For the last five years, Sophia Fisher has called the Bartley Lofts home.

"The neighborhood is growing and expanding," she said.

Her neighbor, Victor Asante has been there for 13. "I made an investment down here. I still travel and work out of town, but I keep my home here," he said.

That investment is finally paying off as development around his loft and downtown continues at a rapid pace. More recently, it's been happening in their own backyard.

"Realtors tell me regularly that there is a massive demand for residential space downtown," Toledo city council president, Steve Steel, told 13abc. "This is one more piece to that puzzle."

Tuesday, council members approved an ordinance that gives the developer of the Ontario street building, the O-K to put 75 apartments inside.

"We're certainly ready to streamline the process as much as we can," Steel said of the vote. "We have a developer that's ready to go; ready to move. We've got one more building that's been vacant and now can be put back to productive use."

The building is on south Ontario between Lafayette and Washington. The former Commerce Paper Co. building has been a staple on the block since 1912. People who live in the neighborhood say it's important to preserve its history.

"Refurbishing buildings, adaptive reuse, redevelopment; I think that's where it's at," Fisher said.

"A lot of my friends thought i was crazy when I moved down here, but now so much is happening," Asante told 13abc.

There is no set time line, yet but council members say the wheels on the project are turning.