United Way of Central Ohio announced this morning a plan to sell its Downtown office building. The organization issued a Request for Proposals that lays out the criteria it will consider in selling the site, including a stated preference for redevelopment plans that include affordable housing.
The one-acre parcel, located at 360 S. Third St., holds a three-story office building and an adjacent parking lot. It has served as the UWCO headquarters since 1978, when the site was donated by the Battelle Memorial Institute Foundation.
“Our mission to improve the lives of others by mobilizing the caring power of our community impacts everything we do,” said CEO and President Lisa Courtice in a statement. “Central Ohio is in desperate need of affordable housing, and our property is a prime location for redevelopment, as it is conveniently located to bus lines, services and nearly 100,000 jobs in the central core of the city. We want developers to meet a critical need and improve equity in the transformation of our desirable location.”
Though the RFP does not specify a certain number of units or level of affordability, it does state that “affordable housing is generally defined as housing on which the occupant is paying no more than 30 percent of gross income for housing costs, including utilities.”
The document also states that “UWCO encourages but does not require applicants to include an affordable housing component in their proposal.”
The deadline to submit preliminary proposals is February 28, with fully fleshed-out plans then due by April 22. A Real Estate Task Force made up of employees, board members, volunteers and others will evaluate the proposals and make a recommendation to the organization’s board of trustees, which will make the final decision on the sale.
The building will be “vacated and available for redevelopment no later than December 31, 2022,” according to the RFP.
As for the future office space needs of the organization, the press release stated that UWCO is “pursuing a co-location opportunity with several complementary nonprofit organizations.”
Also on South Third Street, the Central Ohio Transit Authority announced plans last summer to purchase the 2.5-acre Greyhound station at the corner of East Rich Street, with a goal of building a “substantial” mixed-use development on the site.