After so many years, Gary Freedman barely notices the hulking “eyesore” that used to be Midtown’s Campanile office high-rise, long stripped bare to its circa-1987 concrete bones. But there’s one aspect of the Dewberry Capital project site that Freedman—a resident of Central Park Condominiums, located across Juniper Street—finds terrifying. 

A construction crane has lorded over the 21-story former Campanile building’s southeastern face since the summer of 2022, exposed to the elements. Freedman says he rarely sees construction workers onsite at 1155 Peachtree St. NE anymore, but still the crane rotates to different positions almost every day. 

It also spins, according to Freeman, during storms.  

“That crane hangs over my building periodically,” says Freedman, a national news producer. “It would obliterate any one of several buildings. It scares the hell out of me, and I’ve spoken to many of my neighbors who feel the same way.”

Those concerns have recently spurred action from city government. 

Recent photos of the 1155 Peachtree St. NE site, where neighbors say workers haven't been present for several weeks. Submitted

Kelsea Bond, the Atlanta City Council member who represents District 2, where the Dewberry project is located, has fielded multiple complaints about the matter since being sworn in, in January. (Bond’s predecessor, Amir Farokhi, once likened the former Campanile’s state to war-torn Belgrade—but yet a development project, like any other, the city can’t legally force the developer to finish. The city’s only recourse is to require that the site be safe and meet basic code, limited by state law in the size of fines it can levy for violations, said Farokhi, an attorney, in 2024.) 

To that end, Bond says the Atlanta Police Department Code Enforcement Division for Commercial Maintenance is responsible for code enforcement on the Midtown site and has been notified. Meanwhile, the city’s Department of City Planning is planning to post “Unsafe” signs on the property. 

Bond has found that many construction permits granted for the Dewberry project expired in October, technically rendering it an abandoned construction site. Bond was informed by planning officials Wednesday the Georgia Department of Transportation has purview over the permitting and placement of cranes. Now Bond’s office is reaching out to GDOT about that issue specifically.

Meanwhile, the councilmember is inquiring with code enforcement and Atlanta Department of Transportation officials about addressing sidewalks the Dewberry venture has rendered inaccessible for years. 

Overview of construction permits at the Campanile/Midtowne project that render it an abandoned construction site, per the district's city councilperson. Courtesy of Councilmember Kelsea Bond's Office

The 1155 Peachtree St. property's location (in red) between the Connector and Piedmont Park, in the heart of cosmopolitan Midtown. Google Maps

A request to Dewberry Capital representatives for more information and a project update wasn’t returned this week. In a sit-down interview with Urbanize Atlanta in April 2024, the company’s controversial development chief John Dewberry estimated the Midtown project would take two years to finish, adding at the time: “We’re working night and day to try to deliver a great product for Atlanta.”

[UPDATE: 3:09 p.m., May 15: Dewberry Capital officials connected us with Douglas J. German, vice president of construction for D Build Inc., for a project update this afternoon. German chimes in with the following, in full: “The crane at the Midtowne site, used for construction renovations, is maintained in accordance with applicable standards. The crane is currently in weathervane position, which intentionally allows the crane to move with the wind.  Weathervane position is a precaution intended to keep the crane stable and protect surrounding areas from damage. The Midtowne project continues to progress, and we look forward to delivering another successful project.”]

Bond, the councilmember, echoed Midtown constituents’ frustrations in an email to Urbanize Atlanta this week. 

“Midtown residents have been dealing with the impacts of this unfinished building for several years,” Bond wrote. “It has negatively impacted sidewalk accessibility, safety, and overall livability in the neighborhood.

“It’s unconscionable that a multi-millionaire commercial real estate developer like John Dewberry feels emboldened [to] abandon a construction project like this in the heart of Midtown,” Bond continued, “without a care for how it impacts our communities.”

Status of the 21-story tower's deconstruction and its crane in late 2022. Urbanize Atlanta

Skeletal state of the 1980s Campanile office high-rise at 14th and Peachtree streets, as seen in April. Submitted

Dewberry Capital began gutting the Campanile office high-rise—at one of the busiest intersections for pedestrian activity in the Southeast—around the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic more than six years ago. Still, it bears a resemblance to another tall, opened-up civic eyesore the company owns in Charlottesville, Va.—a stalled hotel in Dewberry’s home state that’s frustrated residents for years. 

In Midtown, Dewberry said in 2024 he envisions the former Campanile springing to life as “The Midtowne,” a mixed-use tower clad in marble and glass, with an added six floors of Class AA offices on top. 

A forest of new high-rises, meanwhile, has been unveiled, built, and delivered around Midtown and downtown since Dewberry started pulling off the Campanile’s façade.

Freedman, the nearby condo resident, points to examples of crane collapses around Midtown and New York City in wondering about the long-term structural integrity of the crane across the street. His next step, he says, is to start a petition in hopes of spurring further action. 

“[Dewberry] is holding the city hostage, and it’s being allowed,” said Freedman. “Enough is enough.”  

...

Follow us on social media: 

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Midtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)