(This article has been edited to add new information.)
It appears that the latest owners of the Lamar Building downtown have given up on their ambitious project to turn the Augusta landmark into apartments, and the city has given up forcing it to be kept up to code.
The Lamar Building is not the only historic building that Code Enforcement seems to be turning a blind eye to; Historic Augusta, Inc. also has their own eyesore in Summerville.
Even before the trees on Broad Street were removed, it was easy to spot the neglect of the Lamar Building at 753 Broad St., with missing windows on nearly every floor and gaping holes in the glass penthouse.
Pedestrians tend to walk cautiously around the 19-story structure for fear of falling glass.
After trading hands through multiple owners, property records show the building was last sold to Lamar Augusta LLC in December of 2022. Shortly after the sale, the company sent a representative, Frank Ferricker, to Augusta who took the media on a tour of the building under construction.
At the time, the building was surrounded by a construction safety fence and had yellow caution tape along the first floor.
Downtown Development Director Margaret Woodard was clearly impressed and promoted the project in front of the television cameras.
“They’re very excited about starting construction on the project. It’s a $40 million investment, and a very historic structure in downtown with 75 new market rate apartments. We’re very excited about the project,” Woodard said at the time.
Now, with the safety fencing gone as well as the TV cameras, Lamar Augusta LLC has gone mum and even city code inspectors can’t get a response from the company.
Tax records show that Lamar Augusta LLC is also in arrears by $2,124 on their property taxes.
In documents released through an open records request, the city cited the company in July 2024 with six code violations and gave the company 30 days to rectify the violations. However, emails between inspector Bradley Benjamin and former Planning and Zoning Director Carla DeLaney show that the company ignored the citations and email reminders sent in the six month period after the 30-day warning expired.
“We have had an open case for this building but have had no luck in contacting the owners. I instructed Erica today to start the blight process with the hopes of getting the owners to come into compliance,” Benjamin wrote.
Since that final email in December of 2024, it appears the city gave up and never followed through with filing anything with the court. No further documents are in the city’s custody and a case management search turns up no responsive documents.
The Lamar Building, built between 1913 and 1916 is named in honor of Joseph Rucker Lamar, who was an associate Supreme Court Justice. He lived in Augusta next door to future President Woodrow Wilson. It is considered one of the most historic buildings in downtown.
The building survived the Great Fire of 1913, but the neglect is clearly taking its toll, and everyone from Code Enforcement to the Historic Preservation Commission seems hamstrung to stop it.
Neither Code Enforcement nor Lamar Augusta LLC could be reached for comment.
Dave Barbee, the newly designated chair of the HPC says there is little to nothing his group can do.
“We can only really be involved when it comes to the structural integrity of historic buildings, but I have placed it on the next meeting’s agenda. I agree, many of the buildings on Broad, including the Lamar, look to be in terrible shape,” Barbee said.
Multiple landowners in downtown and other areas throughout Augusta say that there is a double standard when it comes to Code Enforcement, but none would go on the record for fear of reprisals.
“If you are the small business, the low-hanging fruit, you bet they are going to force you to fix even the most minor things, but if it takes them more than just sending a letter, then it just gets ignored,” one property owner said. They were referring to the old Catholic Social Services building on upper Broad Street that took over a year to clean up after the building was gutted by fire and the remnants were left out in the roadway.
One property in Summerville definitely sticks out and that property is at least in some way co-owned by Historic Augusta, Inc., which is the same non-profit that presents an annual “endangered properties list.” Historic Augusta is also known for complaining to the HPC about property owners neglecting their structures.
Almost two years ago, the preservation group was lauded for saving the historic Fordyce-Kennedy-Pritchard house and had the home moved to its present location at 2489 East Ave. in partnership with local businessman Ross Snellings.
The home has a faded construction sign in the yard, but weeds have grown almost chest-high around the construction materials. The structure shows no signs of proper mothballing and is still missing rotted out wood on the facade and all around the eaves. The front door has no proper lock, making it an easy target for vandals.
Erick Montgomery, director of Historic Augusta, Inc. claims that his group does not own the building, yet they made a big deal about the effort of “saving” it from the wrecking ball and using money from the group’s “revolving fund” to pay for the move, which cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Regardless of the intricate details on paper, neighbors say work on the “historic” property stopped the moment the TV cameras left the scene.
The city has also come under fire by citizens who have taken photos of properties owned or held by the Augusta Housing and Development/Land Bank Authority and posted the photos, showing structural neglect and knee-high grass, on Instagram and other social media sites. One person posted a video on Instagram about some of properties.
According to Barbee, under the city’s blight ordinance, owners can be fined up to $500 a day, but there is no record of Code Enforcement ever levying such fines.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter, Editorial Page Editor and weekly columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
