Apartment Choice

Along the busy Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Dunwoody is a sprawling collection of two- story apartment buildings . The units are worn but relatively kept up. Dozens of children play soccer or run in the parking lots. And numerous vans with ladders atop their roofs indicate a working class clientele . The buildings and their occupants might be largely unremarkable, but the Dunwoody Glen and Lacota apartment complexes and their 2,000-plus mostly Hispanic residents are now the focus of a controversy that has divided this newly incorporated suburban enclave and led to a federal lawsuit . In 2011, Dunwoody officials pushed a bond referendum that would raise money to demolish two aging apartment complexes and build a sprawling — and badly needed — park. Then- Mayor Ken Wright extolled the effort in a press release just before the vote but added that while the city “regrets the need to displace residents (in) 785 apartment units” it would work to relocate those citizens, including...

CHAPEL HILL A property management company has cut the rent at two apartment complexes to give public employees an affordable way to live in town. Chapel Hill - based Eller Capital Partners is reducing the rent for newly renovated apartments at Midtown 501 – formerly Foxcroft Apartments near Erwin Road and U.S. 15-501 – and 86 North – formerly Timberlyne Apartments near Weaver Dairy Road . The offer, which also waives application and administration fees, is available to thousands of employees who now commute from surrounding counties to work for the town of Chapel Hill , the town of Carrboro, UNC and UNC Health Care , and other state agencies. It could save them a few thousand dollars a year, said Daniel Eller, president and chief executive officer of Eller Residential, a division of Eller Capital Partners . The rent would be $645 a month for a one- bedroom apartment at 86 North – reduced from $795 – and $895 a month for two bedrooms – reduced from $1,095. That would be affordab...