@AJC identifies four Dunwoody apartment complexes among the 272 most Dangerous Dwellings in the metro area. @bridgeinvgrp @TheSterlingGrp @TrinityPmTweets @RelatedCos @GAA_Tweets

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has had a year long investigative report on Dangerous Apartment Complexes in the Atlanta metropolitan area and this week they released their list of the 272 most dangerous apartment complexes.  Unfortunately the City of Dunwoody had four complexes listed in the report and they were listed because of crime risk, murders, code enforcement compliance issues, fire risks, and because a gas explosion leveled a building.

The series is well written as it shows the pitfalls of being a renter in a State where leases favor the owner and the lessee has little legal ramifications without bringing suit. It describes the lack of code enforcement in some jurisdictions and no minimum State standards requiring owners to maintain their rental properties, much less to keep them decent, safe or habitable.  The series highlights complexes that are Unsafe, Unhealthy, and Unlivable because of lack of regular maintenance and crime that happens in these areas.  

I will admit that Dunwoody has a few complexes with questionable reputations but crime has taken place in every complex in town but the Dunwoody Police Department is aware of criminal hot spots and is monitoring issues with both patrols, cameras and other technology.  The residents living in these complexes are hard working families with children living in the most affordable lodging they can find, in a school system that will offer their children a better opportunity then their parents had.  Much of the crime (and murders) happen because of outsiders traveling into the complex that are up to no good.  Dunwoody Police's manpower issues are improving and City Council continues to invest in our Department which hopefully is providing proper coverage ensuring everyone a safe place to live.

Dunwoody seems to be doing better that some other jurisdictions on code compliance oversight as in 2010, just two years into incorporation we set minimum standards, visited every apartment complex to educate management as to expectations and law; then we started to code compliance sweeps bringing them into compliance.  This year, we just increased the staffing level from two code enforcement officers to three in order to escalate the frequencies of these apartment inspections.

The Dunwoody City Council believes that every resident living within our borders should have a safe and livable home therefore our Multi-Family Code Compliance program does a regular comprehensive inspections (both exterior by City Staff & interior by certified inspectors) to evaluate code and life safety compliance.

City Council reviews the findings of Apartment Sweep's as completed by our code enforcement staff and I won't attach it in this blog post in case there is on going enforcement matter related to the report, but one of the complexes above had two code enforcement specialists there for close to a week and the final report is 90 pages long, 11 Mb in size with numerous code compliance issues documented with photos. The violations identified were cited and required to be repaired with our code enforcement following up with citations to be handled by Dunwoody Municipal Judges if issues were not corrected in a timely manner.  We do this to every apartment complex in the city limits, no matter the age, demographics or price point.

About a month ago, the City Council was provided a briefing by Code Compliance which highlights our apartment sweep program, vacant property maintenance, and short-term rental enforcement.

Code Enforcement Introduction and Overview (Shane Peeples)

I questioned whether I wanted to post this story, whether I wanted to name the complexes named (as there are others I am also concerned about) but in the end it is about transparency and self corrective behavior.  I want better oversight from the owners (that is why I tagged them in the title for Twitter to notify them of this post).  I want self reflection from the City of Dunwoody Administration both Police, Code Enforcement and City Council to ask what more could we be doing.  Finally I would like the State Legislature to review the laws that sometimes allow anonymous LLC's to take advantage of the most vulnerable segment of our society.  

I am hopeful that the issues identified at troublesome apartment complexes are addressed & the quality of life improves as no one deserves to live in an Unsafe, Unhealthy, and Unlivable apartment complex.

John

PS: I am still not endorsed by the Atlanta Board of Realtors or any other trade organization.

Dunwoody Glen
6800, 6750 and 6806 Peachtree Industrial, Dunwoody

Dunwoody Village
2311, 2313 and 2325 Dunwoody Crossing, Dunwoody

LaCota Apartments
6664 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. and other addresses from 6646-6698, Dunwoody

The Heights at Dunwoody, formerly Arrive Perimeter
2000 Asbury Square, Dunwoody

• Part 1: Unsafe. Unhealthy. Unlivable.
  • Interactive: A Violent Week
• Part 2: Making Money From Misery
  • Photo Essay: On The Brink
• Part 3: Tenants Beware
  • Explained: Anatomy Of A Lease
• Part 4: Outmatched and Overwhelmed
  • Code Enforcement: Disarray in DeKalb
  • Tax Dollars for 'Death Trap'
• Part 5: Introducing the AJC's List
  • Interactive list: Dangerous Complexes
  • Methodology: Creating the List
• About this investigation
  

AJC’s Politically Georgia podcast, host Greg Bluestein is joined by the reporters Alan Judd and Willoughby Mariano, who led the Dangerous Dwellings investigation.  They discussed how this project got started, what thye found, and potential laws that could improve the situation.

