A mixed-use project with 170 apartments and first-floor retail is being proposed for North High Street across from the Wexner Center for the Arts, replacing a string of older buildings as redevelopment continues along the Ohio State University campus.
The six-story building would take up the entire block between 16th and 17th avenues, and east to the Pearl Street alley.
The Columbus developer Edwards Communities, which is active in the off-campus apartment market, filed plans for the University Residences OSU Central project with the University Area Review Board, which expects to examine it this month. The project is being designed by Acock Associates Architects.
The block-long project would replace a number of current and former businesses near Ohio State, including Bernie's Bagel & Deli and Johnny Go's House of Music, which closed last week.
Click on the the slideshow to see the businesses along that block of High Street between 16th and 17 avenues.
The proposal includes:
- 445 beds in 170 apartments from the second to sixth floors.
- 5 studio apartments, 20 one-bedroom apartments, 50 two-bed apartments, 60 three-bed apartments and 35 four-bed apartments.
- Two interior courtyards.
- 171 lower-level parking spaces.
- At least five retail storefronts on the first floor that can be broken up into more.
- Huntington National Bank will have a branch along 17th Avenue, as it does now.
Edwards President Ryan Szymanski said the projected opening is fall 2018. It will fit in with proposed redevelopment on 15th Avenue and with changes across the street on Ohio State's campus.
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In February officials from Ohio State's off-campus affiliate Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment said they would work with property owners and developers to remake the High Street corridor across from the Wexner Center. That part of the Ohio State campus also faces major changes.
Campus Partners said the 9-acre area could eventually be anchored by a public square, hotel, student-centered housing and retail shops. Officials have said they want to work with developers on a complete plan for the area like it did with the South Campus Gateway redevelopment further south on High Street.
Many storefronts along the stretch of High Street are closing or moving to make way for the changes, from a late-night food delivery shop to a convenience store.
The changing face of North High Street has drawn some criticism from those wary of losing independent, locally owned stores. Campus Partners said it hopes to keep some of the area's nostalgic vibe with smaller, independent shops on Pearl Street.
"I think there are a lot of people excited to see this area change," Szymanski told Columbus Business First. "There's always people that see sadness in change but I think when the project is delivered, when a new mix of retail and housing and streetscapes are there, people will see the project as a positive impact for the community."
Edwards does not own the properties where the apartments and retail spaces are planned, according to property records.
The developer and other builders have increasingly built new housing near Ohio State targeting students and young professionals.