Evacuation underway at Columbus' Colonial Village apartment complex

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The evacuation of the Colonial Village apartment complex began Friday morning, with all residents needing to be moved out by New Year's Eve.

City officials, including police and zoning code officials, arrived with the immediate goal of relocating residents in units without heat to temporary housing before midnight. Other residents will have to vacate by Dec. 31, officials said.

Colonial Village was declared a public nuisance in 2021, and last month, the city attorney's office began the process of holding the owners in contempt of court for failing to make improvements in safety, security and living conditions. Various units had bedbugs, water damage, broken windows and rotting doors. Police had responded to over 700 calls in the 18 months leading up to August 2021.

The complex, consisting of 508 units, is in Columbus' Eastmoor neighborhood on East Livingston Avenue. Interpreters were on site Friday to help families, with residents being moved to hotels around the city.

Colonial Village is under the control of a receivership, and once the property is vacated, the process will begin of determining what needs to be done to rehabilitate it.