By Tristan Navera | Columbus Business First
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)–Pizzuti Cos.’ plans for a new neighborhood north of Topiary Park are coming together.
What started as three projects have emerged as one in the three-block development next to the Topiary Park and the main branch of Columbus Metropolitan Library:
- Preservation of 70 of the Grant Oak Apartments along Oak Street, which recently wrapped up the first of three phases. It’s now known as the South Residences.
- A new six-story 80-unit apartment building where 60 apartments in the 1940s-era complex had stood, which has just been finished. It’s called the East Residences.
- A six-story building that includes 145 apartments, a 7,000-square-foot rooftop, and a 3,500-square-foot restaurant space as a second phase. Pizzuti is working with Capital University on that project. Construction has started on these North Residences and is expected to be completed next year.
“Urban green space is hard to come by and so that’s a huge asset here,” said Jon Riewald, Pizzutt’s vice president for development, as he walked through the East Residences.
The units in the East Residences include 550-square-foot studios starting at $950; 700-square-foot, one-bedroom units starting at $1,150; and 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom units starting at $2,140.
About 25% of the units in the second phase already have been leased, Riewald said.
The developer said the location attracts workers from nearby offices as well as students and staff from Columbus State, the Columbus College of Art and Design and Capital. Some residents in the historic buildings have upgraded to the newer ones, too.
The new units will be among nearly 4,000 being added downtown in the coming few years. While occupancy has chilled a bit during the pandemic, downtown development officials have said they expect urban living will remain popular.
“People are coming back – you walk the neighborhoods and you feel the momentum and energy coming back,” Riewald said.
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