Atlanta, GA

Extended-stay hotel residents told to relocate and then allowed to stay

Published

12 months ago

June 20, 2023

Extended-stay hotel residents told to relocate and then allowed to stay

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – People living at an extended-stay hotel on Pine Street in downtown Atlanta encountered some chaos and confusion after they received notice to relocate within three weeks because their building was being sold.

“It’s just heartless, it’s heartless,” resident Cedric Fuller said.

Fuller is one of many who said he was told by a group of security guards wearing tactical gear at the old Budgetel Inn that it was time to go.

“They scared them so bad. They had their guns, and they were telling them you’ve got to go. You have to leave and so they went by what they were saying from fear,” Fuller said.

Residents received a letter on their doors June 1 saying that the building that they were living in was being sold and they had 21 days to relocate.

“Every day they’re knocking on our door asking us when we’re going to get out telling us we need to be out by the next day by noon. They already turned off the TVs and took out the vending machines and everything,” Resident Debbie Benford said.

Atlanta News First learned that a company called 1st Place Hospitality issued the letters and brought in a team to help with relocating families. 1st Place said the prior owner, JDH, asked them to help with the transition.

“We have no keycard; we have nothing to enter our room. We have no access to our room anyway whatsoever,” Deasia Dailey said.

Several people living at the hotel complained about the transition and said that their keycards were deactivated, and they had to have security let them in their units.

It turns out, the new owners of the property said the residents were misled and that they are allowed to stay.

“We have no affiliation with that organization, we have no affiliation with the previous ownership,” Healthy Housing Foundation/AIDS Housing Foundation spokesperson Imara Canady said.

It prompted a meeting at the hotel on Tuesday with representatives from Atlanta Legal Aid, the Mayor’s Office and the new owners, the Healthy Housing Foundation which is affiliated with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

“We’re not in the business of displacing individuals, we are in the business of assuring there is truly affordable housing for every person,” Canady said.

Atlanta Legal Aid said they will be representing some of the residents who were told to leave. Plus, the owner of 1st Place Hospitality said he is willing to use every resource to move the residents that left back in within 24 hours.

JDH reached out to 1st Place and informed them that they were in the final stages of closing their property. They provided documentation which showed that their management team, through their on site property manager, had conveyed the closing to the guests over the last several months, in part of a pending sale.
First Place was allowed to be on property in an attempt to rehouse the guests who would have ordinarily been displaced.
June 21st was the timeline First Place was given by JDH and team members of First Place raced against the clock to get people rehoused. We utilized our properties to rehouse some Budgetel guests. We coordinated transportation, moving and hauling services, and helped guests develop a plan of action.
First place made clear, that we were not the owners and we were not involved in the purchase and sale of the property.
On June 9th, we surprisingly became aware that the property had been sold before the June 21st date and that ended our involvement because we had no knowledge of who the new owners are.
First Place has continued to work in the background with several guests we made contact with in an effort to ensure they are becoming stable again and have aided them with resources in that process.
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Furthermore, First Place and all of its properties are solely owned by Edward Fernandez. 1st Place is not affiliated with JDH, its partners, owners or shareholders in any way. First Place has purchased a property from JDH but it is not the property in question and JDH has no ownership interest whatsoever in that property.
Over 200 families were going to be displaced and made homeless as a result of the commercial real estate transaction that happened on 140 Pine Street. Both the purchaser and seller was aware of what they were causing. When I was contacted, I took the avenue provided as a means to alleviate that as much as possible. 200 families, mothers with children, elderly and disabled alike. I was not going to stand on the sidelines and allow it to happen. I did not and do not now own the property to evict anyone. I have never been involved until this situation arose where I saw that families were going to be discarded. My team never forced anyone to leave which is why there are still guests who remain. We simply blew the whistle extremely loud with the information that had been conveyed to us that the property was closing and we didn’t want anyone displaced as a result of it. We offered help in every way we could and this is documented. Our focus has always and will continue to be the people. And we are working around the clock to continue to improve things for those people.
I have no further comment- Edward Fernandez C.E.O. Of 1st Place

The Mayor’s Office said, “The Mayor’s Office recently became aware of a change of ownership at the location. The new owner held a meeting with residents and Atlanta Legal Aid today, which the Mayor’s Office also attended. We will continue to monitor the situation, and we appreciate ALA and other stakeholder’s commitment to ensuring an equitable outcome for residents.”

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Atlanta, GA

Braves News: Michael Harris to miss significant time, offense turning a corner, more

Published

7 hours ago

June 16, 2024

Press Room

Just as the offense seems to be finding it’s footing after an epic team slump, they lost another major piece to injury for an extended period, as Michael Harris has a grade 2 hamstring strain. The Braves have had brutal injury luck this season, with arguable the best batter and pitcher in the game out for the season, and missing significant time from Ozzie Albies, Sean Murphy, and now Michael Harris. Nonetheless, the team looks like it may be turning a corner on the offensive end, as they put up nine runs on the Rays Saturday. They hit four home runs and could easily have had another, as Ramon Laureano was robbed in his Braves debut. Michael should be back sometime this season, so hopefully the team can chug along with improved offense and more of the same stellar pitching they have gotten so far. This team still has the talent to be a force in October if the non-Acuna and Strider pieces can be healthy for the playoffs.

