Fall 2020 - 1736 Magazine

OUR VIEW
KEEPING UP
APPEARANCES
Those who can’t maintain downtown
properties shouldn’t own them
Story by DAMON CLINE
Photos by MICHAEL HOLAHAN
Time seems to be proving that the biggest
barrier to downtown Augusta’s
revitalization is the circular reasoning
spinning in the minds of derelict
property owners.
Speak with the owner of a dilapidated, uninhabitable
or perpetually vacant downtown building
and you’ll often hear something that sounds like
this: “I can’t afford to invest in this building until I
have a tenant.”
The flip-side to that logic, of course, is that
prospective tenants almost never show interest
in a run-down building whose owners won’t lift a
finger to fix it or sell it for a reasonable price.
Point out that paradox and you’re likely to hear
a retort along the lines of: “Augusta’s rents just
aren’t high enough yet to justify a renovation.”
Although there is some truth to that reply –
Augusta’s residential and commercial rents are
low when compared to many Southeastern peers
– it is somewhat disingenuous.
The fact of the matter is Augusta rents will
never be “high enough” to justify a capital investment
as long as downtown property owners sit on
the sidelines, waiting for someone or some thing
to create an opportunity that magically adds value
to their long-neglected land and buildings.
This inaction – this prevalent pusillanimity
ABOVE: Flowers in bloom on a bright fall day as the vacant and decaying Lamar and Marion buildings,
right, loom in the distance. Both are among downtown Augusta’s most prominent blighted structures.
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