It’s official: Atlanta’s Peachtree-Pine shelter will close in August

A homeless shelter at the junction of downtown and Midtown Atlanta decried for years as being a poorly operated haven for crime and disease will shutter in a matter of weeks.

That’s the word this morning from Central Atlanta Progress, the city’s nonprofit downtown business association, which issued a press release stating a settlement has been reached with Peachtree-Pine Homeless Shelter operators and longstanding grievances quashed.

CAP will fully take control of the nearly 100,000-square-foot property on Peachtree Street in August, officials said. (That dripping sound is Atlanta developers salivating over parcels in the relatively downtrodden vicinity right now).

The amount of the settlement wasn’t specified, but Atlanta Progressive News reported earlier this week the magic number is almost $10 million. The payout will help The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless continue its mission elsewhere, CAP officials said.

Here’s the press release, in full:

“The parties involved in the Peachtree-Pine Homeless Shelter lawsuit have settled their differences over various legal matters. As part of the settlement, the Peachtree-Pine property will be sold to Central Atlanta Progress.

“The settlement agreement also authorizes Central Atlanta Progress, working closely with The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, to proceed with plans to place the current residents of the Peachtree-Pine shelter into other suitable facilities. The Task Force will continue to provide services from the shelter until Aug. 28 of this year.

“With the exception of the current residents awaiting transition to other facilities, however, the Peachtree-Pine property will no longer operate as a homeless shelter. As part of the settlement, the Task Force for the Homeless will receive funds to continue its mission.

“All parties are relieved that the dispute has been resolved and that the current residents of Peachtree-Pine will be transitioned to other facilities in a humane manner.”

And so concludes more than four years of legal wrangling, which precipitated Atlanta City Council negotiations and even threats of Eminent Domain for the infamous property.

Exactly what will happen with the 1921 building by prolific Atlanta architect A. Ten Eyck Brown (note the colorful two-story terra-cotta frieze) has yet to be determined, but nearby Emory University Midtown Hospital, for one, is reportedly interested in acquiring the land.

• $10M deal to secure closure of Atlanta’s Peachtree-Pine shelter is ‘imminent’ [Curbed]