ATLANTA — Neighbors say they’ve been begging for something to do be done with the vacant building halfway under construction right in the middle of midtown.
The building’s walkway scaffolding was toppled Sunday morning. It has since been cleaned up
Channel 2’s Eryn Rogers talked to a man who is with the property, who told her the scaffolding collapsed between 3 and 7:30 a.m.
He says he thinks a car hit the walkway because he could see car parts, car fluid on the road and a light pole that got knocked down.
A couple hours ago, Rogers saw crews working to clean up the debris.
But neighbors say they were afraid something dangerous like this would happen at the vacant property.
The building has been a source of contention for about five years now because redevelopment has been so slow and construction permits for it expired in October.
Rogers spoke to a woman who lives in the neighborhood and walks by the building every day.
“I understand construction. I’m from Chicago, something is almost always under construction. I get that,” Heidi Floyd said. “It’s a process. It works as long as there’s progress being made, and this seems to be the opposite of progress.”
The man with the property told me he called Atlanta police. They’re hoping to get access to cameras in the area to see what or who caused the damage.
Channel 2 Action News has covered how the building was purchased in 2021 by the real estate company of John Dewberry, and work to redevelop petered off until its permits for construction expired in October.
In June, the city council officially made the building at 1155 Peachtree Street the first target of a 2024 ordinance to hit blight properties with a 25X property tax increase to discourage leaving problem properties unaddressed.
The building’s issues even drew the ire of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens after the city put safety warnings at the site following the expiration of its permits.
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