UNION TOWNSHIP (CLERMONT COUNTY), Ohio -- An apartment complex known as a hotspot for heroin is getting major upgrades. But in the meantime, some tenants are upset they're being displaced.
In December 2014, police swept through Piccadilly Square Apartments, with 42 suspects racking up a collective 131 counts involving drug trafficking. A three-month investigation centered on the sale and usage of heroin at the complex, police said.
Since then, Union Township police officers have routinely patrolled the complex off Beechmont Avenue, the department said. Some residents told WCPO in September they still didn't feel safe.
Sundance Properties has now purchased the complex and already begun renovations. Among the improvements: building a pool and leasing office.
But residents without leases must vacate their units by March 1 so they can be renovated, too. For low-income tenants such as Nathan McCarthy, a month may not be enough time to find a new home. He said he's hard-pressed to come up with enough money to pay his February rent and a deposit and first month's rent for a new apartment on such short notice.
"They're doing it legally -- I get that, that's cool, do your business. But morally, you're doing something really wrong. Not only are you kicking people out on the streets with no chance of a future and no chance of knowing what they're going to do March 2, but they're taking everybody's money on top of that," McCarthy said.
A secretary for Sundance Properties' property manager said she's unsure how or if the company might help tenants with relocation.
