ATLANTA — Confusion over which agency is responsible for the oversight of a controversial construction site at Peachtree Street and 14th Street in Midtown has left residents with unanswered questions.
Although the City of Atlanta has slapped the site with a warning about security fencing, the immediate concern from nearby residents has been over a crane.
Over the past six months, complaints to the City of Atlanta Code Enforcement have persisted about the building being abandoned, blighted, vacant and dangerous. The fence surrounding the property should be the least of concerns, said nearby resident Gary Freedman.
Visible from his condo, Freedman described a crane attached to a concrete shell. “Exposed to the elements for more than five years, the crane spins during storms with what appears to be a 50 foot-long chain dangling from it,” he said, afraid it will destroy his residential building.
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Freedman is demanding information about the site’s compliance, an independent review of safety, a timeline for remediation, and he wants it with transparency and communication. The last request is the repair and restoration of roads, sidewalks, and pedestrian access routes, including the sidewalk on 13th Street between Peachtree and Juniper Streets, which has been closed to pedestrians for almost five years.
Freedman’s petition has gained 700 signatures in just three days. “Midtown Residents want transparency regarding the condition of the site, crane inspections, ongoing maintenance, engineering oversight, and long-term plans … For more than five years, Midtown residents have lived beneath a long-idle crane towering over our homes and community,” the petition states.
“All of this begs the question, if the permits expired last year in 2025, why has the city waited so long to take action?” Freedman asked.
It may be because no one can figure out who’s responsible for oversight of the privately-owned property.
Atlanta City Council member Kelsea Bond said the city has exchanged emails among City Planning, Code Enforcement, and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to determine which entity is responsible for the abandoned crane on site.
“While the City does not have the legal ability to compel a property owner to finish their building, our office is focused on determining what legal mechanisms there are to get the crane removed, since residents have expressed they feel it is unsafe, especially while we’ve been having such extreme weather patterns, including rain, wind and flash flooding,” Bond told Rough Draft.
According to Bond, City Planning said GDOT had purview over the crane and GDOT referred the issue back to the city. There is likely no precedent for enforcement over abandoned cranes, Bond said, which is contributing to the lack of a standard operating procedure.
“While our office is still pushing to get answers, we plan to keep the community updated on what we learn. This has gone on so long, and I believe Midtown residents deserve answers, even if the City may have limited legal scope here,” Bond said.
After a city official declared that the site “has been deemed unsafe because of an unsecured construction barrier,” according to reporting by the AJC, developer John Dewberry declined to comment. His wife, Jaimie Brown Dewberry, told the AJC they have attempted to reach several city departments with no response.
Brown Dewberry said the company has received no information or details on why they have been issued the warning. “The site is secured and locked with zero pedestrian openings,” she told the AJC. Dewberry previously released a statement that the crane in question was safe and in “weather vane position,” allowing it to move in the wind and with weather conditions.
The office building at 1155 Peachtree Street NE – referred to as either The Campanile or The Midtowne – was the former BellSouth corporate headquarters, built in the late 1980s. SunTrust Bank was located there for years, followed by Truist after the companies merged.
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Dewberry, former Georgia Tech football-player-turned-developer, bought the building for $36 million in 2010 and began renovations in 2019. Midtown residents and business owners expected “a dramatic makeover” according to Midtown Alliance that would have resulted in a sleeker profile and expanded square footage with a six-story, 125,000 sq. ft. office and retail podium around the base of the tower. Permits were filed in 2021.
There’s been no dramatic makeover. There’s been little more than stripping the facade of the building at the corner of Peachtree and 14th streets. Instead, what has followed is a series of complaints against Dewberry, who maintains that interior work has resumed.
Rough Draft reported in April on growing concerns among neighbors about the safety of a large crane on site. A website called “Fix14th” soon appeared online to help those who live, work, or spend time in Midtown create an email to city officials about the Dewberry-backed project.
“I’m not affiliated with the city or any developer. Just a frustrated neighbor who got tired of walking past that thing every day for the better part of five years,” the anonymous website owner wrote.
“This site prevented me from buying in [the Mayfair building at 14th Street],” wrote one petitioner. “I found the perfect unit, perfect location, perfect price, and, unfortunately, the perfect view of this monstrosity.”
Atlanta Deputy Chief Inspector Richard Thompson and NPU-E leaders did not reply to Rough Draft’s requests for comment.
Read more at RoughDraftAtlanta.com.
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