View a previous report on the owners of Latitude Five25 being ordered to pay thousands of dollars in settlement payments in the video player above.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- After standing empty for nearly two years, the Latitude Five25 apartment complex could be demolished and replaced to the tune of almost $150 million under a proposal submitted to city officials.
Nearly 150 families were forced out of their apartments on Christmas Day in 2022, due to lack of heat and bursting water pipes at the towers on Sawyer Boulevard. In March, a judge ordered New Jersey-based owner Paxe Latitude to pay the displaced families settlements of just over $10,000 each. And soon, the complex might be sold to a global investment group.
One of the largest investment managers in the world, Nuveen -- which recently bought a Canal Winchester apartment complex for $40 million -- is planning to purchase the complex for $7 million and demolish it, according to documents submitted to the city. In its place, the firm plans to create a 393-unit apartment development that documents said would be "100% affordable." The project is expected to have a total development cost of $147 million.
Of the nearly 400 proposed units, 177 will be targeted to senior and intergenerational households, to make sure older residents spend no more than 30% of their income on rent. The other 216 units will be reserved for families with incomes at or below 60% of the area median income.
Multiple renderings were submitted to the city showing what the completed project would look like:
The developers have four different apartment configurations in mind, with varying rent costs:
Plans call for 7,000 square feet of shared spaces, 110,000 square feet of open space and 295 parking spaces. A community room and lounge, two multipurpose rooms, a children's play and teaching room, offices for service providers to meet with tenants and a fitness center are included. And the open space would feature a basketball court, seating areas and fitness center.
The project is being worked on by Paths Development, an affordable housing developer, builder and operator owned by Nuveen. The firm's development subsidiary has over 12,000 units across 10 states under its management and has designed over 30 affordable housing developments in Ohio.
The replacement for Latitude Five25 includes a second phase that would turn a decommissioned school site next to the towers -- which sits east of Downtown and is visible from Interstate 670 -- into another residential community, more than doubling the number of units brought about by the first phase.
If approved, Latitude Five25's demolition is expected to take place in 2025, with groundbreaking in the middle of 2026 and apartments opening in 2029.
Nuveen declined to comment to NBC4, saying it doesn't currently own the property.
