The first city employees moved into the Michael B. Coleman Government Center at 111 N. Front St. in March of this year, a little over three years after the design of the eight-story building was first unveiled to the Downtown Commission.
The building is now fully occupied, and the green spaces around it are starting to fill in and take shape. That includes a green roof that sits atop the third floor, as well as City Commons, the new park that replaced a surface parking lot at the corner of North Front and West Gay streets.
The park is the new focal point of a long-envisioned city campus, connecting the Coleman Government Center with three existing city buildings – City Hall, Police Headquarters, and 77 N. Front St.
The new building houses employees from the departments of Building & Zoning Services, Public Service, Development and Public Utilities. The first floor serves as the new “one-stop shop” for building permits, zoning questions, and other services, while the second floor features a new public hearing room.
Columbus Underground recently received a tour of the building, which was designed by local architectural firms Schooley Caldwell Associates and DesignGroup. Local firm MKSK led the landscape architecture side of the project.