August 20 will see the first residents move into the Point on Lane, a seven-story mixed-use building currently under construction at the northeast corner of Lane Avenue and Tuttle Park Place.
That’s about the same time that four other University District developments will be opening their doors for the first time. All told, over 500 new apartments will come online in time for fall semester.
Jonathan Willette, Principal of 4 Points Development, said that he’s been pleased so far with how the building has been leasing up.
“It’s been more challenging than other years, I would suspect, but once people see that we’re going to be done, that does more for us,” he said. “We started doing hard hat tours, and people are loving those.”
Willette also has a product offering that the other new developments don’t. Dubbed “sports suites,” he described them as similar to a luxury box in a stadium or arena. The units can be leased for a year by individuals or companies.
“It’s basically your own tailgate spot,” he explained, “you have access to two big common area decks, and we’ll decorate the suite how you want…we can put your company’s stuff on the wall.”
With views of Ohio Stadium to the south and the Schottenstein Center to the west, Willette expects demand to be strong for the units. He’s already had success with a similar business model at the Nut House, a club catering to Ohio State fans that’s located in a one-story brick building directly behind the Point on Lane.
The residential units in the building will be geared toward students, with suites that hold anywhere from two to eight bedrooms.
“We were really trying to go for a downtown feel, I mean, we’re on campus, but this is the next step…these will be really nice units,” said Willette.
The seventh floor will feature art from street artist Justin “Ketchup” Withrow, who also did the mural on the back wall of the Nut House.
A second phase of the development is still in the planning stage. Willette said that he wants to discuss his ideas for that project – which would be located to the north of the new building – with the University Area Commission before getting too far into the design.
For more information, see www.thepointonlane.com.
