Unfinished and Abandoned Projects: Eyesores or Opportunities?

Some are nearly structurally complete; others didn't make it much past the grading stage.

They are unfinished developments in Stone Mountain and Lithonia, and there are several, including:

• the large, pink church on S. Hairston near Mainstreet Park Drive
• the gray shell at one end of the row of hotels across from Mall at Stonecrest
• the residential development that has a short road cut through, but not much else, on Covington Highway between Wellborn and Panola road
• the structure looming through the overgrowth on DeKalb Medical Parkway near the intersection with Hillandale, across from the hospital

When Nadine Rivers-Johnson, association on-site property manager for Mainstreet and editor-in-chief of its Mainstream newsletter, sees the big church at 970 S. Hairston -- which has been sitting there for nearly a decade -- she sees potential.

"I see an opportunity. Most people see an eyesore. Most people say 'tear it down.' "

But she thinks that would be a waste, especially since the church came so far along. "The trees have been cut, the earth has been dug out, they’ve run the utilities. Three-fourths of the work is done."

Rivers-Johnson would like to see it become something useful for the surrounding area, such as a community center serving Mainstreet and other neighborhoods.

"I want to see it retrofitted for something in this area," she said.

Tell Patch: What other unfinished developments in Stone Mountain and Lithonia come to mind? Should they be looked at as eyesores or opportunities? Tell us in the comments section below-