city to investigate concerns and provide some oversight of owners and management at the 201-unit GE Tower complex in Mechanicsville, southwest of downtown.
In December 2021, MARTA announced that the Greater Atlanta Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing Preservation Fund loaned $24.7 million to an affiliate of Lincoln Avenue Capital to preserve the units, which are less than a half-mile away from MARTA’s West End rail station. The property is on the site of a former General Electric plant.
But elevators don’t work at the property on Glenn Street, residents have been displaced while the work goes on, with some staying in hotels, and when tenants did finally get to return to their apartments, their lives were upended by ongoing construction, according to the Housing Justice League, which is organizing for the residents. It said residents’ property have been damaged or lost.
There are also ongoing problems with bugs and rodents at the complex, along with mold and mildew, residents and activists say.
Officials with Lincoln Avenue Capital, which manages a portfolio of 155 properties in the U.S., declined to comment.
Tenant Leslie Ragan told the City Council that some residents had met with Atlanta Housing Authority officials. But little had been done to assuage their concerns, according to Ragan. Last year, the city’s economic development arm Invest Atlanta backed the project through tax-exempt bonds.
“It just unnerves me that with the renovations that have been going on for almost a year now that … involves MARTA [and] Invest Atlanta … there’s been no outreach from them,” Ragan told council members. “Nothing with them trying to reach out to us as residents to see how things are going.”
Councilmember Michael Julian Bond suggested Ragan reach out to the Atlanta public defender’s office to get free legal advice. District 4 Councilmember Jason S. Dozier noted residents had raised concerns with him over the summer. He promised he would again meet with residents and housing advocates.
“Apologies for not knowing that there’s been an ongoing issue, but we are being as responsive as we can when we find out something’s happening,” Dozier said. “I’ll be following up with you all to make sure that we can get some redress.”
Atlanta Housing spokesperson Carolyn A. Smith also declined to comment, while officials with Invest Atlanta and the mayor’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“MARTA does not own this property or have any involvement with its management,” transit authority spokesperson Stephany Fisher said in an emailed statement.
The Housing Justice League called the renovation work “a disaster.”
“We’re hoping the city will step in and put a stop to the mismanagement and mistreatment folks are enduring,” organizer Monica Johnson said in a statement. “As the city continually announces more large development projects, this doesn’t inspire confidence that longtime Atlanta residents have anyone in our corner.”
Johnson told council members that the meetings with Atlanta Housing “seemed to become conduits for more of the same.” She said officials told residents they would take their information and follow up but then “nothing really happens.”
“We’ve said it over and over again, affordable housing in the city is disappearing. We are not meeting the moment,” Johnson said. “We came here today because we don’t want closed-door meetings. We want it to be put out in the public, and we want the city of Atlanta to actually stand up for its people.”
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
Credit: Olivia Bowdoin
In October, Lincoln subsidiary Lincoln Avenue Communities said the rehab, which it priced at $17.25 million, was close to being done. The company said Atlanta Housing had supported the project, which features new flooring, cabinets, granite countertops, modern appliances, central air and new elevator cabs.
“This $85,000-per-unit rehabilitation will provide individuals and families in Fulton County facing rising rents with affordable, high-quality homes,” the company’s vice president, Jordan Richter, said at the time. “We are grateful to our financing and local partners for their support.”
Ahead of Monday’s meeting, Johnson held a press conference outside City Hall with a handful of residents, including Ragan, her daughter Codia Masson, and sisters Sandra and Mattie Hill. They said that the renovations were largely cosmetic, and in some cases had worsened conditions at the complex.
Sandra Hill said the elevator in her building had been out for three years and that she could “hardly walk.” She said that the rebab work created clouds of dust and caused respiratory problems.
“It’s really a lot of strain for the seniors,” Hill said. “I think it’s like 57 steps going up and down, and my leg just wouldn’t take it.”
