Homeless Shelter At Peachtree-Pine To Close Monday

ATLANTA, GA -- Atlanta's most visible homeless shelter is set to close its doors Monday, Aug. 28, Patch has learned. The shelter was purchased earlier this summer by Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) in a deal with the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless.

Entities have been working on finding places to stay for hundreds of men and women displaced by the purchase. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Even though the sale is set for Monday, the Peachtree-Pine shelter will stay open as part of an extended transition as the Metro Atlanta Task Force the’s staff helps its remaining residents to find other shelters and housing facilities. Also of help will be proceeds from a legal settlement from lawsuit involving the task force and CAP.

“The mission of the Task Force is to continue to advocate for and represent the dignity and rights of men, women and children in our city who are homeless,” Carl R. Hartrampf, task force executive director, said in a news release. “The current lack of physical space will neither deter nor diminish our focus on our goals.”

The developments come as former Fulton County Commission Chairman and current Atlanta mayoral candidate John Eaves spent the night at the shelter to draw attention to the plight of the homeless.

“This is a unique opportunity for me to put real faces on a real problem. Some may call it a stunt, I call it action,” Eaves said in a news release. “As chairman of Fulton County, I pushed a plan to reopen Jefferson Place (Homeless Center) with essential health and social services, but that will only hold up to 300 people. Hundreds more at Peachtree and Pine will be left out on the street. They don’t call that a stunt; they’re asking for help. That’s what I aim to do now and as mayor of Atlanta.”

Both the Metro Atlanta Task Force and Central Atlanta Progress vow to find "other suitable facilities" for the homeless, which has been a dilemma for the city's leaders and a thorn in the side of the city's business leaders, who see the prominence of homelessness as a direct deterrent to business.

“We are working to ensure a smooth transition for our current and future residents. We look forward to the future and the continuous offering of programs that will allow our homeless population to transition back into the community, and most importantly, thrive,” said Hartrampf.

The facility is selling for $9.7 million in the midst of booming real estate prices for Midtown Atlanta. While new developments sprout up around it, pressure from the city along with the rising costs of real estate in Midtown have also played a part in making the pale-colored building an anomaly.

Homeless At Peachtree-Pine Shelter Will Be Transitioned

Monday's closure of the Peachtree-Pine site is a major development for real estate watchers as the tract is considered one of the most high-profile sites at the cusp of Midtown and downtown Atlanta.

Image via Google Street View