MORTGAGE CRISIS: PARK PLACE SOUTH: OWNING A HOME NO JOY TO SOME

Naomi Whiters should be in Phase Two of her homeownership plan by now.

In 2002, Whiters bought a townhouse in a new south Atlanta subdivision that President Bush touted as an example of the American dream.

Bush visited Park Place South that year and said the public-private development was a success story in breaking down barriers for minorities to become homeowners. In a speech, Bush noted a handful of residents he met that day and said, “We’ve got to … figure out how to make sure these stories are repeated over and over and over again in America.”

Whiters, a young mother and an Atlanta schoolteacher, was given a grant to help with a down payment for a $146,000 two-bedroom unit.

“Originally, I would have sold my house by now,” she said last week. “My plan was to move to a single-family home.”

But home values have dropped, leaving some residents to struggle with foreclosure proceedings and others, like Whiters, waiting for a day when she can sell her home and not take a financial bath.

Residents in Park Place South, most of whom are first-time home buyers motivated by government enhancements, are mixed in their experiences there, according to interviews.

Many have enjoyed the sense of camaraderie, of young people moving in, forging friendships and enjoying the pride of home- ownership. Others say the threats of crime and falling property values have caused them to regret their decision to move in.

‘We were sold on a dream’

Equitydepot.com, an Atlanta company that tracks foreclosure information, said 25 of the 232 units in Park Place South have entered into foreclosure proceedings since 2004. It is not known how many of those actually went through.

“I think we were sold on something here that didn’t come to fruition,” Whiters said. “We were sold on a dream, but there was no follow-through.”

Back in 2002, residents say they were told by developers that a wave of construction was coming to the surrounding Lakewood area, bringing in upscale single-family units, mom-and-pop stores and an Atlantic Station-like buzz. But most of that never came, leaving Park Place South a tidy and quiet oasis surrounded by weedy lots.

The New York Times, in a front-page article last Sunday that recounted Bush’s policies and the nation’s growing economic disaster, called Park Place South a “microcosm, the story of a well-intentioned policy gone awry.”

That policy was helping first-time buyers get into homes. In retrospect, some say they would have been better off remaining renters.

Of the five people mentioned by name in the president’s 2002 speech, three still live there, one turned his home back over to the bank and another moved away, still renting the unit because she cannot sell her home without absorbing a large loss.

Originally, 534 units were to have been built by 2009. But the momentum slowed two years ago, said Masharn Wilson, a developer there. Wilson said the developers and their partner, the Atlanta Development Authority, are simply victims of the economy. Three years ago, at least 40 new units were sold, she said. This year? Just eight.

She pointed out that when Atlanta put out requests for proposals to redevelop the old Lakewood Fairgrounds, just one developer turned in a bid last year.

Wilson said she worked hard with prospective homeowners to get them grants and money from other programs for down payments. But looking back, she said, “some people maybe should have bought a smaller home.”

In retrospect, Tamika Reed, a resident who met Bush, wishes she had remained a renter.

In 2002, she bought her town home for $150,000 and hoped to sell it for a profit five years later. But she has since moved to Alabama and rents her unit, losing $250 a month.

Reed, a 36-year-old attorney, tried to sell this year but found similar units going for under $130,000. “I’m trying to hang on so I don’t ruin my credit,” Reed said.

Reed has many fond memories of living there.

“It was very community-oriented. We had picnics and block parties,” she said. “People looked out for each other.”

People needed to look out for each other, Reed said, because she was burglarized twice. Residents have organized a neighborhood watch and are looking forward next year to taking over the home- owners association from the developer. Park Place South condo owners have run their association for more than two years and seem happier than their townhouse counterparts on how the development has turned out.

Kanika Greenlee, vice president of the condo association, said owners in her cluster seem more neighborly. “There’s no garages, so we know each other’s cars,” she said. “We watch out for each other. We know when something is not right.

“We sit out in the summer and have wine and cheese parties,” said Greenlee, who works for the state. “We walk our dogs. We have some crime and foreclosures, but I don’t think anything out of the ordinary.”

Before moving here, Greenlee said she was already saving money to buy a home, but the incentives to help with down payments helped her do it quicker. Overall, she thinks the program has worked.

“I am grateful for the opportunity,” she said.

La Cheryl Elliott, a schoolteacher and a townhouse resident since 2003, looks forward to taking over the association, saying that should pump more energy into the subdivision. She said the proximity to the airport, the interstate and downtown will help bring back property values.

“There are great people over here, great professional people,” Elliott said. “Everyone is going through tough times. But we have to persevere and work for our community and our city. I believe in Atlanta. It will come back.”