Braves News

Michael Harris II was transferred to the IL Saturday morning, with Ramon Laureano getting the call-up in his place. It was revealed after the game that he has a grade 2 hamstring strain and is expected to miss roughly 4-6 weeks, judging by the average for that particular injury.

The Braves strung together their third straight complete team victory, with Charlie Morton putting together a strong start and the offense showing out with some power.

MLB News

Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto exited his start early with a tricep injury. That’s a hit to the Dodgers’ pitching staff that already has some injury questions.

Kris Bryant will continue to miss time with an internal oblique strain, continuing what has been a catastrophic free agent signing for the Rockies, and one that was already puzzling at the time of the deal.

Pirates’ Henry Davis will hit the 7-day concussion IL, replaced by Jason Delay for the time being.

The Phillies activated Brandon Marsh off the IL, after a roughly two week absence for the outfielder.

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Atlanta, GA

Blessing's late goal helps Dynamo tie Atlanta 2-2

Published

14 hours ago

June 16, 2024

Press Room

Blessing's late goal helps Dynamo tie Atlanta 2-2

(AP) – Latif Blessing scored in the 89th minute to help the Houston Dynamo to 2-2 tie with Atlanta United on Saturday night.

Coco Carrasquilla chipped an entry — while Amine Bassi occupied a defender — to Blessing at the left corner of the 6-yard box for the finish to cap the scoring.

Griffin Dorsey played a volley, off a corner kick by Héctor Herrera, that ricocheted off the crossbar to Franco Escobar at the right corner of the 6-yard box for a header that gave Houston a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute. Escobar, a 29-year-old defender who spent his first four MLS seasons with Atlanta, has a career-high tying two goals this season and seven in his seven-plus year career.

Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan played a long pass and Daniel Ríos won the ball in the attacking third and back-heeled a pass to Luke Brennan on the right side of the area. Brennan slipped an low entry pass behind a defender to Thiago Almada, whose shot from point-blank range was parried by Clark but Ríos was there for the putback into an empty net to make it 1-1 in the 25th minute.

Xande Silva, from just inside the left end line, blasted a shot that slipped under the crossbar and inside the back post to give Atlanta a 2-1 lead in the 55th minute.

Guzan stopped seven shots for Atlanta.

Steve Clark had three saves for Houston (6-6-5).

Atlanta (4-8-5) has just one win (a 3-1 defeat of Inter Miami on May 29) since a 3-1 win over the Chicago Fire on March 31.

The Dynamo outshot Atlanta 19-11, 9-5 on target.

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Atlanta, GA

Indiana Fever stun Atlanta Dream

Published

22 hours ago

June 15, 2024

Press Room

The Atlanta Dream were defeated 91-84 by the Indiana Fever for their second consecutive loss on Thursday night. The game was held at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in front of a large crowd. For the Dream, it was another slow start for the team as they were again outscored in the first half 44-59.

“We got to start the game better. At the end of the day we can’t dig ourselves a hole like that, because it takes to much energy to try and come back. Especially with a team that shoot the 3 the way they shoot. They got up early, and we got to do a better job of starting those games,” said head coach Tanisha Wright.

“Defensively, we didn’t do a great job in the first half taking away their options when they got hot. [Kelsey] Mitchell got hot and obviously [Aliyah] Boston got hot, and we need to do a better job of that. But I think the second half we got a little bit back to ourselves, which is playing Atlanta basketball like we have the last two years.”

The Fever started strong, quickly establishing a lead in the first quarter. Led by the dynamic duo of Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana’s offense was firing on all cylinders. Boston, known for her aggressive approach in the paint and mid-range accuracy, scored a game-high 27 points along with 13 rebounds. Mitchell, the team’s floor general, orchestrated the offense with precision, contributing 24 points.

Despite the early deficit, the Dream responded with resilience. Rhyne Howard, continued her strong shooting as she tied her career high with six 3-pointers. She finished the game with 26 points. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, added 18 points and six rebounds to help keep the Dream within striking distance with her clutch shooting. It was Parker-Tyus 100th career game in a Dream uniform. She was a big part in why the Dream outscored the Fever 30-17.

The second half saw both teams exchanging baskets in a back-and-forth battle. Atlanta managed to narrow the gap to just 11 points in the third quarter, thanks to 14-6 run making the score 62-73. However, Indiana defense tightened up in the final minutes, forcing crucial turnovers and securing key rebounds.

The Dream will look to regroup and address their defensive lapses as they prepare for their next matchup against the Sparks on Sunday afternoon.

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