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279 Williams Street • Athens, GA
The Downtown
Dynamo Unwinds
Dr. Fred Moorman seemed bent on turning downtown
Athens into a college dormitory, and then he dropped out.
years ago this fall Dr. Fred
1 LU yJ Moorman was sparring with
local government over his plans to construct
yet another building full of student loft apart
ments downtown on Clayton Street in the old
Dick Ferguson 's building.
By that point Moorman, a local dermatolo
gist, had become the most controversial man
in downtown Athens. He had already bought
three old buildings on Clayton Street and
turned them into warrens of high-density stu
dent apartments.
Some downtown businesspeople were
afraid that by tne time he was through
Moorman would have transformed downtown
into a dormitory area foi UGA students.
Restaurant owners feared the loss of their
more upscale clientele of lawyers and ofhee
workers Businesses complained that student
cars would take up all the already scarce park
ing spaces The planning department belatedly
awakened to question Moorman s plans, and
at one point he felt forced to declare one of his
buildings (where Rumrunners is now on the
ground floor) a hotel (the Hotel Fred) in order
to circumvent certain restrictions applying to
apartment buildings.
Then, amid rumors of tax, drug and marital
problems, Moorman dropped out of sight,
leaving his drive for the Ferguson building
standing empty, with its facing ripped off and
his drive for a student housing empire stalled
How, Fred Moorman is bark. He still owns
Fred's Historic Properties and is living quiet
ly in the former Hotel Fred with his two
young sons, Clayton and Maxwell, in
a spacious loft cluttered with
enough antiques and toys to give it
the feel of an urban, unscale boys ’
tree house. In this interview with Pete
McCommons, Moorman reflects on his
tempestuous career as a downtown develop
er and on the problems that stemmed from his
confrontational personality
Flagpole: Until recently you were an extreme
ly controversial hgure downtown.
Moorman: I think my personality is such that
I invite confrontation. And 1 was asked to go
into treatment by the medical board for
drugs and alcohol, and once I did I spent
four months at Ridgeview in Atlanta. My
license to practice medicine was suspended.
I have recently regained my license about a
week ago, I’ve been sober for 14 months. I’m
a very driven person.
FP: You ran into a lot c r problems all at once?
Moorman: 1 had IRS problems; my fight with
the city was ongoing for years and took a
great emotional toll on me along with the
failure of my marriage, and it seems that I
was singled out by the city for the ordinance
prohibiting more than two unrelated people
in a house, which l think is ridiculous. And
then the fights I had to build these buildings.
Many of the restaurants attended the zoning
meetings and tried to prevent the zoning
change. And probably the only person who
supported me was [former Downtown
Development Director] Joe Burnett. The
Athens Banner-Herald did have one favor
able editorial about this building. As you
know, we had to zone it a hotel, which
required — we had to purchase furniture for
every room and be inspected by the health
department.
FP: You were quoted in Flagpole as saying that
one of the members of the planning staff was
"full of shit ”
Moorman: I think some of the comments 1
made about the planning department creat
ed a situation where they were unwilling to
allow me any leeway, which created more
problems for me. I've always been a person
that speaks my mind, and I try to do my
homework, and I’m very focused. I realize
I’m obsessive-compulsive, which is part of
alcoholism. I’ve always worked very hard
since I was about 11. I couldn’t understand
why the city didn’t want me to do what 1 was
doing down here. I think it may be a combi
nation that I’m an outsider or 1 moved very
quickly and did so much, but it seems that I
made a lot of different groups angry- for dif
ferent reasons, and 1 have to look at what it
is about me that does that.
Why does my personality seek a fight?
Because when the city had that group of
people come into town to investigate plan
ning for Athens — I think they spent
$300,000 — and one of their recommenda
tions was that upper level buildings be
allowed for loft use. It’s a trend that’s going
across the country from Greenville to
Atlanta ... and I wasn't the first one to do it
here, but I think 1 had been the most
opposed.
FP: Have you at least found some benefit in
not working for a while?
Moorman: I’ve enjoyed somewhat the time
off. I’ve never been able to relax.
FP: That's no* surprising, considering your
medical practice and the frantic pace of
your budding development
Moorman: Yeah. I had three medical
practices and 20 houses and 37
apartments and four businesses.
FP: You were sort of a hippie at one
time, weren't you?
Moorman: Well, 1 went through a
period in high school where 1 had
problems with drugs. As I told Judge
Gaines in a court hearing I believe that 1 had
a terdency to abuse substances, but I had
worked very hard to keep myself busy so
that I wouldn’t put myself in that situation.
And then the failure of my marriage and the
pain of that and the continued legal battles
with the city and then with my family also
created a situation where I sought relief of
the pain through drugs and alcohol.
FP: Are you selling the Dick Ferguson build
ing?
Moorman: Well, I have it listed, but I would
like to keep it. I haven’t had the money to
build it out, but I have considered selling the
lower two levels. I have a permit to build five
apartments in there, so I’ve considered
building out the upper two levels and selling
the lower two or building out the upper two
and seeing what comes along for the lower
two.
FP: These would be big student-type apart
ments?
Moorman: Right. You know, some of the rea
sons why the city has opposed what I’ve
done is for reasons of parking. 1 still don’t
know why I’ve been so opposed. I’m begin
ning my fifth year on two of those buildings,
and I think that positive things have come
from them. There’ve been a lot of loft apart
ments built since I’ve done what I’ve done,
and 1 haven’t seen any opposition to that. 1
know there’s plans 1 believe for the Farmers
Hardware building to build loft apartments,
and the city allowed the zoning of that with
out a fight. I do feel that the way I present
myself at a zoning meeting as one of defi
ance, the way I used to present myself —
those are things I’m trying to change about
FLAGPOLE - SEPTEMBER 2, 1998