Physical renovation work at Akron’s CitiCenter has come to a halt after developer Don Taylor learned of two city charter amendments on the November 3 ballot aimed at helping the poor and people with criminal convictions find housing.
Taylor said October 6 that planning continues for the $37 million project — 115 market-rate apartments in the heart of downtown Akron — but physical work stopped after the ceremonial kickoff last month. The freeze marks a setback for one of downtown’s most closely watched redevelopment efforts.
The ballot measures were placed there by the nonprofit Freedom BLOC, which worked with volunteers from the Akron NAACP, the Greater Akron Fellowship of Clergy, and a network of tenant leaders and housing advocates to collect the needed signatures. If approved, one amendment would require property owners to offer three- or six-month installment plans for security deposits instead of demanding them up front, and failure to notify tenants of that right would be a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
Mayor Shammas Malik this week also voiced opposition to the charter amendments, saying they would create more problems than they would solve. Taylor called the installment mandate nonsensical, arguing that damage tenants can cause before a deposit is fully paid far outstrips what would be collected. Akron voters will decide both measures on November 3.
