Senior residents at Buckhead retirement community protest new management takeover

October 18th, 2023

Senior residents of the Cathedral Towers in Buckhead protest the building being sold to a management company with a poor reputation. (Juilen Virgin/WABE)

Senior citizens living in an affordable housing facility in Buckhead are asking its current owner not to hand over operations to a corporation they say has a poor reputation.

About 50 residents of the Cathedral Towers gathered Tuesday morning to protest the takeover of their complex by the National Church Residences (NCR).

“The young people think that they invented demonstrations with signs and chants,” said 75-year-old Denise Smith, who led the demonstration. “Honey, they don’t know! Our age group did it all, and now, we’re still doing it!”

Smith, who has been living in Cathedral Towers for two years, says that history shows “once they (NCR) take over, the standard of living goes down for the residents.”

The residents’ association says NCR offered to fix, upgrade, and manage the 45-year-old property… in exchange for a 99-year lease and a proposed multi-million dollar payment to the Cathedral of St. Phillip, the operators of the tower.

Seventy-eight percent of residents signed a petition to reject the NCR management takeover — citing what they say is the company’s reputation for negligence.

“The young people think that they invented demonstrations with signs and chants … honey, they don’t know! Our age group did it all, and now, we’re still doing it!”
Denise Smith, Cathedral Towers resident

Senior residents such as Tom Roberts, who has been living at Cathedral Towers for nine years, applauded the current staff and celebrated the culture they’ve built at the facility.

“I’ve never had more fun with a group of oldie goldies,” he said. “This staff is wonderful, the people that live here are super, and that’s really what we’re trying to achieve by this — stay like it is.”

Roberts says that he and the majority of his neighbors are concerned that new management will lead Cathedral Towers and its tenants down the wrong path.

In a statement, National Church Residences said, “We are excited about the opportunities this partnership brings and are confident that it will result in an even stronger community.”