Receiver appointed for troubled Colonial Village apartments on Columbus' East Side
A receiver has been appointed for the troubled Colonial Village apartments to oversee improvements to what has been a complex plagued by crime and hazardous living conditions.
Robert J. Weiler Sr., the long-time Columbus developer, has been appointed to manage improvements to the 508-unit complex at 1256 Rand Ave., off East Livingston Avenue on the city's East Side.
"I see my role, number one, as preserving the assets. Not letting it get any worse," Weiler said.
"The number one concern for the city is safety and removing the crime element," he said.
Once court-mandated improvements are made, the property will be sold, according to Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein's office.
Apex Colonial acquired the property in March 2020. In August 2021, a judge declared the property a public nuisance. Before Apex bought the property, city inspectors found hundreds of violations, including bed bugs, rodents, water and fire damage, a lack of utilities, missing and inoperable smoke detectors, bare and rotted wood and door framing, clogged gutters, mortar voids and damaged concrete and siding, potholes, exposed wiring, broken light fixtures and unsecured vacant units, according to the city attorney's office.
"We have a lot of people staying there not paying rent," Weiler said.
There have been three homicides at the complex since May 2019. The area where the apartment complex is located also had the highest probability in all of Columbus of someone being shot, according to a 2020 internal study by Columbus police.
After obtaining the nuisance order, the city attorney's office filed a joint motion to appoint Weiler as receiver. Weiler is chairman of the board of the Robert Weiler Company, and has served as the chairman of the Ohio Real Estate Appraiser Board, as well as president of both the Ohio Chapter of Appraisal Institute and the Columbus Board of Realtors.
Weiler has hired Hayes Gibson Property Services, LLC of Indianapolis as property manager.
mferench@dispatch.com
@MarkFerenchik
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Receiver appointed to oversee improvements at Colonial Village
