A plan to build a retail power center at the northeast intersection of Grandview Avenue and Dublin Road has just received a major update. A new plan unveiled today shows a reduction in the retail use of the site, and the introduction of office, hotel, residential and parking garage components into the master plan.
“By acquiring additional ground along the northside of the property along the railroad, we are able to repurpose our development plans for the site,” stated Eric Wagenbrenner, a principal at Wagenbrenner Development. “We’ve also done additional work with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to allow residential and office uses on the site.”
The new purchase of an additional 10 acres of land from the Norfolk Southern railroad company is bringing the project total to 50 acres of redeveloped brownfield space. Remediation work was completed several years ago, to make the former landfill site ready for new development.
Representatives from Wagenbrenner Development and partner Gallas Zadeh Development will go before Columbus City Council on Monday to request approval of an economic development agreement for the site. A similar agreement will also require approval from the City of Grandview Heights, as the 50 acre site straddles both municipalities.
The economic development agreement states that the developers will commit to building a minimum of 200,000 square feet of Class A office space on the site, although Wagenbrenner stated today that they could accomodate up to 500,000 square feet of space if an office tenant was secured that needed that much space.
“We’re still early in the development process,” added Wagenbrenner. “The physical layout may change but we’re committed to making a mixed-use plan work.”
Additionally, the developers are committing 20 percent of the residential units to be built as “workforce housing,” priced to rent at 80 percent of the area median income levels. The original plan, which was approved last year by the Grandview Planning Commission, included no residential component.
Wagenbrenner stated that they hope to break ground on the first phase of development in mid-2018 with the first completed buildings ready for occupancy by Fall 2019.
For more information, visit www.wagdev.com.