Scaffolding and debris littered 14th Street in Midtown on Sunday afternoon after falling from the long-stalled renovation of the Campanile building.
Channel 2 Action News reported the incident after being contacted by viewers that scaffolding and part of a wall collapsed at the construction site at 1155 Peachtree St.
Details on what caused the collapse weren’t immediately clear, but some witnesses said a car struck the construction site property.
Channel 2 said it has reached out to the Atlanta Police Department, the Atlanta Fire Department and the building’s owner for more information.
By Sunday evening, the debris had been cleared, and the sidewalk and street reopened.
In June, the Atlanta City Council approved a resolution directing the city to pursue blight tax penalties against the building’s owner-developer, John Dewberry.
The property has been under scrutiny as Midtown residents have complained about the unfinished construction, which led to the city issuing a safety warning.
After the city posted the safety warning on the site in May, Midtown residents began circulating a petition, which has gained over 3,000 signatures, asking city officials for transparency and swift action.
Midtown resident Gary Freedman, who started the petition and had previously raised concerns about a crane on the site, said in an email to Rough Draft on Sunday evening that “this situation is out of control” in reference to the state of the Campanile property.
“My petition has over 3,200 signatures and asked for inspections to the site over two months ago,” Freedman said in the email. “My emails to the Mayor’s office have been ignored. Only TWO City Council Members have expressed any concern over this situation, and although I’m grateful for their actions with the imposed blight tax, no amount of money is worth public safety. Are we waiting for someone to be injured or killed?”
The 20-story office building was purchased by Dewberry in 2019 and rechristened as The Midtowne. The project has been stalled since 2020 and has remained in a state of structural disrepair according to city documents. Construction permits for the site expired last October.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Beth McKibben and Rachel Spooner contributed to this report.
