The historic Broadwin Building at 1312 E. Broad St. may finally get its long-promised restoration. Local developer Eli Adahan, who bought the building in March, said he is waiting on the city to approve his renovation plans before beginning work.
“We’d like to start work as soon as possible, hopefully before end of the year,” said Adahan. “It would take about a year and a half to get it completed.”
The renovation would mark the latest in a string of attempts to bring back the building, which has been vacant for nearly 20 years. A plan to convert it into condominiums stalled and ran into significant legal difficulties, while a 2012 effort to renovate it also stalled, even after that project was awarded historic preservation tax credits from the state.
Adahan said his plan calls for about 43 apartments, ranging from one to four bedrooms. He also intends to apply for tax credits for the project.
“It’s beautiful inside, and a lot of work was started by the previous developer. It has new windows, a new roof, some new electrical work,” he said. “The question is, do we have to redo everything? So we’re not sure of the cost, but if we get the green light, we want to start ASAP.”
Anthony Celebrezze, Assistant Director of the city’s Department of Building and Zoning Services, said that the city received Adahan’s interior renovation plans on April 19th and sent them out for review by all the coordinating agencies the next day, “so they still have some days left before they have to respond back one way or the other, whether it’s a corrections letter or approval.” (The city typically responds within 30 days to submitted plans).
“This building is really close to Downtown, but we think you can get a higher grade of finish and a lot more space than what you get Downtown” said Adahan. “We think this project will bring a lot to the area. There are a lot of good things happening in Columbus, and we’re happy to take part in redeveloping some of the areas that haven’t had that much focus.”