ANDERSON — The Bingham Square Apartments are notorious in Anderson for a long-documented history of horrible living conditions. The complex now has a chance at a new beginning.
The Anderson Redevelopment Committee unanimously approved the sale of Bingham Square from its current ownership group, listed in the city's agenda as P.R. Bingham, to Woodlake Developments, a New. Jersey-based group.
"This has the potential to be a huge positive for the city," said Anderson economic development director Greg Winkler. "Everyone's aware of some of the problems we've encountered with Bingham."
The new owners anticipate spending $5.5 million to rehabilitate both Bingham Square and its sister complex Madison Square Apartments.
The sale was approved less than a week after 78-year-old Thomas Gibbs died in his Bingham Square apartment with no heat or running water, despite paying his rent.
"For one, the owners need to apologize, and for two, give some answers," said Gibbs' daughter Martha Gibbs Mitchell the night her father died. "If he was still paying you, why did he have to live like this?"
The new ownership provides a small speck of optimism for Anderson community leader Ray Walker, but he remains skeptical about any positive changes.
"We just have to hope and pray that they stand on that because we've been let down a lot," said Walker, who streamed the entire ARC meeting to his Facebook followers. "I'm a show-me guy. I love conversation, but after you've been burned so much, our city has been burned so much, we've got to see."
As part of the sale, the city of Anderson dropped its lawsuit against Bingham Square's previous owner for not paying utilities.
