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.- . 0 - • EDWI N L. STERNE L ESTER H . PERSELLS CHAIR MAN [XECU TI VE D I REC T OR At..::, SE CRETARY C ARL TON GARR ET T GEORGES . CRAFT DIRECTOR OF FINANCE V I CE C HA I RMAN G I LBERT H . BOG GS D I RECTOR OF HOUSING HOWARO OPENS HAW J. B . SLAYTON DIRECTOR OF REDEVELOP1,,,1EN l FRANK G. ETHERIDGE GEORGE R . SAN OER TECt-tNICAL DIRECTOR JA C K F. GLEN N 824 HURT BUILDING A T L A N TA, GEORG I A 30303 JA CKSON 3 - 6074 Sept embBr 30 , 1969 Mr . Mal colm D. Jones Ex.e cutive Dire ctor Citi zens Adv is ory Commit t ee for Urban Renewal City Hall Atlant a , Ge orgia 30303 Dear Mr. Jones: Mr. Parsells has asked me to repl y to y our l etter of Augu st 18 , 1969 r el at i ve to t h e Executive Committee's c oncern over several fe a tures of At lanta's Urban Renewal Program . First, let me say that we share t he Committee's c oncern over the length of t ime required to close out earlier pro j e c ts. However, t o imply tha t the length of time t aken t o cl ose out proj ects is due t o an apparent l a ck of aggres siveness on the part of the Authority is ludicrous . The original five urban renewal pr o je c ts have been amended f orty-two times, requi ring an additional eight million dollars from the Federal government, and resulti ng in a s t adium , expansi on of Georgia State Colle ge, additional land for s chools, parks, and neighborhood faciliti e s, acquisition of commercial properties on Ge orgia Avenue, and numerous other improvements. The average length of time inv olved in securing Fede ral approval of an amendment has been twelve months, with several requiring thirty months. A se con d ma jor fa c t or delay ing proj ect close- outs is the funding and cons t ruction of non-cash grants-in-aid. The Butler Street Project, for example, c ould not be closed ou t earlier because the proposed school was not funded until the passage of the 1968 bond issue, with construction starting in August, 1969. Even after renewal land has been sold , many developers have experienced delays caused by the tight money market, high interest rates and soaring costs. Nonetheless, projects are not closed out without spe cial effort. Re cently I established a spacial task force to identify and expedite all remaining activities to be completed in the original projects. Two of these projects - Butler Street and Georgia State - have been completed this year and are waiting fin al HUD audit. I want to assure the Committee that the Authority recognizes its respon sibility to proceed as rapidly as possible to complete the e arly proj e cts. Et? c/ Z �- 2I share the Commi ttee ' s c once r n over its seemi ngly perfunctory r ole of l ate. If it is to perform its fun c tion a s outline d in the Al de rman:i. c r e solu ti on creating the Committee, ie., a dv ise the May or a n d Boa r d of Aldermen and o t h er publi c bodi e s con cerne d with Urba n Renewal i n the -City, t h en i t seems t o me that it must c ontinue to review pr opose d Ur ban Renewal a ctiviti e s f or mul a ted by the vari ous proj e c t area commi t tees with an ove rview of t h e to tal needs of the Ci ty. The Com.mittee's vi ews on pend i n g redev e l opment a c t ions s hould b e express e d t o the Alde rman i c Pl anning a nd Re development Committee, as did Bob Summerville ~ fo rme r Commit tee Chairman. The Author ity wi l l co operate i n any way p os s i ble in -ass i st i ng t he Committee in c arrying out i t s functi on of pr ov iding guidan ce and direc ti on to the City in the a dministrati on of its Urb an Renewal program . The comments pe r ta i ning to the Wes t End Urban Renewa l Pr oj ect are ob vious l y pe r sonal ex pr e ss ions of fru stration s s hared by the Authority . The West End Ur ban Renewal Pr o ject is n ow in its thi r d year of e xecution and to date the Au t ho rity h a s a cqui re d 516 p ar ce ls of land (87% ) 9 reloc a te d l~57 f amil ies and 77 businesse s (97%) , demol ish ed 354 stru c ture s ( 74%) , s ol d or put unde r agre ement f or s a l e .54 ac res of l and ( 55%) r- and _ comple t ed rehabilitation of 504 s truc t ure s (22% ) , I n a ddi t ion , the Authority h a s a cquired an d conveyed t o the City 8 .7 a c res of land f or park devel opmen t, and the 1 .1 mi l li on d ollar Dean Rusk Elementar y School h as be en compl e te d . The redevelope r for the 15 a c re e n cl osed mall s h opping center is p re s ently securing l eases , wi t h cons t r uc tion s cheduled in 197 0 . In spite of t h e progre s s ma de to d a te, t here a r e t hre e s pe c ifi c areas in Wes t End where pr ogre s s h a s been de l aye d. The firs t i s the seven a cr e t ra ct adj a ce n t to the Park Stree t Methodist Church. This area involves a l and us e change and is i n clude d in an amendment submi t ted to HUD on June 17, 1 9 69. On Se ptemb er 23, HUD approve d an Authori t y reque st to pr oce ed wi t h a pu blic h ear ing and loca l adopt ion of the plan amendment pursu ant t o offe ring the l and fo r sale f or residential re-us e . The publi c h earing h a s be en schedul e d for Octobe r 17 before t he Pl anning and Deve lopment Committee. A s econd area involves some t we n ty- f our a cre s of l and in t he vi cinity of Lee a nd Ogl ethor pe, pre sently des i gn a t e d for offi ce warehouse and genera l office use. The We st End Advis ory Commit te e h a d previ ously agreed that t hi s are a n e eded fu r ther study i n l ight of the proposed loca tion of r a pid trans it in the area. The third area inv olves the motel and re s ident ial u s es on Oak Stree t, between Ashby a nd Peeples Streets. The three ac re motel site was on the market fo r 18 months and no propo s al s we re rece i ve d. Five redevelopers submitted proposals for 76 dwelling unit s on parcel 1 9, bu t the West End Adv isory Committee recommende d rejection of a l l p roposals, re - study of the s i te in conjunction with the motel tra c t, and re- offer fo r s a l e. The sta tus of the Wes t End pl an will be di s cussed with the Wes t End Adv isory Committ e e on October lo The Aut hority recognizes the · u rgen cy of proceeding as rapidly as possible in each of the e ight conven ti onal ur b an renewal areas and five neighborhood development program are as in t h e Ci ty . I want to assure the Committee that Mr . Parsells and I have committed ourselves to this task while making the prograD1 responsive to human needs. �-3We pledge our continued cooperation to CACUR and others devoted to making Atlanta the great city it is de s tined to become . Very truly yours, ~~ Howard Openshaw Director of Redevelopment HO:pc cc: Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. Mr. Rodne y M. Cook Dr. Noah N. Langdale, Jr. Mr. A.B. Padgett Dean Alex B. Lacy, Jr. . �