Atlanta Council Approves Eminent Domain To Seize Blighted Apartment Buildings

The Atlanta City Council approved a plan Monday to seize two blighted apartment properties through eminent domain.

The council unanimously approved a measure to purchase the Magnolia Park and Azalea Gardens apartment complexes on the city's Westside, which “have long suffered from neglect, unsafe conditions and substandard living environments with little indication of reinvestment or revitalization from the current property owners,” according to the resolution.

The resolution, introduced by Council Member Byron Amos, calls for the city to enter into a public-private partnership to redevelop the complexes into “deeply affordable, high-quality housing.”

The city now has 60 days to draft up a plan that details an acquisition timeline, financing, redevelopment strategies and plans to relocate tenants, according to the resolution.

"Unfortunately, we have seen over and over again our multifamily owners have decided not to reinvest into [their properties], not to provide the quality of lifestyle that we expect," Amos said during a recent city committee meeting, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

A representative for the ownership of Azalea Gardens told Bisnow the landlord plans to ask the city to hold off pursuing an eminent domain lawsuit because it is already planning to tear down the vacant complex to make way for an affordable housing redevelopment.

TYTA LLC, an entity registered in New Jersey, has owned Azalea for 15 years, said Nitish Ranjan, a manager at the company. He said the nine-building, 92-unit property has deteriorated in part because it has had negative cash flow for at least five years.

“We also had financial difficulty on this property for a very long time,” Ranjan said.

TYTA also owns the former Oak Valley Apartments next door, where multiple fires damaged the abandoned complex last year, Atlanta News First reported. Ranjan said TYTA has since demolished the property.

While the ownership entity has been planning to also tear down Azalea Gardens, efforts were delayed as they had to move residents out of the units, Ranjan said. Ranjan said TYTA had been working to vacate tenants, including employees of the company who lived there.

"We arranged for them to move over to another affordable housing project nearby," he said. "We'll try to work with the city for the best of everyone."

Now that it is vacant, TYTA plans to file demolition permits in the coming days to make way for an affordable housing project once it finds a financial partner, Ranjan said.  

Magnolia Park is owned by John Eagan Homes I and II LP, entities tied to two Florida addresses, according to Fulton County records. The apartment complex was redeveloped on the 22-acre site of the John J. Eagan homes, a 548-unit complex built in 1941 for African-American tenants, according to an Atlanta Housing document.

Bisnow could not find contact information for the owner. The complex today has 300 units in 20 buildings.

The city council's resolution adds to Atlanta's efforts to combat run-down commercial properties and their often absentee landlords. It levied a "blight tax" on landlords of troubled properties last year, allowing the city to charge them a higher tax rate until issues are remediated or the property is redeveloped.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens proposed the use of eminent domain to combat commercial and multifamily blight last year.  

The council also unanimously approved a separate resolution, introduced by Amos, to cement how the city will take over blighted properties from private landlords using eminent domain. The council directed city staff to identify a list of multifamily properties where 10% or more of their units have been blighted for at least 10 consecutive years and prioritize their acquisition, according to the resolution.

The resolution also prompts the city to convert the properties into long-term affordable housing projects after being acquired. Dickens has made affordable housing a priority under his administration, with a stated goal to make or preserve 20,000 units within the city limits by 2030.

“Multifamily developments have been allowed to exist and operate in the City of Atlanta under uninhabitable, unsafe, and unsanitary conditions, with little to no recourse or assistance available to their inhabitants for far too long,” the resolution states.