Colonial Village

Columbus City Councilmember Shayla Favor says the ordinance would allow the city to recoup costs incurred by putting tenants in motels and hotels if their units are condemned and shuttered.

More than 500 households moved into hotels using $6 million in funds from the city of Columbus. More than 200 families have found permanent housing, but many more remain in limbo.

The social safety net for asylum seekers who end up in Ohio is inadequate, according to the people who work with asylum seekers everyday.

Hundreds of mostly Haitian asylum seekers in more than 400 households who were displaced in December after the closure of Colonial Village Apartments are still living in hotels.

Community Shelter Board CEO Shannon Isom said only 32 out of about 1,300 residents have found permanent housing since being forced to moved from the condemned apartment complex at the end of 2023.

Two days after a Dec. 31 deadline for Colonial Village residents to vacate the property, Columbus authorities are still working to determine if there are still people living in the derelict apartment complex.

Columbus police have not yet identified the person found dead inside the apartment unit Sunday night.

They’ve been living in substandard conditions and a number of agencies are looking to resettle them, but the task isn’t easy.

Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said the complex's receiver and lender were under court order to have nightly and regular inspections of all the units, but those inspections did not happen.

Court documents show that the owners have failed to address electrical, trash, pest infestation issues and other health and safety protocols in the past at the 500 -unit complex.