Mediation Set for Silver Oaks Seniors

A mediator from the Ohio Civil Rights Commission will sit down with residents of Silver Oaks Place and attorneys for the current and future property owners at a meeting this month.

The OCRC has reserved the second floor of the Lausche State Office Building in downtown Cleveland to meet with residents and attorneys for Tell Real Estate Trust, the property owner, and Capstone Development Corp., which plans to buy the 13-acre complex by the end of 2011.

Avery Friedman, the civil rights attorney representing , said both Tell Real Estate and Capstone have hired law firms to work on the issue.

Capstone plans to develop the property into a student housing complex, and residents have been told they must be out by Oct. 1.

The purpose of the mediation meeting is to "see if there’s common ground and we can resolve the dispute," Friedman said. "If it doesn’t, it goes into formal investigation" with the civil rights commission.

The Ohio Attorney General's Office also is keeping an eye on the situation. Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General's Office, said in a previous interview the attorney general's office will take action if recommended by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

Friedman said the Portage County Community Action Council has arranged for a bus to take the remaining Silver Oaks residents to the mediation in downtown Cleveland.

The mediation meeting is set for 10 a.m. on Sept. 28.