The Urban Design Commission’s agenda for Oct. 24 includes the item for a demolition permit for the property at 2494 Peachtree Road, in front of the 2500 Peachtree Road condominiums.
Silver said it does not mean it is going to be “demo’ed” because the same permit is required to move a building as is required to demolish it.
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| NPU-B chair Sally Silver |
Silver said she is working groups interested in preserving the home, but said there will be no formal announcements until all of the details are finalized.
“The condo association is in no way shape or form threatening to tear down the building,” Silver said.
The Randolph-Lucas House, a mansion located at 2494 Peachtree Road, is part of the Peachtree Heights Park District, a nationally recognized historic site. Hollins Nichols Randolph, a prominent Atlanta attorney, built the red brick residence in 1924.
The 2500 Peachtree Condominiums Association, the current owner of the house, hired an engineering firm who found the house isn’t structurally sound.
When the original developer built the condominiums in 1997, one of the stipulations of the permit was moving the house 35 feet forward from its foundation and to renovate it. After the developer finished the project the condo market tanked and the developer only sold 50 percent of the units. The bank foreclosed on the property.
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| The Randolph--Lucas House with the 2500 Peachtree Condos behind it. |
The home has sat virtually untouched since the development of the condos. The association, citing the condition of the structure and cost of repairs, began exploring the demolition permit, prompting a backlash from historians and Neighborhood Planning Unit B members.
“The condo association [2500 Peachtree Condominium Association Inc.] has no intention at this time to demo the building,” Silver told her fellow board members of Neighborhood Planning Unit B Tuesday night. “I believe they are very earnest in wanting to work this out.”
She said there are “ongoing negotiations” and “three possible announcements” regarding new ownership and re-location of the historic house. However, she added, unlike others in the community, she is not going to talk about the opportunities until there are signatures on the bottom line.
That reference, was seemingly aimed at Wright Mitchell, who has been feeding various media with stories about the potential to move the house, the condo association’s refusal to allow inspections of the house and having 10-15 people interested in moving the house to new sites in order to preserve it.
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| Buckhead Heritage Society Executive Director Erica Danylchak with president Wright Mitchell at the June meeting of Neighborhood Planning Unit B. |
Mitchell is the head of the Buchead Heritage Society and there is some concern that he may be trying to use this issue to garner publicity for his organization and himself.
Mitchell has claimed that he has an offer to move the house to a new location for $350,000 if someone will pay the bill. He also has told the media that the 2500 Peachtree Road Condominium Association, which owns the house, will not allow an inspection of the building to determine what repairs might need to be done to bring it up to city code.
Mitchell has said all of those interested in the building want to know what repairs will be required to make it usable before agreeing to pay to move it.
Silver told the Neighborhood Planning Unit B board Tuesday night that the $350,000 fee Mitchell keeps quoting to move the house is to move it to Vine City. “That is on the west side of Atlanta near the Georgia Dome.” Silver said. “No one in Buckhead is interested in moving the house to Vine City.”
But Wright Mitchell has been very active in reaching out to the media—11 Alive News, the Northside Neighbor, Buckhead Patch and the Buckhead Reporter—about his efforts to save the house.
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| Attorney Hakim Hilliard represents the condo association and appeared at the NPU-B June meeting. |
According to Silver, the one group he has not reached out to is the 2500 Peachtree Condominium Association which owns the house.
Clearly the condo association initially wanted to tear down the house. According to Silver, the association also was duped about the possible use of the house by the original condo developer, Lane Properties. They soon discovered that the house did not have a certificate of occupancy and could not be used for any purpose.
But, Silver claims that she has met frequently with the condo association and is convinced it would prefer to have the house moved and preserved than to demolish it.
Silver wants to see the home moved, preserved, but remain in Buckhead, where it is a part of the community’s history. The Heritage Society also would like for the house to stay in the neighborhood, if possible.
“We would like to see it stay in Buckhead, but we don’t want to see it torn down,” Mitchell said. “So if it we have a choice between seeing it torn down and moving outside of Buckhead, we would certainly entertain offers to move it outside of Buckhead.”
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