City-Owned Haynes Bridge Home May Cost Too Much to Fix

A house on property Alpharetta bought to make way for its realignment of Haynes Bridge would cost too much to renovate into offices for the city, so demolition might be in its future.

Alpharetta City Council will hear a report during tonight's City Council meeting at City Hall on the former Hometown Mortgage's functional obsolescence, as a report on the property states.

Stairways are too narrow, many doors and the bathrooms are not up to accessibility requirements. And the existing ramp on the back of the house does not meet current ADA requirements.

A report by Mike Hall of Jones Lang LaSalle, consultant for the city, said that it would cost $100,000 just to improve the HVAC, interior finishes and minor structural upgrades to the house and garage. Bringing the structure up to commercial code, including ADA compliance, parking requirements, and code-required changes to stairways and bathrooms would add another $100,000 to the cost, Hall's report said.

"In general, the house was designed for its purpose of being a house," Hall said in his report. "It is highly doubtful that the functional obsolescence could be solved without major demolition and reconstruction."

The site is adequate to build a new commercial building. Parking is sufficient for office use, but the number of spaces would limit retail and restaurant use to small establishments, the report said.