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Bon Air receives failing grade

Living conditions at the Bon Air Apartments in Summerville have become so intolerable that a U.S. congressman has stepped in.

Rick Allen (R-Ga.) demanded action from the Housing and Urban Development, and HUD Southeastern Regional Administrator Jose Alvarez recently sent an update that showed despite progress being made, the owners, Redwood Housing out of Redwood, Texas, still have received a failing grade as of June.

The Bon Air Apartments, located at 2101 Walton Way, received a score of 55c*. The report does note that 17 points were deducted for external issues, but that doesn’t make District 3 Commissioner Catherine McKnight feel any better.

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McKnight has led the charge in attempting to get the historic building, which now houses Section 8 tenants, into safety compliance.

“They have flat out failed again. Flat out failed. They keep talking, but a failing score from HUD should say it all. Redwood needs to be kicked out of there. That’s what I think,” McKnight said.

Nick Boehm, a representative of Redwood, recently sent McKnight a quarterly report showing all of the improvements that have been made to the property from April through June of this year.

According to the maintenance report, the air-conditioning system has undergone an overhaul, a keycard entry system installed, and 110 security cameras placed throughout the five-story building.

The cameras are so sensitive, according to the report, that they can read the license plates of cars that enter and leave the property, which should mitigate some of the criminal activities that neighbors in Summerville have complained about for years.

However, public health issues such as rat and roach infestations won’t be resolved until October, according to the report.

McKnight says while she appreciates the efforts from Redwood has committed to paper, she has no way of verifying whether all of the work has been actually completed.

Open records requests sent by The Augusta Press staff to both Augusta Code Enforcement as well as the Augusta Fire Department requesting any recent inspections of both the Bon Air Apartments and Richmond Summit, which is also owned by Redwood, were returned as both having “no responsive documents” to the requests, indicating neither agency has followed up with inspections since March.

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Alvarez’s letter to Allen says that Redwood applied for Low Income Housing Tax Credit funding in April with no success and is expected to re-apply for the funding in October.

According to the letter, Alvarez says he has been told by Redwood officials that if they receive the tax credit, a full-scale renovation of the building will begin in 2023 and that the company already has a plan in place to relocate residents while the renovations take place.

Allen released a statement saying he is pleased that HUD is taking the matter seriously.

“We are grateful to HUD for its responsiveness as we work together to ensure the residents of our district have access to safe and secure housing,” Allen said.

The Bon Air was built as a luxury hotel in 1924 and has for the past half century served as affordable housing for senior adults and the physically challenged.

Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com