Representatives from cities around the Columbus metropolitan area gathered at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission headquarters on Dec. 11 to discuss and display ongoing and future developments.
Development projects ranged from the $100-million, two-phase redevelopment and expansion of the Creekside District in Gahanna, to the transformation of an old CVS pharmacy into a day care center in Columbus, to affordable housing developments in Bexley. Development and planning officials from Columbus and neighboring suburban communities gathered at the event to mingle and discuss shop, and to display picture boards of some of the redevelopment projects planned or underway in their communities.
Here are highlights of a few of the projects that development officials say are ongoing:
CVS transformed into day care facility
Royal Child Academy has converted a vacant CVS at 3200 Brice Road into a day care center to serve 150 children on the Southeast Side.
The company has invested $2.2 million into the facility, but contacted the City of Columbus for funding assistance on a public right-of-way to address traffic flow into the site. The funds were approved from a pilot program the city has to address public improvements near small-scale development projects.
Grove City seeking to transform southern part of city
Development is ongoing in the southern part of Grove City, where hundreds of apartments are under construction in the southeastern part of the city, south of Mount Carmel Grove City Hospital that opened in 2019.
The city is working to eventually get an overpass bridge spanning Interstate 71 in the southern part of the city to connect the existing development on the southeastern side to the southwestern side of the city.
Construction is expected to start on infrastructure that would support an overpass next spring, said Kyle Rauch, Grove City’s director of development.
Dozens of affordable housing units planned in Bexley
Two redevelopments in Bexley will add dozens of units of affordable housing that qualify for the low-income housing tax credit. Both are slated to be finished sometime in the spring or summer of 2027.
One of the projects at 420 N. Cassady Ave. will include the city’s new senior center facility, said Megan Meyer, Bexley’s director of administration and development.
There will be a total 48 apartment units restricted for rent only by low-income residents between the two buildings, Meyer said.
Part of Worthington mall space to transform
Most of Worthington is surrounded by Columbus, so the city has to focus on redeveloping existing areas, City Manager Robyn Stewart told The Dispatch at the event.
Development approvals have been provided for the High North project at the Shops at Worthington Place. Experience Worthington, a nonprofit tourism and business support organization, describes the existing shops as a “unique lifestyle mall offering boutique shopping.” The mall, located at 7227 N. High St. just south of the Interstate 270 interchange, has no real major anchor other than an adjacent Kroger store.
Stewart said plans call for demolition of part of the existing Shops at Worthington Place mall to clear space for construction of multi-story office and residential space.
The city of Worthington is also working on a comprehensive plan update. A community engagement process is ongoing, with the second round of feedback closing Dec. 19.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers the northwestern suburbs for the Columbus Dispatch. She can be reached at awinfrey@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Highlights about some developments planned around the Columbus area
Reporting by Anna Lynn Winfrey, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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