Less than a third of Latitude Five25 households have found permanent housing, city says
Less than a third of the 154 households evacuated Christmas Day from the problem-plagued Latitude Five25 apartment towers on the Near East Side have found a new apartment to live in, an official told Columbus City Council on Monday.
As of the close of last week, 47 households at the 400-unit apartment complex, who have been living out of hotels and emergency shelters since city authorities closed the twin towers as unsafe, had identified nonemergency housing, city Development Director Michael Stevens said. Only a portion of those households have been able to move into a new unit elsewhere, he said.
The city "has interviewed 97 of the 154 households that have been impacted," prioritizing pregnant mothers, seniors and those with health issues, Stevens said. The city council voted 5-0, with two abstaining, to provide $184,000 to the Community Shelter Board to provide housing support and service coordination for the residents, and contribute to a "Landlord Mitigation Fund," which insures new landlords that rent will be paid.
More: First of Latitude Five25 residents displaced on Christmas Day find new homes
Separately, the Council approved a not-for-profit service contract with the Tony R Wells Foundation for up to $765,662 to provide relocation support and rental assistance for the residents, including partial rent payments to cover increased costs over the rent at Latitude Five25.
Any residents who haven't been contacted by the city are encouraged to contact the city by calling 614-421-6333, Stevens said.
Paxe Latitude LP, of Lakewood, N.J., the owner of the troubled complex at 525 Sawyer Blvd. — which was the subject of an emergency evacuation Christmas Day as frozen pipes caused flooding — has agreed to sell the property, according to an agreement with the City Attorney's office. The deal was to close by Tuesday, absent a 10-day extension being granted.
"Unfortunately, the building itself is subject to a more recent problem, where once they began to do some repairs, some asbestos was found in the building, which has put sort of a halt on the repairs at this point" while it is abated, said Scott Messer, director of city building and zoning services.
The asbestos contamination has "created another hardship for residents who have already endured quite a lot, in that they do not have access to any personal belongings," Messer said. Their apartments are off-limits, he said.
"As you can imagine, that has put a lot of additional stress and pressure on folks that have already endured quite a mess over there," Messer said.
There will be a hearing with an environmental judge in two weeks that the City Attorney's Office hopes will result in more remedial measures to address various health, sanitation and safety violations.
In other action Monday, Council elected Rob Dorans as president pro tempore, who acts as the presiding officer of in the absence of Council President Shannon Hardin. Dorans replaces former Council member Elizabeth Brown, who left to head the YWCA Columbus. Mitchell Brown was appointed earlier this month to take Elizabeth Brown's seat on the council until the end of the year, when he will be replaced by an elected member.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: City still working on finding Latitude Five25 residents place to stay
