Council to endorse five demolition grant applications; city match cited for former Collins substation

Simon Niin, commissioner of government affairs for the mayor’s office, presented Item 2 asking council to express support for five grant applications to Ohio’s Building Demolition and Site Revitalization program to demolish vacant and blighted properties and prepare them for reuse. Niin said one of the city’s projects is the former D. Michael Collins substation at 2328 West Sylvania Avenue and that the city match for that project is $31,881 already authorized in the 2026 facilities CIP.

Niin explained the applications will be submitted by the land bank as the lead applicant under a subrecipient agreement, and noted that council support makes applications more competitive in a statewide program that has about $21 million to award. Councilmembers expressed general support and asked for continued coordination with the land bank and stakeholders as projects develop.