Officials mark start of Sawyer Towers demolition, pledge 380 affordable homes and stronger tenant protections

Max Zarin, a director with Paths Development, opened remarks at a Near East Side ceremony on Friday, describing the demolition as the start of “turning the page” for Sawyer Towers (also called Latitude 525) and saying the site will become “nearly 400 new homes for families and seniors that will be affordable and accessible for generations to come.”

The event brought city and county leaders, community advocates and development partners to the site where pipes burst on Dec. 25, 2022, forcing the emergency evacuation of residents. Bridal Crowley, a Franklin County commissioner, said that event — which she described as displacing 309 families — made the county’s immediate and long-term response personal. “12/25/2022 is a day I will never forget,” Crowley said, urging that the redevelopment not repeat past failures of management or oversight.

Why it matters: Officials framed the demolition and rebuilding as both corrective and preventative. County and city officials said they have changed practices since the evacuation, including rewriting development guidelines with the prosecutor’s office to ensure resident protections travel with properties and creating enforcement and clawback provisions to hold owners accountable.

Andrew Ginther, mayor of Columbus, outlined several policy changes the city has enacted since the evacuation: a relocation assistance code, a Division of Housing Stability within the Department of Development, expanded access to legal counsel for tenants facing eviction, and a new rental registry to better identify landlords. The mayor announced $17,500,000 in city affordable housing bond funding for the Sawyer Towers site and said the project, in partnership with Nuveen Real Estate, Franklin County and the state of Ohio, will produce about 380 energy-efficient apartments.

“These homes are affordable for households earning up to 60% of the area median income,” Ginther said, and provided illustrative annual income thresholds for single renters and families. City officials and developers said units will include wraparound services, wellness support and neighborhood-oriented amenities.

Council Member Tiara Ross, who led the city’s effort to secure the emergency vacate order and later championed resident restitution, described earlier legal and advocacy work that resulted in payments to displaced residents. Ross said litigation and advocacy led to $10,000 being returned to each resident who left the property after the evacuation. She also credited local prosecutor Shayla Favor with translating the crisis into legislation and systems aimed at preventing similar incidents.

Community voice: Dr. Nathan Harris, chair of the Near East Area Commission, and other neighborhood leaders emphasized that redevelopment should be shaped “with a neighborhood,” not imposed on it. Harris invoked the site’s history and asked that new development honor former residents while delivering safe, modern homes for current and future neighbors.

What officials pledged: Together, developers and public partners said they will deliver approximately 380 units affordable to households earning up to 60% of area median income, backed by public and private financing. County officials said they have inserted stronger resident protections in development agreements, including health-and-safety standards and clawback provisions intended to provide ongoing accountability.

What remains unspecified: Officials gave financing partners and a city bond amount but did not provide a construction timeline, a demolition schedule beyond the ceremonial start, or a schedule for when new units will be ready for occupancy. Specifics about unit mix by bedroom count and the exact terms of the clawback provisions were not provided at the ceremony.

The ceremony concluded with a symbolic removal of a steel pyramid atop one tower to mark the start of demolition work.