Weinland Park residents called them crack apartments because they were a haven for drugs and prostitution, said Lisa Chambers.Chambers, community services coordinator for the Weinland Park Community Collaborative, said the apartments in the area around North Fourth Street and East Eighth Avenue were known as a center for negative activity before being shut down by the city. Developers have come in and revitalized the apartments, and as a result, revitalized the area, Chambers said.Bob Shilling, a Columbus developer, bought 24 brick units on North Fourth Street between East Seventh Street and East Eighth Street after they were shut down almost two years ago. Shilling said he would not have let his dog live there in its previous condition.”The city is doing a good job going into the area and enforcing code,” he said. “Better landlords who know the score are coming in to upgrade the area.”Shilling said he has revamped the residence by installing a 6-foot fence, secure doors with lock systems and 360 degree lighting. He is also instituting a tight screening process to ensure the criminal element stays out.Weinland Park has the largest amount of section eight housing in Columbus, Chambers said. Section eight is similar to public housing in that the city helps tenants with rent. Chambers said section eight and the high transient population in the area contributes to its unique problems.Greg Davis, the code enforcement officer for the area, is actively involved in cracking down on negligent landlords, Chambers said.”Greg’s a wonderful guy,” she said. “He’s been here for years and has seen this neighborhood at its worst, now he wants to see it at its best.”Andy Bowman, the city code enforcement director, said his department deals with code violations on a complaint basis. Davis inspects abandoned houses he sees while also checking on other violations, Bowman said.”We have orders against every abandoned house in the area,” Bowman said. “They either have to get up to code or sold, or they get boarded up.” The apartments at North Fourth Street and East Eighth Avenue were shut down because they were uninhabitable due to deplorable conditions. Some were infested with roaches and one had a gas leak, Bowman said.Shilling has two other properties located in the Weinland Park area. One of his apartments, at 1309 Indianola Ave. has caused the biggest problems for him as a landlord.”I gave some of the marginal tenants there a second chance,” Shilling said. “But some of the weaker ones got hooked by drug dealers and they used them to take over the apartments.”He said he ran the dealers out of the apartments again and they have not come back. His goal is to provide working people with a relaxed atmosphere and nice properties with affordable rent.”There’s not a quick buck to be made, but it’s a good long-term investment,” Shilling said. “You don’t have to be too bright to figure out the Short North was a blight on the city 10 years ago and now people are reaping in returns.””When you turn an area around, it becomes contagious.”With a high transient population, Brian Hitchcock, the secretary of the board for the Weinland Park Community Collaborative, said he believes more home ownership is the key to transforming the area.”It’s a good sign when people are spending money to buy into the area,” said Hitchcock. The collaborative and Ohio State both have programs aimed at increasing home ownership in the Weinland Park community.The Faculty and Staff Homeownership Incentive Program gives eligible faculty and staff a no-interest, $3,000 loan for homes purchased in the university area, said Steve Sterrett, spokesman for Campus Partners. The $500,000 program begins June 1.Chambers said she welcomes any home owners into the area, but questions why more is not done for those who already live there.”I don’t want to see people pushed out,” Chambers said. “Instead of people outside of the neighborhood coming in, there should be an effort made to get residents a nice job, so they can buy a home themselves.”Sterrett said Columbus is targeting $400,000 to increase home ownership in the area. The money would be used for down-payment assistance and interest-rate reduction.