A.M. ATL: Bad buildings

Morning, y’all! I am off for a while to attend a wedding in Seattle and do some other West Coast stuff. We’ll have some new fill-in writers, so be nice! I know you will. You’re always nice, even when you send me weird emails.

I guess I send you weird emails, too, so fair play.

Let’s get to it.

MIDTOWN MENACES

Helloooo, is anybody in there? No. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Two buildings in Midtown are causing headaches for two completely different reasons.

A big ol’ empty building

• 1050 Brickworks was completed in 2024. The large glass-paned 14-story office building in Midtown looks impressive, but is completely empty.
• After sitting vacant for more than 18 months, the building was in danger of going into foreclosure since there were no tenants to offset the $85.5 million loan it took to construct it.
• Instead, it was recently purchased for $47.5 million by the same Arkansas bank that furnished the loan.
• Speculative development is common in Atlanta and involves starting construction without specific tenants on board, aiming to capitalize on demand when the building debuts.
• When that doesn’t work, you get perfectly good empty buildings in a city facing serious housing crises.

🔎 READ MORE: What happens next to the property

Falling scaffolding at 14th and Peachtree

• A skeletal, half-finished building in Midtown that has sat neglected for five years has gotten so bad, City Council members approved a measure to impose a blight tax on it earlier this year. The city has also deemed the construction site unsafe.
• Then, this weekend, a big chunk of scaffolding fell off the site after a car struck it. No one was hurt in the incident, but it’s renewed calls for accountability.
• Developer John Dewberry is responsible for the site, and has a reputation for leaving half-finished, moldering construction projects in his wake.

🔎 READ MORE: The AJC tried to get a hold of the responsible parties

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BURT JONES GOES MILD ON RICK JACKSON

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones speaks to the AJC for the "Politically Georgia" podcast. (Jason Getz/AJC)

“We’ll see.”

That’s Lt. Gov. Burt Jones on whether he’ll back his GOP foe Rick Jackson in the Georgia governor’s race — a race Jones was primed to enter before Jackson and his capacious campaign coffers came on the scene.

In that light, his underwhelming response is … understandable.

• Jones sat down with the AJC’s “Politically Georgia” podcast for his first interview since his defeat in the Republican runoff.
• Jones said he was committed to keeping Georgia under Republican control, but thinks Jackson and his allies “alienated” conservative activists and longtime GOP loyalists with negative advertising he says portrayed much of the GOP establishment as corrupt.

I’ll admit, I became unhealthily interested in the Jones-Jackson discourse during the primaries, so I was glued to every word of Jones’ interview, along with Jackson’s responses. It’s worth a read and/or a listen.

MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS

⚡ One of Georgia’s biggest development projects has turned on the lights and started producing its wares: high-grade batteries for electric vehicles. South Korean conglomerates SK On and Hyundai Motor Group began initial production last month at their joint $5 billion battery factory in Bartow County, a spokesperson confirmed to the AJC.

⚖️ Life University is facing a potentially costly lawsuit alleging discrimination against three former Black employees. In the complaint, they say that during their tenures they were treated as “the help” and “as servants rather than professionals deserving equal dignity and treatment.”

IT’S WORLD CUP WEDNESDAY!

It's been real, "Atlanta Stadium." (Jason Getz/AJC)

All good things must come to an end, and today is Atlanta’s last World Cup match. It’s a great one, though.

Argentina takes on England in a semifinal match today at 3 p.m.

This is a return visit for both teams, who have seen success in Atlanta Stadium.

• England squeaked by DR Congo in the round of 32 on July 1.
• Argentina completed a come-from-behind victory over Egypt in the round of 16 on July 7. That game was so controversial, Egypt recently filed a formal complaint against FIFA.

Some other fun facts about today’s match:

• Argentina and England have a long competitive rivalry dating back 60 years.
• Argentine legend Lionel Messi, in all of his accomplishments, has never played England.
• The winner of today’s match will meet Spain in the final. That means both teams in the World Cup final — and the eventual winner — will have had great showings in Atlanta. Not to brag, or anything.

Hey, wanna hang out?

The AJC is hosting a super fun World Cup watch party today at Monday Night Grove from noon to 5 p.m. It’s family-friendly!

⚽ More details here

I’ll be watching from an airport bar instead. Can’t wait.

NEWS BITES

Bostonians give a Scottish traffic cone a dignitary’s welcome after World Cup friendship

This is it, the most important story of the tournament.

The U.S. House passes bill to ‘ditch the switch’ and make daylight saving time permanent

Raise your hand if you have at least one timepiece in your house that somehow never gets changed.

Mystery bidder buys T. rex nicknamed ‘Gus’ for a record $50 million

An excellent use of free will (and lots of money).

Falcons’ Bijan Robinson voted top running back in NFL

Be patient, football. We’re still enjoying the other football.