The Sandusky City Commission votes Monday evening on a fundamental rewrite of one of the city’s signature redevelopment projects — scrapping the plan for affordable senior rental apartments at the historic Osborne Elementary School in favor of a 100 percent owner-occupied condo model, StayTunedSandusky reported on Nov. 8.
The vote, at the commission’s regular Monday meeting, would modify the city’s Economic Development Grant Agreement with Columbus-based Community Building Partners for the former school at 920 W. Osborne Street. StayTunedSandusky framed the new units at $120,000 per unit and reported the shift is likely to cause an uptick — “maybe even a stampede” — in real estate sales, StayTunedSandusky reported.
The plan on the table is a sharp turn from the one Sandusky approved in 2023. The city acquired Osborne from Sandusky City Schools that fall and approved its sale to Community Building Partners for $100,000, backed by a $750,000 grant of American Rescue Plan Act money under Ordinance 23-228, for affordable senior housing, according to the City of Sandusky’s project announcement. A later amendment, Ordinance 24-229 in November 2024, added $200,000 to the ARPA subgrant, and the developer purchased the property from the city in July 2024, the ordinance records.
Under the original plan described in Ordinance 23-228, the project was estimated at $3.75 million, with about 20 age-restricted one- and two-bedroom units for residents 55 and older, financed in part with Low Income Housing Tax Credits, with all units income-restricted at or below 65 percent of area median income for 20 years or more. The city’s announcement described an elevator, sprinkler system and accessibility upgrades, a common room for services such as healthcare consultation, and the playground retained and open to the community, per the City of Sandusky.
City leaders sold that original plan as both housing and preservation. “We are thrilled to partner with Community Building Partners on this project. Developing affordable senior housing units can be challenging financially, and we are fortunate to have found a partner who has a distinguished track record with these types of projects,” Colleen Gilson, the city’s director of community development, told the City of Sandusky in its 2023 project announcement. Joseph Recchie, CEO of Community Building Partners, said in the City of Sandusky’s 2023 announcement: “We’re excited to restore this beautiful building while also creating a new source of affordable housing for seniors in Sandusky.” Those statements date from the 2023 rental plan; no reaction to Monday’s condo proposal from the developer or city officials was available in the reporting NewsForce247 reviewed.
Osborne Elementary was built in 1890, served as a neighborhood school for more than a century, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and protected as a city landmark, according to the City of Sandusky. Sandusky City Schools closed it permanently in 2021 after opening three new buildings. Chief planner Arin Blair said in the City of Sandusky’s 2023 announcement that the project “ensures that Osborne School will remain a valued city landmark for generations to come.”
Monday’s vote decides the governing terms: approval abandons the affordable senior rental plan for the condo model, while rejection keeps the 2023 rental agreement in place. Open questions the vote leaves behind include what happens to the public ARPA money committed to an affordability purpose and whether any age or affordability restriction survives in the condo plan. NewsForce247 will append the result to this story after Monday evening’s meeting.