A local developer is seeking to demolish the former Tommy’s Pizza site near Ohio State University and build a six-story luxury student apartment building in its footprint.
The Dublin-based Stavroff Land and Development Inc. filed plans with the city of Columbus to build a 40-unit residential complex with 22 integrated parking spaces at the 0.34-acre site, situated at the intersection of West Lane and Neil avenues near Ohio State’s North campus. Units would range from one to six beds, totaling 130.
In a corridor lined with much larger apartment complexes, partner Severan Stavroff said this “boutique” development would offer an alternative for students seeking luxury on a smaller scale.
“Those huge projects aren’t for everybody,” he said. “This will be a quieter, more intimate environment.”
Plus, between the “irregular” size of the site and high construction costs – particularly for projects larger than six stories – Stavroff said a smaller scope for the development is ideal.
The plans arrive as high-end student high-rises with hundreds of units continue to pop up around campus. Construction is ongoing at 9th and High, the 13-story, 242,000-square-foot complex set to open next summer, and work is recently underway at the former Little Bar site on North High Street, which will become two connected housing towers with nine and 12 stories, respectively.
Rambler, a luxury complex with seven stories and 889 beds on West Lane Avenue, opened to students for the 2025-26 school year.
Stavroff said specific rents haven’t yet been decided, and amenity spaces are still being ironed out. At the least, he expects there to be a “high-end” lobby entrance with study rooms and a gym.
“Some of those other projects are crazy; they’re, really, really, really big,” he said. “There’s not many offerings like this today in Ohio State that are luxury.”
The Ohio State-area Tommy’s Pizza, which had been a campus staple for decades, closed in June 2024 and has sat vacant since. Its other locations in Upper Arlington and Dublin are still open.
The developer has applied for two variances – one to waive the required 20-foot setback for the building’s top three levels and the other to reduce the required ground-floor depth along Neil Avenue to permit structured parking and utility space in that area.
Stavroff’s plans are slated to undergo a staff review by the University Area Commission this month. The firm is targeting a July 6 meeting with the commission’s zoning committee, followed by a full-commission hearing on July 15, Stavroff said.
If all goes to plan, Stavroff said the firm hopes to start construction in spring 2027 and open for students ahead of fall 2028.
Reporter Emma Wozniak can be reached at ewozniak@dispatch.com or @emma_wozniak_ on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Luxury, ’boutique’ student apartments proposed for OSU Tommy’s Pizza site
Reporting by Emma Wozniak, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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