Jackson has a blight problem it can't afford to fix by itself. So the city is trying a different approach: make the owners pay for it, and use a judge to make sure they do.
Jackson has more than 3,200 identified blighted properties, Mississippi Today reported on Oct. 8. Most are single-family homes, but the list also includes large apartment complexes and commercial buildings.
"It would cost something like $80 million to locate and clean up and or demolish all of the blighted properties in the city," City Attorney Drew Martin said. "That's almost the entire city budget. We don't have the kind of money to do that."
The city can only afford to demolish a few large properties a year, Martin said, because apartment complexes can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to tear down. Jackson usually puts liens on properties to recover what it spends, but Ward 7 Councilmember Kevin Parkinson said the city netted $12,000 out of nearly $900,000 spent on that work in the past year.
The Grand Chateau
So city attorneys have been filing lawsuits in Jackson's environmental court against owners the city believes have the money to fix or demolish their own properties. The Grand Chateau apartments on West Capitol Street have become an early test.
Environmental Court Judge Jeffery Reynolds found owner Ramesh Ramchandran guilty of seven environmental charges, including unsafe structures, illegal dumping and lack of upkeep, and called the complex a "dangerous menace," according to Mississippi Today. He ordered Ramchandran to pay $1,750 in fees and face 630 days in jail unless he applied within 30 days for a permit to fix or demolish the property.
Ramchandran also had to post a $1.25 million secured appearance bond, enough to cover the cost of razing the Grand Chateau if he doesn't comply.
The complex was supposed to be vacant when Entergy cut power in July after signs of meter tampering. Ramchandran testified that renovations stopped because of gun violence. A former contractor, Kendrick Holmes, disputed that, saying the work stopped in 2024 over payment problems. He said he was sent to Lowe's weekly for supplies on the owner's company card, only to have it declined.
The city has also gone after Chapel Ridge apartments, where the owner and senior asset manager were found guilty of four code violations over debris and burned structures, and Addison Place Apartments, whose owners appeared in court over violations including broken windows, mold, roof damage and no running water.
The same judge took up another complex on Tuesday, Oct. 13. Reynolds ordered Vintage Apartments Holdings LLC to deal with code violations at its complex on Bobby Rush Boulevard, next to Provine High School and the Jackson Public Schools Career Development Center, WLBT reported.
The judge gave the owner 60 days to board up the bottom floors, at the request of Jackson Code Enforcement, and six months to bring the complex up to code or demolish it. If the owner fails, he faces up to six months in jail.
The ruling came months after an administrative court judge recommended the city demolish the building. Since then, the owners have fenced the property and told the court they now provide 24-hour security, though people continue to cut through the fence, WLBT reported.
Martin told Mississippi Today the city also plans to file similar suits in Hinds County Chancery Court to rehabilitate dilapidated properties. Councilmembers Vernon Hartley and Ashby Foote are working on a blight and neighborhood recovery plan with data help from Jackson State University, and the city hopes to seek state money for it during the next legislative session.
Why it matters for Contractors
Every one of these court orders ends the same way: somebody has to fix the building or knock it down. If owners comply, there's work for demolition contractors, asbestos and hazmat crews, haulers, roofers, window installers and general remodelers, plus the security fencing and board-up work that comes first. The Vintage owner has 60 days to board up and six months to repair or demolish, so that clock is running now. The Kendrick Holmes story is also a reminder to protect yourself on jobs with troubled owners: get paid as you go. No contractor has been named for any of these properties, so firms interested in the work should keep an eye on environmental court rulings and reach out to the owners' attorneys and property managers.