COLUMBUS – The city has reached an agreement with the owners of the Latitude Five25 Apartments for the immediate sale of the troubled East Side property, Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein announced Wednesday.
The city of Columbus, the Legal Aid Society of Columbus, and representatives from Paxe Latitude, owners of Latitude Five25, met through the day Tuesday to come to an accord under which Paxe Latitude also agreed to make repairs to heat, hot water and elevators, as well as reimburse costs for temporary housing for displaced residents and allow tenants to vacate their leases without penalty.
No tenants will be required to pay January rent under the agreement, Klein said.
“City and county officials stepped up to respond to this crisis, and now we have a clear path forward to remove an ownership group that for years has failed to meet basic standards of living for tenants,” Klein said.
As part of the agreement, the property’s owners will be required to reimburse the city $50,000 for overtime costs incurred in responding to an evacuation on Christmas Day, when dozens of tenants were transported to a temporary emergency evacuation center after burst water pipes led to flooding, loss of water and heat, and rendered fire suppression systems and elevators inoperable.