What should the City of Dunwoody do when a developer wants to rebuild a 100 acre apartment complex? Citizen input is needed on Tuesday.

Dunwoody Village / Dunwoody Crossing Apartment Complex

Public Meeting @ Dunwoody City Hall
41 Perimeter Center East
Dunwoody, Georgia
Tuesday December 5th
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

On Tuesday, December 5th at 6pm at Dunwoody City Hall there will be a meeting to discuss the communities vision and action plan to guide investments and future improvements in areas of the city that are prime for redevelopment.  While talking redevelopment, suggestions will also be taken on park, trail and sidewalk opportunities as well as street connectivity improvements in these areas of the city.

In the 2015 Dunwoody Comprehensive Land Use Plan, it recommended that the City undertake a study of the redevelopment potential of these areas to get community input and study the impacts of new development along the I-285 corridor. Therefore the City sent out an RFP and is now in the primary stages with Tunnell - Spangler - Walsh & Associates to conduct this small area study of these properties, but to me, there are only three areas that this study truly explores for economic redevelopment.  The first is the large set of apartment complexes at Winters Chapel & Peachtree Industrial Boulevard,  the large "Dunwoody Village / Dunwoody Crossing" Apartment complex at North Peachtree Rd & I-285 and finally the corner of Winters Chapel and Peeler which is now dominated by the Walmart Neighborhood Market in the City of Peachtree Corners.

If I was betting man (because of property age, land mass, location and topography challenges), I would bet that the 90 acre "Dunwoody Village" complex along North Peachtree Road & 285 would be one of the first of these properties to come in front the City Council for possible redevelopment.  The 2015 Comprehensive Land Use Plan envisions the aging, existing multi-family apartments currently zoned RM-100 to redevelop into a multi-family, mixed-use development adding public functional green space and more owner-occupied options including attached & detached single-family homes.

The community, after numerous meetings, stated that the vision for the area should provide high-density housing options along I-285 with high-quality material and amenities that are contextually sensitive to the surrounding land uses.  Strong continuity between developments through high architectural standards, quality building materials, prominent placement of amenities such as functional green space and pedestrian walkways and bicycle paths. Transitional buffer zones will appropriately protect any adjacent single-family residential whereby transitions include gradual increases only in height-plane, buffers and landscaping and intensity of uses.

This development of numerous two-story apartment buildings built in 1981 is split into four different parcels (1, 2, 3 & 4) which appears to be last purchased as a group in 2014 for almost $83 million dollars.  Looking carefully at the various maps, you will notice that there is a flood plain that dissects this large parcel into two haves with the creek running between it.   The topo maps show that the front half is flatter than the back half, therefore, there will be challenges in the development, especially if we wanted to save the many trees on the property as the comp plan states that future developments should incorporate sustainable building and site development practices.  The creek area is pretty unbuildable therefore there could be dedicated park and path opportunities.

Someday the owner or a future developer will decide that the current apartments cannot be rented at a rate to cover costs, therefore, they will want to sell off or redevelop the property.  The current development rights are to build the same number of replacement units but because of the cost of the land the developer would probably want to increase the number of units per acre (which the city council may or may not agree to) and/or find a plan for the land that the community, in general, could support.    Mixed use is a possibility that was opened up for the Dunwoody Village / Dunwoody Crossing apartment complex on North Peachtree in the last comprehensive land use update whereby there are typically shops on the ground floor and apartments or condos above - think about the area near the Super Target in Dunwoody or the Costco in Brookhaven - that is mixed use.

Another option for the multi-family, mixed use for the large tract could be a residential area in the back of the complex (past the creek) with a condo tower for those who want to downsize as empty nesters, master on main townhomes & single-family units built where the current buildings are to preserve the trees, then maybe a mix of apartments as you move to the front.  The front could have a grocery & drug store, restaurants and other neighborhood shopping.  Who knows maybe the gas station on the corner could be brought in to the development to include more commercial space (a Starbucks?) besides a gas station on every corner.

The Mayor and members of the Dunwoody City Council don't have the answers as to the communities desires on what would be acceptable level of redevelopment on these large tracts of land when they come in front of us for possible changes.  We can hold the line on development, density and land use within the scope of law but we need to know the communities desires of what to do when developers come knocking with suggestions.  Protecting the adjacent single-family residential neighborhoods abutting these properties are goals for the city but that being said, if you live adjacent to these complexes I highly recommend that you become informed and voice your opinion. 

This published meeting is intended to establish a community-based vision and action plan to guide investments and improvements within the Study Areas and I can publicly state that I am not aware of any plans to currently redevelop these properties - we are only trying to be proactive as the 2015 comp plan update requested that we do.

Please plan to attend the public Kick-off Meeting on Tuesday, December 5th 6:00 p.m. at Dunwoody City Hall (41 Perimeter Center East, Suite 103 Dunwoody.)