TOLEDO, Ohio — David Mann is the president and CEO of the Lucas County Land Bank. He said the building that once was the Rosemary Apartment building in Toledo is now an eyesore.
It’s been vacant like this for the last 15 years, and it became dangerous when Mann said a teenager entered the abandoned building six years ago.
“In 2016, a young man fell to his death in this property,” Mann said.
It’s one of around a thousand properties set to be torn down by the land bank. The state has been helping fund projects like this across Ohio. Lucas County’s Land bank has received more than $10 million.
“This building could have been demolished 15 years ago,” Mann said. “It could have been demolished 10 years ago, it could have been demolished five years ago.’
Mann said the funding to remove this building was granted over the summer, and it likely won’t be replaced by anything since it’s next to the Ottawa River.
“It would have flooded the parking lot because it’s right next to the building, and it’s low grade in that way,” Mann said.
Mann hopes developers do rebuild on other properties they’ve torn down like a vacant lot on Maple Street in Toledo. Neighbors said they’re glad the old building that once sat there is gone.
“There may be an opportunity to sell that vacant land to a next-door neighbor as a side lot or assemble a couple lots on that block in order for a new home to be built,” Mann said.
Mann said cities usually need help from the state to tear down blighted buildings. He expects demolition to start at the old apartment building in January.
