Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter bought by developer

After months of mortgage brinksmanship, the Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless finally lost ownership on Tuesday of the city's largest shelter.

The new owner of the 100,000-square-foot former auto parts warehouse at the corner of Peachtree and Pine streets is Ichthus Community Trust, which appears to be a shell corporation controlled by Norcross-based commercial developer Manny Fialkow. Ichthus had bought two outstanding liens on the property totaling $900,000 for an undisclosed sum in January. Although the firm initiated foreclosure against the Task Force back then, it had granted the non-profit several deferrals.

Anita Beaty, the Task Force’s executive director, says Fialkow had indicated to her on Tuesday that he would not follow through with the foreclosure action, but did so anyway. Neither Fialkow, his attorneys or a representative returned repeated phone calls.

Steven Hall, a partner with the law firm of Baker Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, which is representing the Task Force on a pro bono basis, says the group plans to include Fialkow and Ichthus as defendants in an ongoing federal lawsuit that accuses the city of Atlanta, Central Atlanta Progress and other institutions of conspiring against the Task Force. Fialkow is a member of CAP.

“We see this foreclosure as part and parcel of a cohesive, improper and illegal effort to shut down the Task Force and drive the community it serves out of Downtown,” says Hall. "Shame on everyone involved and shame on anyone who lets this happen."

Beaty says she hasn't yet heard from Fialkow, but would resist any effort to oust the shelter and its residents — which she says average 700 men a night — from the building.

"We're here and we're going to be here," she says. "These men have nowhere else to go."

(Photo by Joeff Davis)