Digital extra: Take a tour of blighted properties said to be tied to investor Rick Warren: myajc.com/rick-warren-properties
Rick Warren, the Buckhead investor accused by the city of Atlanta of accumulating derelict properties near the Falcons stadium and allowing them to decay, was hit with 10 more citations Tuesday.
The citations came after Warren’s second bench trial in Atlanta Municipal Court involving code violations. Municipal Judge Crystal Gaines announced that she would rule on Warren’s first two trials on July 7 and then proceed with the next case against the controversial real-estate investor, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Tuesday’s trial involved a house at 479 James P. Brawley Drive in the English Avenue neighborhood, listed as owned by a limited liability corporation. The property was ticketed Nov. 18.
As in Warren’s first trial, his lawyer stressed that the city had little evidence that Warren owned the house and therefore was liable for the citation.
Code-enforcement officer A.J. Weeks testified he dealt with Warren regarding that property — as well as other problem properties —and he said the violations included unsecured doors and windows.
But he was unable to say that he knew that Warren was the actual owner.
Neighbor Leroy Hodo testified that Warren had described himself as the property owner to him. The property never had a tenant in the last decade, even after it was renovated, before and after Warren became associated with it, Hodo said.
“I seen him last year over there, cleaning up the property,” Hodo said. “In the neighborhood I live in, I appreciate as much as they can do about cleaning up.”
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has made Warren the face of irresponsible investors who have accumulated blighted properties and sat on them without renovating them and renting or selling them.
The practice hits poor neighborhoods, such as English Avenue, especially hard because it leaves them with scores of vacant, hazardous properties that attract vagrants and criminals. Reed had called Warren a predator.
His attorney George Lawson argues that Warren is being unfairly singled out.
Last year,an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found Warren and his business partners, working through anonymous limited liability companies, purchased about 10 percent of the impoverished neighborhood just west of the site for the Falcon's new $1 billion stadium.
Residents complained of filth and crime at the investor’s derelict properties. The AJC found Warren out-maneuvered attempts by the city’s overwhelmed code enforcement office to hold him accountable. At least 18 of the properties were such public nuisances that the city started proceedings to clean, close or demolish them at taxpayer expense, the AJC reported in November.
Warren was hauled into housing court as a repeat offender. If he is convicted, he faces a mandatory sentence of at least 30 days in jail on each count. Reed has said that the city is looking into scores of other potential violations at properties linked to Warren’s businesses.
About the Author
