The Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter was located at 477 Peachtree Street NE, at the corner of Pine Street in the SoNo subdistrict of Downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States, just south of Midtown. It was officially closed on August 28, 2017, after many years of political wrangling over the site and its management. The "Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter in foreclosure — again", Scott Henry, Creative Loafing, November 13, 2009 building, which is within sight of Fox Theatre and Bank of America Plaza, stretches from Peachtree Street in the front to Courtland Street in the back. It was run by the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, whose executive director was Anita Beaty. The facility could house up to 700 homeless men each night,"Atlanta's largest homeless shelter loses appeal over water-bill dispute with city", Thomas Wheatley, Creative Loafing, January 16, 2013 although some sources say it could house up to 1000."Judge Schwall orders the closing of Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter by Aug. 31", Saporta Report, February 3, 2012
Almost since its opening in 1997, neighbors and neighborhood organizations complained about unsanitary conditions, loitering, drug sales, and violent crimes "Taxi driver attacked by several men outside Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter", Hunt Archbold, "Midtown Patch", January 2013"Man stabbed multiple times outside Peachtree-Pine shelter", Hunt Archbold, "Midtown Patch", February 2013"18-year-old shot, killed near downtown shelter", Mike Morris, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 3, 2009 in the immediate vicinity of the shelter, to a degree far more intense than occurs around other shelters in the city, blaming poor management of Peachtree-Pine as the root cause. The shelter was also the site of tuberculosis outbreaks."Fulton investigating TB outbreak at three Atlanta homeless shelters", Madeleine Thompson, "Creative Loafing", May 16, 2014 In 2014, Mayor Kasim Reed declared that "Peachtree-Pine is awful. It has rampant drug sales, and it poses a serious risk to the health of people in the City of Atlanta"."Reed: City Has Plan To Aid Homeless If Shelter's Water Is Turned Off", Michelle Wirth, WABE, Atlanta's NPR Station, September 23, 2014 The Task Force, on the other hand, has filed multiple lawsuits accusing the city officials, downtown business organizations, and Emory University (which operates a hospital across from the shelter) of having conspired to dry up its funding sources and force it out of business through tortious interference, defamation and other illegal means.
The shelter's troubled relations with the surrounding community, including its long running legal battles with the City Hall and other organizations, have been covered extensively in local publications such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Creative Loafing, and Atlanta Business Chronicle. There have also been in depth reports "Battle of Atlanta: Fight over a Downtown Homeless Shelter Strains Some Down-Home Ties", Terry Carter, "American Bar Association Journal", May 2011 in national media.
The building itself was designed by notable Atlanta architect A. Ten Eyck Brown and was originally known as the United Motors Service Building when it opened in 1921.
History
Establishment Coca-Cola heiress Ednabelle Wardlaw bought the building, which had been an automotive parts warehouse, in 1997 for $1.3 million and donated it to the Task Force."Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter vows to stay put despite foreclosure", Scott Henry, Creative Loafing, May 13, 2010 The Task Force had been only an advocacy and referral agency for the homeless up to that point, but transitioned into providing direct care after acquiring the building."Homeless Task Force chose to take on the community rather than seek common ground", Maria Saporta, October 31, 2011 According to the "Mission & History" section of its website, the Peachtree-Pine is the largest homeless facility in Southeast United States, and no one needing shelter is turned away.
Sources of Financial Support The shelter's top benefactor and supporter has been William C. Wardlaw III, better known as B Wardlaw, who is the son of Ednabelle Wardlaw."B Wardlaw defends Homeless Task Force; fears foreclosure", Maria Saporta, "Saporta Report", November 2009 A large Coca-Cola share holder and political activist, Wardlaw has chronicled his support of the Task Force in his memoirs "Coca-Cola Anarchist" and on his website. According to American Bar Association Journal, "Even in hard times, Wardlaw has continued subsistence funding of the shelter and pays salaries of $52,000 each to the Beatys (Anita Beaty and her husband Jim Beaty) through a charitable trust. Without his help, the shelter likely would have gone out of business long ago".
Another major private donor of Peachtree-Pine has been Bob Cramer, a well-known Atlanta entrepreneur and CEO of several tech companies, who was the chairman of the board of the Task Force from 1986 until 2010."Downtown shelter fights for survival", Bill Torpy, December 21, 2011 In 2010, Cramer penned a letter to the Atlanta Business Chronicle in defense of the shelter and called on the business community to "call off the dogs"."Task Force chair: ‘Call off the dogs'", Bob Cramer, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Mar 4, 2010 Cramer's other public writings on the shelter include an op-ed piece in the Atlanta Journal "25 years of poverty vs. power", Bob Cramer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, November 25, 2011 and a comment in Creative Loafing."Comment on 'Beatys, Task Force is out of Peachtree-Pine in 10 days' — UPDATE", Bob Cramer, Creative Loafing, December 4, 2012
The Task Force also relies on "anonymous donors" whose identities are kept confidential because according to Beaty "business leaders have put pressure against their contributors in the past", and "public officials have told their donors they wouldn't be able to do business with the city if they gave money to the Task Force.""Donors pay for Peachtree-Pine shelter's $580,000 water bill, pledge help with future payments", Max Blau and Thomas Wheatley, "Creative Loafing", September 26, 2014
Up to 2007, the shelter was also a recipient of public funds from the state and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Loss of Certification and Public Funds In 2007, the Tri-Jurisdictional Collaborative on Homelessness, composed of appointees from Atlanta and Fulton and DeKalb counties, gave HUD a prioritized list of local homeless agencies that should receive funding. The Task Force was ranked the lowest of 20 agencies, scoring 56 out of 100 points,"City withdraws support for homeless shelter", Mara Shalhoup, "Creative Loafing", June 13, 2007 and has not been a recipient of HUD or other public funds since. Subsequently, the shelter lost a bulk of its private donations as well and its annual budget dropped from a high of $1.8 million to only about $200,000.
