Wishing Well apartments in southeast Atlanta razed
Community residents are thankful, but say city needs to do more for neighborhood
After years of trying to contact absentee property owners and cut legal red tape, city officials finally gave the green light for crews to demolish the notorious Wishing Well Apartments in southeast Atlanta.
Residents say the long-vacant, dilapidated 1970s complex in Glenrose Heights a few blocks from I-75 has been littered with trash, tires and overgrown bushes for years. The 48-unit complex, more than half of which has deteriorated, had become a magnet for social ills such as squatters, drug dealers, and pimps. One nearby resident told CL of the days when cars would slow in front of the complex, honk their horn, and await for someone to bring drugs from one of vacant units.
The demolition of Wishing Well, which began yesterday morning with the TV-friendly images of a bulldozer gutting the apartments, is a “downpayment on our commitment to the community,” the mayor said — a sign, he says, that City Hall is serious in dealing with blighted properties.
And dealing with blight is a pain in the ass. Wishing Well was subdivided and sold off over the years, complicating matters when it came to contacting the property’s owners. City officials say it’s taken nearly three years to jump through the legal hoops and proceed with demolition, which, in this case, will cost taxpayers more than $180,000 should the city not recoup the cost. Shelby says the city will place a lien on the property, which would have to be paid before the complex’s various owners could sell the land.
Neighborhood residents — some of whom cheered “nah-nah-nah, hey-hey-hey, goodbye” while workers crushed walls — said they were relieved that the apartment complex would no longer be an eyesore. But they wanted city officials and the police to show Glenrose Heights more attention than they’ve done in the past.