There is a new complaint about the Landmark Condos in downtown Atlanta where residents say short-term rentals took over the building, leading to crime and chaos.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Sophia Choi spoke with a customer who says she was too scared to stay there. The woman says she saw a drug deal go down in the parking lot, someone stuck on the elevator and now she’s warning others.
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“Between the parking lot, and the hotel room and them not knowing we were staying there and the lost key ... there was not a lot that was positive,” Renee Savage said.
Savage saw an ad before she booked a unit at the Landmark Condominiums for the end of June. She chose it because of its central location in downtown Atlanta.
“So we could walk to the Coca Cola museum and the aquarium,” she told Choi.
But after a long, 10-hour drive, she found someone else in her rented parking space at the condos. The building concierge did not know Savage was arriving that day and told her to park in another spot.
“Still feeling a little anxious about just parking anywhere after being told they tow,” she said.
That anxiousness grew once she stepped inside the building, where she saw two of the three elevators were down for a 21-story building.
“We hear someone in the elevator saying help, help does anybody care I can’t breathe in here?” Savage said.
Channel 2 Action News pulled the inspection records for the elevators through an open records request. It was inspected on July 22, 2024 prior to the incident and this year on July 29 after it happened.
Through an open records request, Channel 2 Action News obtained the latest inspection report and found issues, including a worn guide wheel and an out-of-date fire extinguisher. In another, the phone didn’t work.
In a statement, the condo’s homeowners association board says it plans to increase the frequency of inspections after hiring a company named Otis to maintain them.
“I just don’t want this to happen to anybody else,” Savage said.
Savage said the keys to her rented unit were also missing. After numerous calls, she finally reached the owner who offered up another unit.
“But the noise from the air conditioning was so loud. It was like ‘bam, bam, bam,’” she said.
By then, Savage had enough and decided to leave, but not before witnessing a crime in the parking lot.
“I see a drug deal. I see drugs in somebody’s hand and money in somebody else’s hand. They exchanged it and then they both went their separate ways,” she said.
Landmark’s HOA board says another company owns the parking lot and that:
“Over the years, the HOA has made repeated requests for improvements, including the hiring of a parking attendant, enhanced lighting, better cleanliness, and improved safety measures, particularly during nighttime hours. Unfortunately, these issues have not been addressed to date.”
In a Channel 2 Action News investigation, we showed you the conditions at the Landmark where residents say they, too, have witnessed crimes since short-term rentals took over much of the building.
“It’s the weed, the smoking and drugs,” Nicky Buggs told Channel 2.
“I see females running up and down the halls with no clothes on,” Zeda Stanley Sartor said.
The City of Atlanta is looking at limiting short-term rentals after hearing complaints from Landmark residents.
In the meantime, Savage left a scathing review to warn others saying “If I could give my experience at this location a zero I would!”
“We would never tell anybody to stay there.. it didn’t feel safe or comfortable,” Savage told Channel 2.
She says her advice after this experience: Check reviews, lots of them, before you book.
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