The decline in private donations have also been in part due to active opposition by neighborhood organizations. In 2008, for instance, the Whole Foods grocery store on Ponce de Leon Avenue cancelled a fund raising for the shelter after the Midtown Ponce Security Alliance had threatened the store with boycott."Midtown neighborhood group urges Whole Foods boycott", Thomas Wheatley, "Creative Loafing", Sep 10, 2008"Whole Foods cancels fundraiser for homeless", Thomas Wheatley, "Creative Loafing", Sep 10, 2008
Water Dispute with City In late 2008 the City of Atlanta shut off water service to the shelter because of more than $160,000 in unpaid water and sewer bills. The Task Force won an injunction to have water service restored and also sued the city, claiming the city had been using a multi-pronged approach to try to close the shelter."Atlanta's largest homeless shelter sues City Hall", Thomas Wheatley, Creative Loafing, September 11, 2009 A federal judge dismissed the suit in September 2011,"City of Atlanta wins major case against Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless", Saporta Report, September 22, 2011 but the shelter appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which in January 2013 also denied the suit."11th Circuit Court upholds earlier ruling against Homeless Task Force", Saporta Report, January 15, 2013
In September 2014, the shelter's debt to the city stood at close to $600,000"City rejects shelter's water payment offer, reveals plan to move homeless to other facilities", Max Blau, Creative Loafing, September 19, 2014 due to unpaid water bills since 2010."Atlanta refuses $100,000 from homeless shelter; will cut off water", Steve Visser, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 19, 2014 This amount was eventually paid in full by "anonymous donors" on September 26, 2014, after the city had declined a partial payment of $100,000 from the Task Force and threatened to cut off water."Task Force for the Homeless pays $600K water bill, avoids shut-off", Katie Leslie, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 26, 2014.
Foreclosure of Building In 2007, when the shelter's funding had begun to deteriorate, the building had been estimated to be worth $9 million or more by Alan Wexler, president of real estate research firm Databank Inc."Face-off over homeless shelter", Justin Rubner, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Jul 23, 2007 Thus some observers, such as city councilman Kwanza Hall, who represents nearby neighborhoods, had expected the Task Force to sell the property. "With the amount of money that they could get for that building, they could invest in a facility that could really help people who need help", Hall had said. However, Bob Cramer, who was then the chairman of the board of directors of Peachtree-Pine, stated that there's "not enough money at Fort Knox" to get the task force to move the shelter.
On the other hand, the Task Force had taken out three mortgages on the property, which it did not pay back. With $900,000 outstanding on the mortgages, and Wardlaw not being able to pay off the shelter's debt, two of the lenders foreclosed in May 2010, and the building was bought by Ichthus Community Trust, which was controlled by Norcross-based commercial developer Manny Fialkow"."Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter bought by developer", Scott Henry, Creative Loafing, May 5, 2010 Later, the title was transferred to Premium Funding Solutions, where Fialkow's wife is a silent investor.
After acquiring the building, in an op-ed piece "Pledge to help homeless men at 477 Peachtree St.", Emanuel Fialkow, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 19, 2010 in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Fialkow stated that he had "no intentions to immediately alter the use of the property", and pledged that Ichtus Community Trust "would take care of the men who are there" with the goal of finding "appropriate housing with case management for everyone". He only required that the Task Force's director, Anita Beaty, to leave so that Ichtus can begin its work. Beaty, however, refused to leave and the Task Force has continued to operate the shelter without paying rent, while filing lawsuits disputing the ownership of the building.
In a rally in front of the shelter in 2010, Wardlaw declared that "The building of Peachtree-Pine belongs to the Peachtree-Pine community and will remain so."
Eviction Order and Dispute Over Rent In 2012, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall ordered the Task Force to hand over the control of the shelter to United Way of America. He criticized the Beatys for having made a "political statement" by allowing the Occupy Atlanta demonstrators to stay at Peachtree-Pine, and questioned their sincerity in maintaining that the homeless were their primary concern.
The Beatys' actions were "more about power, money, control, revenge and anger than it is about the homeless", he declared.Judge orders Midtown homeless shelter handed over to United Way, Steve Visser, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 4, 2012