Much of what happens with Rick Warren is "a shadow, covered with fog, wrapped in an obscure LLC," wrote The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Bill Torpy. The Buckhead real estate investor, now facing possible jail time and the ire of Mayor Kasim Reed, has worked through anonymous limited liability corporations to buy up a large portion of west Atlanta's impoverished English Avenue neighborhood.
He was the subject of a November investigation in the AJC.
Another LLC may have come to light Wednesday, during the first of what could be many trials over Warren’s code enforcement citations. A witness testified he bought her house using the name Canopy Development Group LLC. Warren’s attorney was vague on what role, if any, the investor plays at the company, but a quick dig through public records provides a few hints.
Canopy’s public corporate records make no mention of Warren. But the company does have the same address and registered agent as other companies he has told the AJC that he owns.
Since its founding Sept. 18, Canopy has purchased a dozen properties, all in the English Avenue area.
The first acquisition took place days after the AJC ran its investigation, and just as code enforcement cited him for conditions at eight separate proprieties.
Canopy's website says that it is "currently orchestrating metro Atlanta's largest land & property acquisition project." It doesn't provide any details.
The code enforcement complaints against Warren allege he left properties in dangerous conditions. A judge’s decision is pending in the first of a potential series of trials in Atlanta municipal court. Judge Crystal Gaines said she would issue a written verdict in that case June 16, which is also Warren’s next trial date.
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