Central Ohio nonprofit buys historic Near East Side building

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( COLUMBUS BUSINESS FIRST ) — A historic Near East Side building has a new owner.

The Breathing Association plans to move to the building at 741 E. Broad St. in July. Jim Havens, principal at Havens Limited, bought the building for the nonprofit, and the organization is leasing it from him with the option to eventually buy it, CEO Lori Sontag said.

The building was put on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1980s.

The 117-year-old Breathing Association was founded during the tuberculosis outbreak in the 19th century. The nonprofit is the oldest free clinic in Ohio, and serves anyone with any lung health condition, including cessation from smoking or vaping, Sontag told me. Moving the nonprofit to Broad Street will allow the Breathing Association to grow. It’s currently located on the first floor of the Columbus Urban League building on the Near East Side.

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