#13Investigates: Who owns Macon-Bibb County’s biggest blight eyesores?

For the last five months, Macon-Bibb County has stepped up their effort to bust neighborhood blight. Now, they’re starting the push on commercial blight -- the large office spaces that are vacant and decaying around town.

Mayor Lester Miller gave us a list of 10 blighted properties that he says are the ones that create the most complaints to the county. For #13Investigates, Ashlyn Webb pulled property records to find out who owns Macon’s worst blight. 

For years, the Shirley Hills neighborhood has watched this office space deteriorate. 

“I see a dilapidated eyesore, especially from the other side of the building. From the interstate. It's halfway burned. There's graffiti all over it. It looks terrible,” said Katie White, president of the neighborhood association.

White says it's not just the appearance of the Baconsfield Office Park. She’s worried about safety and the crime the building attracts. 

“I don't let my kids walk on this side of the neighborhood at all,” White said. 

This property at 776 Baconsfield Drive made the county’s list of the most complained about blight, along with an old school, a vacant lodge, a former bank, and more office spaces. 

“There’s no work being done to them, no maintenance being done to it, and it’s just a steady decay,” said Mayor Lester Miller.

But who owns the blight? We pulled records on the 10 properties, finding the owner’s name and how long they’ve owned them. 

If you dig through the LLCs and different business names like Baconsfield Apartments, KUNJ Construction, and KUNJ Investments, you can find that three of the 10 properties trace back to a Macon businessman, Ashok Patel.

Up until January, Patel served as a Macon-Bibb County Planning and Zoning Commissioner. 

Property records show that he’s owned an old school on Rocky Creek Road since 2009 after he paid a $1,000 to the Bibb County School District. He’s also owned a vacant lodge on Cavalier Drive since 2004. 

In December 2019, he bought that large Baconsfield office property. 

Since he bought it, the property has suffered two fires. A third fire happened just months before he bought it. 

“As a neighbor, please do something about this property. Make it look better or tear it down. Whatever, just don’t leave it like this,” Patel said. 

Tax records show Patel has not paid any taxes on those three properties in 2019 or 2020. 

“That’s part of the tax base we’re missing out on. We can be providing more quality services to our citizens,” Miller said. 

And there’s more than just Patel. 

An old gas station on Hartley Bridge Road has been owned by Freddie Crenshaw, a real estate businessman from Saint Simons since 2009. Records show he owes taxes from 2019 and 2020. 

A blighted store on Clayton Street has been owned by Krunal Patel of Macon since 2013. A Kansas-based youth group has owned a vacant space off Northside Drive since 2003. 

Then, there’s the “Just-a-Biscuit” property on Vineville Avenue. Mayor Lester Miller says he gets calls about this daily. 

“I see blight. I see danger. I see a roof caving in. If you look behind the property, you can see where it’s become a mini-dump,” Miller said. 

Tax records show that Altaf Agad from Alpharetta has owned the building since 2007. 

It's currently on the market with a nearly $400,000 asking price.  

Mayor Miller says the county has already spoken to many of these owners, but now, they’re starting the process of sending letters to each--saying they need to fix the property or the county will act.  

We reached out to all property owners mentioned in this story. Ashok Patel responded Monday after we reached out multiple times by phone. Patel says he is still working on the three properties mentioned. When asked why he has not paid property taxes on the three properties, he did not answer the question, but said that the taxes would be “taken care of” by the end of this week.