Business & Tech

Ponce de Leon Hotel Sold, May Become Student Housing

The budget-hotel has long been a magnet for criminal activity in the Poncey-Highland area.

By Patch Editor Marc Richardson

As first reported by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the Ponce de Leon Hotel has recently been sold and may soon become student housing.

The budget-hotel had long been a magnet for criminal activity in the Poncey-Highland area, and a frequent stop for the Midtown-Ponce Security Alliance patrol. According to the Business Chronicle, "the new owners, Nazar Holdings LLC, might turn the 58-room, 18,500-square-foot building into student apartments."

The idea of replacing the budget hotel, located at 551 Ponce de Leon Avenue, for student housing is welcomed by members of the community. The MPSA said on their website that, "the sale of the Ponce Hotel is the biggest shot in the arm that we've had in a long time."

The MPSA says that there has always been, "nuisance activity surrounding that place - most notably street prostitution and drug activity. There has been some other criminal activity such as burglary and car break-ins too."

Currently there are some renovations going on and the hotel is still in use, but organizations like the Midtown Ponce Security Alliance are excited, if not cautious, about the future.

"For all practical purposes we still have plenty of druggies on that block living in and revolving around the hotel in some way. That leaves quite a bit of work for us at MPSA to minimize problems radiating into the rest of our service area. While we are very optimistic about the outcome in the not-so-distant future, it's not over until the fat lady sings... " - MPSA


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