Columbus Dispatch Story: New Riverview Drive Apartment Owner Booting Hundreds of Immigrant Tenants
Shahida Akther was shocked when she saw the written notice from her new landlord posted on her door.
Shahida Akther and her family of six were told to move out of their apartment at 656 Riverview Drive on Columbus’ North Side by May 1. After a new owner took over, more than 80 households have been told they have to leave the apartments. Courtney Hergesheimer/Columbus Dispatch
“Your lease is set to expire on May 1, 2024. … Please make sure you are moved out by noon,” the document, posted on April 18, read.
Akther lives with her parents, husband, baby son and 4-year-old daughter in a modest, two-bedroom apartment in a building at 656 Riverview Drive on Columbus' North Side. After five years in the unit, she was paying $760 per month. Moving on short notice, she said, would be a major challenge.
“I have two kids, I have a family, and I have to work. With two weeks, how (do) I find a house?” she said.
When she contacted the new landlord, Peak Property Group, a staff member wrote back saying they had sent her an email weeks earlier, giving her 30 days’ notice to vacate — the legal minimum for tenants on month-to-month agreements like hers. Peak Property said the move was necessary to allow for renovations to the building.
Akther said she did not see the email on April 1. An attorney for Peak declined to comment.
Akther’s is not the only family being told to move.
In March, Peak purchased at least nine apartment buildings on Riverview Drive, just northwest of Ohio State University campus, according to Franklin County Auditor data.
Emelia Sheeley, executive director of the Riverview International Center, helps new clients as they check in at their office in one of the apartments at 552 Riverview Drive. The nonprofit group is among more than 80 tenants of apartment building sthat have been told to vacate by new owner Peak Property Group, according to Sheeley. Courtney Hergesheimer/Columbus Dispatch
A total of 88 households — the majority of them immigrants like Akther, who is originally from Bangladesh — cannot renew their leases, according to Emelia Sheeley, executive director of the Riverview International Center. The local nonprofit group, which offers English classes, employment help and other services, will also have to move its office, which is in an apartment owned by Peak.
Sheeley said she’s not against development per se, but is concerned that rents will go up and current residents will be priced out after being forced to vacate.
The Peak attorney declined to comment on the company's plans for the property.
Sheeley also said tenants were given far too little time to find a new home given the tight Columbus housing market, where displaced residents of other complexes like Colonial Village, the Sandridge Apartments and Latitude Five25 apartment towers have faced long, hard struggles to find affordable housing.
“I find it just reprehensible,” Sheeley said. “To find new housing that works for your family and is close to your job, your community — it's really difficult.”
Related Dispatch coverage: Columbus evictions hit 20-year high. Why it's only going to get worse.
Some households were given until the beginning of May, while others were given two or three months, or no clear date, she said.
Peak Property is a subsidiary of Coastal Ridge, a Columbus-based real estate investment and management company that promotes environmental, social and governance goals on its website.
Riverview Drive is home to 'naturally occurring affordable housing'
Riverview Drive is home to WCMH-NBC 4’s television tower, which looms over the neighborhood, and Omar Mosque, which was founded by OSU graduate students in the 1980s.
The quiet and unassuming street is also home to about 2,000 people, most of whom are immigrants from North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and elsewhere in the Muslim world, according to Sheeley. Many work at nearby hotels and restaurants serving the Ohio State community, as well as on campus and at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital.
Immigrants live in dozens of apartment buildings along Riverview Drive, many dating from the 1960s. Policy wonks sometimes refer to these types of units as “naturally occurring affordable housing” — that is, older housing complexes that have remained affordable without government incentives, like tax abatements or tax credits for builders and owners.
But Sheeley thinks the area may now rapidly change.
“I think this neighborhood is going to be marketed as an extension of campus housing. … Rents are going to go way up,” she said.
Residents face uncertainty
Khaleda Begum, another resident, said that when she heard her neighbors received notices to vacate, she wrote to Peak to ask when her building would be emptied — but received no clear answer.
“You will receive the notice when it is the appropriate time,” a Peak staff member wrote in an email Begum shared with The Dispatch.
The uncertainty of not knowing when she will have to leave is stressful, Begum said, and she cries often over the anxiety.
Jesse Vogel, a housing fellow at the Legal Aid Society of Southeast and Central Ohio, said landlords are only required to give tenants on month-to-month agreements 30 days’ notice to vacate. However, he recommended that tenants contact a lawyer to check if they are eligible for a longer grace period — which is sometimes available to those with a disability or in other circumstances.
“I think this is a sad situation. … We seem to see again and again, … people who are newly arrived in the United States and need help and community … are getting asked to leave,” he said.
Coastal Ridge touts environmental, social and governance goals
Peak’s parent company Coastal Ridge, headquartered in downtown Columbus, has $5.1 billion in assets in Ohio and nearly two dozen other states, according to its website.
Coastal Ridge’s co-CEO Andrew Lallathin is listed on mortgages as the authorized representative for two limited liability companies that purchased the nine Riverview Drive properties on March 26.
The company touts its environmental, social and governance goals on its website.
“We believe in strengthening our bonds and building meaningful relationships with the communities we serve,” it reads. “We consider the health and wellbeing of our team members and residents when developing programming for them to engage in… We are dedicated to building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive company.”
Loss of a community hub
The Riverview International Center, established in 2015, is run out of one of the two-bedroom apartments in one of Peak’s buildings at 552 Riverview Drive. Despite the small office, staff say they received more than 10,000 visits from 1,500 community members last year.
In addition to accessing employment, health care, transportation and other help, community members stop in to ask random questions, like which of Kroger’s dozens of brands of shampoo is best, said staff member Iman Shehabi.
“We call ourselves the local Google,” she said.
But with the landlord’s refusal to grant a new lease, the nonprofit group is planning to move to a different neighborhood. Sheeley said she is disappointed, but the greater concern is the residents who need a new home.
One resident, Hasina Ferdousi said she has lived in the area for 20 years.
“I (will) miss this area. … But now, without my house, where am I going? I have no idea.”
Getting help
The Legal Aid Society of Southeast and Central Ohio provides help to tenants facing eviction or other problems. Franklin County residents can call 614-241-2001 or toll free at 800-246-4420.
Information about emergency rental assistance, stopping evictions and other resources is available at www.rentful614.com, a website maintained by the city of Columbus, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners and other partners.
Peter Gill covers immigration, New American communities and religion for the Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.
pgill@dispatch.com @pitaarji