ATLANTA — A Buckhead high-rise apartment is giving the green light to Airbnb in its complex. The Cyan on Peachtree apartments announced it is bringing in short-term rentals to help residents make more income, and have a better idea of who is coming in and out of its doors.
This idea came with mixed reactions from the community.
Jeanna Sawyer used to work for Greystar, the property management company that owns Cyan on Peachtree. She left for another job two months ago but remembers management speaking about this idea.
"One day I remember being in there and they talked about the idea of bringing Airbnb to the properties, but I didn’t think it would actually happen because there’s a lot of liability and stipulation behind it," Sawyer said.
She believes that bringing in short-term leases will bring crime up.
"Their property is going to go to trash and their occupancy is going to be even worse," Sawyer said. "There’s going to be a lot more evictions and a lot more stuff that’s going to happen. I don’t think it’s a good idea."
Meanwhile, former resident Deja Smith, who moved out in February, says this has already been taking place at the building.
"You can’t stop it at the end of the day," she said. "Every high rise or condo you go to they’re Airbnbing it out. I think they should do it for more condos too."
Smith says that she would've rented her apartment out if she still lived in the building.
"At the time, if I was living there and they allowed that. I'd be putting my unit up for Airbnb, too, and making money off of it," she said. "I think it's pretty cool."
Cyan management sent out an email notifying residents that now, they can rent out their apartment for up to 180 nights. Management would then collect 25% from each booking.
"At this point, now they’re doing anything to generate income," former property manager Sawyer said. "I feel like it started like that after the pandemic. I worked in property management during the pandemic and our occupancy went from high to pretty much nothing."
Smith, on the other hand, says this will be beneficial to all parties involved.
"They’ve already been doing it so if you can’t control the traffic that’s coming in and out of the high rise, you may as well make your money out of it and see who is coming in and out," Smith said. "Now you’re able to see faces and see who is coming in and out of your establishment."
In an email, Cyan management tells 11Alive that residents have already been subletting their apartments without permission.
As for safety, it says guests will have to provide a government ID and that only guests with positive ratings from previous Airbnb rentals will be accepted.
For the full statement, scroll below.
Smith argues that there are residents who have visitors over who don't have their records checked.
"Background checks aren't really needed unless there are multiple people in one setting," Smith said. "But if it's just one or two people coming into a unit, trying to rent out a space for a night or two, let it be. Someone who does have a unit, their family comes over, you don't know if the family member is a felon or not."
On the other side of the coin, Sawyer says she feels passionate about not bringing short-term rentals into properties because of a personal experience she had during Christmas break in 2019 when she worked for another property management company.
Instead of spending Christmas with her family, she says she had to help detectives solve a homicide on one of the properties - not Cyan. She claims it was tied to short-term rentals not doing background checks.
"I pulled up, there was caution tape everywhere," she said. "He was shot in the parking deck, I was told he did pass away. Come to find out, the tenant that was occupying the unit - which at that time Airbnb was illegal, and your lease is terminated – she not only had an apartment in our place she had an apartment at another street also. She rented her apartment out to Airbnb, it was tied to her, and she became responsible. I had to terminate her lease immediately."
On Airbnb's website, it says it has the ability to run background checks in the U.S. but does not do it for every reservation.
Its website reads:
"We don’t run background checks as a matter of course. We only run background checks in the USA and India, and if we do, we only do it when we have at least the first and last names plus dates of birth of the Host or the guests in certain situations. Because we don’t have this information for everyone, we can’t guarantee that we’ve conducted a check on everyone."
Sawyer thinks this will lead to higher crime.
"I've been involved in crazy things happening on properties with [short-term rentals]. The crime rate is going to go up even more, the property is going to be destroyed because you're just letting in everybody," she said.
Here's the full statement from Cyan's management:
Our new program gives residents the ability to participate in short term rentals in a way which allows the management team to have a better oversight of the community. While we currently have a resident addendum in place that prohibits residents from subletting and advertising their apartments for short term rentals, we believe that unauthorized short term rental activity has been occurring unmanaged at our community and others in the surrounding area. This new program with Airbnb will give our property better visibility, tools and controls so that residents who want to earn additional income can now responsibly offer their units for short term rental in compliance with the community and hosting rules established by the program. Residents who opt to participate in the program will be required to sign a new lease addendum, which includes specific rules and conditions for their participation. Residents and their guests must acknowledge and agree to community rules through the platform. Guests must provide government ID and are screened. Only guests with positive ratings from previous Airbnb stays are accepted. The platform provides real time visibility of the number of hosts and guests onsite at any given time. Hosts and guests can be deactivated from the platform if they are not complying to community and hosting rules. This new platform is a benefit to all residents as it will reduce the amount of unauthorized short term rentals occurring at the community and will allow residents a way to responsibly host their apartment homes through Airbnb.”
Meanwhile, there's a city ordinance trying to crack down on Airbnbs in Atlanta. Under the proposal, people would only be able to own two short-term rental units, and one must be their primary residence.
That could eliminate more than 4,000 Airbnbs from the city, and would increase penalties for people hosting loud parties.