The former SBX Bookstore at 1806 N. High St. recently joined the long list of buildings demolished to make way for the new 15th and High district across from the Ohio State University campus.
That leaves two buildings within the project’s footprint still standing on High Street – a one-story building with a tile roof (that is still home to the Fraternity Managers Association), and the three-story brick building that sits directly behind it.
There is no exact timetable for those two building to come down, according to Erin Prosser of Campus Partners, the organization that has taken the lead on 15th and High. She said they will “continue to house commercial tenants until the liner buildings for the garage are completed and they can relocate to their permanent spaces.”
The liner buildings are planned for East 15th and 16th avenues, where they will sit on either side of a large garage that will provide parking for the district. The garage will be connected to a multi-story hotel, which in turn will look out on a new public plaza called University Square.
Plans for 15th and High were first announced in 2015, and the first major new building in the district – the Wellington, which holds apartments and a Target – was completed last summer.
Currently under construction at the corner of East 14th Avenue and Pearl Alley is the new WOSU Public Media headquarters, and work is scheduled to start this fall on two office buildings – each with ground floor retail – that will sit on either side of the new plaza.
The plaza itself will start to take shape as those two buildings are constructed, according to Prosser, who said that the area will continue to be “a very active construction site for approximately the next 24 months.”