INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The City of Indianapolis has been working for years to get the owner of Oaktree Apartments to either fix the place or sell it. Now, since the owner has sold the property to the city, the apartments are coming down.

It has taken 15 years of violence, fires and neglect for the demolition to get the green light. The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office called Oaktree a public nuisance and the health department condemned the property more than five years ago. Up until this week there were still squatters in some of the vacant units.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said Oaktree was a barrier preventing new development and the apartment complex had been a drain on the city’s public safety budget.

Indianapolis City County council member La Keisha Jackson has led the charge to have the complex leveled.

Jackson has proposed a city project to redevelop a portion of Post Road that includes the 19-acre parcel, but as of now there are no firm plans in place.

“What’s next from here is sitting down with the community, stakeholders, residents, developers, the city and getting together and coming up strategically with a a plan to see what redevelopment, what can go here,” said Jackson.

The city has spent millions to buy the property and will hand over another million to have it torn down. Whatever is next for the Oaktree site will take money and the cooperation of developers and the city.