Traumatized, low-income tenants from Fairburn & Gordon I and II Apartments will finally get the chance to confront the owners of their troubled West Atlanta complex next month after spending years living there in extremely hazardous conditions.
Partnership for Southern Equity, a local social justice nonprofit, worked with city officials to arrange the meeting between tenants and their landlords, which is set to take place from 4-6 p.m. on Sept. 11 at the C.T. Martin Natatorium and Recreation Center, according to Erika Smith, the city’s deputy solicitor, and Donell Q. Woodson, director of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ Housing Help Center.
Ben Beroukhai and his brother Abe Beroukhai are co-owners of Fairburn & Gordon’s parent company, A&B Apartments LLC. They also own multiple other blighted properties in Atlanta, according to Smith.
Smith and Woodson said the goal of next month’s meeting is to have the owners hear directly from their tenants about the squalid conditions under which they’ve been living, including rotting floors and walls, collapsing ceilings, suffocating mold, rat and roach infestations, and pipes that leak raw sewage.
“The purpose of this meeting is to provide a platform for tenants to express their concerns about the property and for ownership to outline their plan to address these issues and improve the living experience for all residents,” Woodson told Capital B Atlanta via email.
The Beroukhai brothers’ attorney, David Dolinsky, declined to comment on why his clients agreed to participate in the meeting. Woodson said the meeting was convened as directed by Municipal Judge Christopher T. Portis, who is overseeing the Fairburn & Gordon housing code enforcement case.
Representatives from the city’s Housing Help Center, Atlanta Housing, and the solicitor’s office are also scheduled to attend the meeting along with the Beroukhai brothers.
“The property owners will be present at the direction of Judge Portis to address tenant concerns and outline their plan for improvements,” Woodson said.
The city has issued hundreds of housing code violations and at least one nuisance citation against Fairburn & Gordon’s owners. A sweeping inspection last October found 81 housing code violations, including 13 classified as “highly hazardous.”
A Nov. 29 follow-up inspection conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development revealed 155 “deficiencies,” including 31 classified as “life-threatening” and 17 determined to be “severe.”
In March, HUD officials announced that they were canceling their contract with Fairburn & Gordon’s owners. The complex receives U.S. taxpayer money through HUD to house low-income, Section 8 tenants, though most of its tenants pay market rate to live there.
Relocation counselors hired by HUD have been working with Section 8 tenants this summer to find safer apartments.
Earlier this month, Fairburn & Gordon tenant Cherry Gary called Ben Beroukhai a “slumlord” after the latest housing court hearing involving the troubled apartment complex.
“Everything y’all have needs to crumble!” Gary added on Aug. 14.
Judge Portis declined during the last hearing to close the nuisance and housing code enforcement case against Fairburn & Gordon’s owners after they failed to complete a list of required repairs by an agreed-upon deadline.
The Beroukhai brothers’ next housing court hearing is set to take place at 9 a.m. on Sept. 19 at the Municipal Court of Atlanta, according to the court’s website.
This story has been updated to include new information and to note a scheduling change for the tenants’ meeting.
