Denise Kalentzis was on her way to a 9 a.m. workout class Friday when she noticed hundreds of construction workers staring up at the Midtown skyline outside her apartment building.
They were looking at a massive crane teetering hundreds of feet in the air outside a 31-story office tower.
Within the hour, normally busy streets were shut down, hundreds of people were told to evacuate their residences and nearby restaurants were asked not to open for business.
No injuries were reported in the construction mishap, which occurred at a high-rise being built at West Peachtree and 13th streets, but fire officials said the crane remains in danger of falling and could take up to two days to secure.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
“Upon speaking with the construction workers and construction managers at the site, we were informed that in the process of taking down the tower crane, there was a mechanical failure with one of the hydraulic cylinders,” Atlanta fire Sgt. Cortez Stafford told reporters. “That (caused) the top of the crane to start to lean.”
Several Midtown streets, including West Peachtree, will likely remain closed through the weekend, but more roads could be blocked off if authorities decide to expand the evacuation zone.
If the crane were to fall, it could crash into surrounding buildings on its way down, area residents were told.
“Therefore, we’re taking all the precautions and evacuating a number of buildings surrounding the crane, the construction site and in the adjacent area,” said Stafford, adding that the crane operator was able to get out safely.
Firefighters went door-to-door Friday morning clearing at least three apartment buildings and two parking decks.
Kalentzis, an Atlanta radio personality who hosts a podcast with her husband, PK, went back to the couple’s apartment after learning her morning workout was canceled. From the roof of their 32-story building, they noticed just how perilous the situation was.
“We realized how serious it was because you could really see it leaning,” PK Kalentzis said.
A short time later, they overheard two firefighters discussing plans to evacuate the area until the crane could be secured.
Denise Kalentzis grabbed a $7 bottle of Sauvignon blanc and their 14-year-old Maltese mix, Kiki. They gathered a few changes of clothes and are staying nearby at a friend’s house until they’re allowed back inside.
“We just grabbed our essentials and the dog and left,” she said.
An email from the apartment’s management told residents that could be anywhere from several hours to two days, but the couple is hopeful they’ll be back at home sooner rather than later.
As other buildings were evacuated, many Midtown residents left their apartments toting suitcases and whatever other personal items they could quickly scrounge together.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the construction company Brasfield & Gorrie said they are working with engineers, safety professionals and experts to safely remove the crane and help people resume their lives.
“Our top value is the safety of the people on the jobsite and in the surrounding community,” communications director Meg Burton said. “We have engineers on site evaluating the situation and we worked with authorities to evacuate those in surrounding areas out of an abundance of caution. There have been no injuries. Our jobsite has been evacuated except for a team working to secure the crane, which is not occupied.”
Two additional cranes and an engineer were called in Friday afternoon to help dismantle the machinery outside the high-rise office building, but officials said that could take up to two days.
“Right now, we’re waiting on some more engineers to get to the location to advise on what the process is for fixing this situation,” Stafford said. “We’re estimating 24 to 48 hours.”
Northside Hospital was also affected by the incident. Its Midtown complex on West Peachtree Street was evacuated and temporarily closed Friday morning, including the facility’s outpatient urgent care clinic. The evacuation affected at least two dozen doctor’s offices and specialists housed at Northside Medical Midtown.
The building will remain closed at least through the weekend, spokeswoman Katherine Watson said.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Construction on the office tower at 1105 West Peachtree is nearly complete. The 410-foot building is set to include 675,000 square feet of office space with two confirmed major tenants, Google and the law firm Smith, Gambrell & Russell. Developers say it’s the tallest building to rise in Atlanta since the Great Recession.
This is not the first time a crane has shut down Atlanta traffic.
In late 2018, a crane clogged up a busy stretch of Peachtree Road in Buckhead after being placed at a construction site without authorization. The machinery shut down the northbound lanes of Peachtree at Pharr Road for four days, forcing northbound traffic into the southbound lanes at the height of the Christmas shopping season.
The developer was later ordered to pay more than $350,000.
And in 2016, several workers were temporarily trapped when a crane collapsed in a Buckhead parking deck. Those workers were eventually lowered to safety with the help of a firetruck’s ladder.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
