City Pays to Demolish County Property

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The city said it will demolish the abandoned apartment complex where an officer was stabbed over the weekend. But as it turns out, the apartment complex is actually owned by the county.

Residents say the apartment complex has been a magnet for crime for years.
City officials expect it to be torn down with in the next 3 to 4 months and Mayor A C Wharton said taxpayers don't care who pays for it. Although, some we talked with do care.

Just 4 days after Memphis Police Officer Justina Scoggins was repeatedly stabbed inside the vacant Dunnavant Manor apartments in South Memphis, the city said it plans to tear the complex down.

Michelle Branch, who lives across the street from the apartments, said "Back in the day they were booming but now they've settled down a lot of violence came to it. It was an eye-opener to let you know nobody's really safe."

FOX13 confirmed the county took ownership of the apartments after a tax sale last year. City Mayor A C Wharton said it's not unusual for the city to demolish county property.

Wharton said, "It doesn't matter to residents if they have an eyesore and it causes crime in their community; we quite frankly could care less who owns it, our obligation is to the residents."

Officials with Community Enhancement estimated it will cost between $40,000 and $60,000 to demolish Dunnavant Manor. Residents in the area said it's not right for city taxpayers to foot the bill for county property.

Branch said, "They need to take that piece of land and move it to the county. Get it off our backs."

City leaders said there's a waiting list for city property to be demolished. 1250 homes are on the list along with 19 apartment complexes and multi-family dwellings.

If the Dunnavant property is sold in the future, the city may recoup some tax money. Mayor Wharton said they will make every effort to go after vacant property owners. "Now we are going to go after some of these absentee owners to try to recoup what we spend on demolishing these properties."

Despite repeated requests, a county spokesperson never got back to us with a response as to why the county isn't paying to tear down the property.