An Augusta commissioner wants Bon Air Apartments brought up to snuff, but the current owners are not responsive.
District 3 Commissioner Catherine McKnight has toured the Bon Air Apartments multiple times and attempted to engage the new owners of the property, but she says Redwood Housing is all talk and no show.
According to McKnight, she has visited the property, located at 2101 Walton Way, on several occasions, held Zoom meetings with the owners and met in person with a company representative and has had no luck in urging the owners to bring the building up to code and eradicate the criminal element present there.
“They keep making promises to install cameras, fix the plumbing and other code issues, but they haven’t done any of that. All they want to do is get the go ahead to build more units and pack as many people in there as possible,”McKnight said.
Redwood Housing, located out of Redwood, Texas, bought the property in 2021 for a reported $15.25 million.
Neighbors near the Summerville icon have complained for months that the Bon Air has become a place for ne’er-do-wells who shoot guns in the parking lot for fun rather than people in need due to age or disability.
Frank Dolan lives nearby and says the owners claim the building houses only the elderly or infirm, but that is far from the case.
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According to Dolan, he has seen scores of young, seemingly able-bodied men coming and going from the property.
“I can guarantee they are not going there to visit Grandma,” Dolan said.
Dolan also says that neighbors have witnessed young men crossing Walton Way in broad daylight, stealing patio furniture from the Partridge Inn and dragging the items back across the road and into the Bon Air.
Redwood claims it has hired a full time security guard, but Dolan and McKnight say that measure is not enough.
“They have someone there during the day, but it is nighttime when gunfire and drug dealing occur. There is no security when there should be security, and anyone can gain access to the building because automatic doors are broken. All you have to do is slide your hand up near the sensor, and the door opens,” Dolan said.
McKnight confirmed that she had no trouble entering the building and said the scene there was the same as the last time she visited several months ago, if not worse. She said the hallways and staircases reeked of urine, water stains are still visible all over the property and residents complain of rat and bedbug infestations.
Both McKnight and Dolan reported seeing handmade signs on some of the doors warning that the resident inside was armed and that “my home is not your pantry.”
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McKnight said she was easily able to access the basement where she found piles of old equipment stacked up along with other piles of trash throughout.
“Not only is it a fire hazard, but it’s a perfect place for rats to create nests, and for all we know, there may be homeless people sleeping there because the door is not locked. A discarded cigarette or candle could light that junk on fire and burn the entire building down,” McKnight said.
McKnight said that she brought Augusta Fire Chief Antonio Burden to the property, and he was aghast at what he saw.
According to Dolan, the Bon Air has become a community problem and needs to be addressed immediately.
“The city needs to use whatever tools they have, building codes, fire codes, nuisance ordinances, whatever it takes,” Dolan said.
McKnight says the company accused her of trespassing and told her that she needed to give them 24 hours notice before visiting.
“I told them not no, but hell no. This is my district, and if I want to accompany the fire chief on an inspection, I have every right to do it. They are eventually going to figure out that I am not going away anytime soon,” McKnight said.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
