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This summer, Construction Dive takes a look at some of the biggest multifamily projects that have broken ground in recent months. Click here to view the previous article in this series.
Long known as an affordable place to live, Columbus, Ohio has recently been a surprisingly lucrative market for multifamily developers and owners.
Ohio’s capital saw rent growth of 4.5% year over year in March. second only to New York City, according to Multifamily Dive.
Catering service for tenants who want to live on the city limits, the new mixed use of 32 floors Merchant’s building office and the residential tower in the North Market neighborhood will open in 2026, according to the project’s website.
Developed by Columbus, Ohio-based investment firm Rockbridge and developer Edwards Cos. and designed by architect NBBJ of Seattle, was one of the larger multi-family buildings to begin with last year, according to the Dodge Construction Network, with a price tag of $345 million when it was first announced. This cost has had ever since increased to $430 million, according to Columbus Business First. Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Co. is building the structure, according to a news release.
The developers did not respond to Construction Dive’s request for comment.
The construction will be has 174 rental units, according to Columbus’ office. The tower will also provide nearly 65,000 square feet of Class A office space, along with a 206-room luxury boutique hotel and a 350-space parking garage, according to the project’s website.
In addition to the merchant building, it will also gain the adjacent North Market, a 148-year-old public market featuring food and shopping from dozens of vendors. 15,000 square meters of expansion over two stories, which includes room for eight to nine more vendors in the market, according to NBC4, Columbus’ local NBC affiliate. Next to the space, the developer will also add a farmers market and plaza.
Since last year, the city of Columbus has doled out nearly $50 million to help with aspects of the project, which include expanding the market itself, a new atrium, and work on the garage and parking spaces, according to Business First.
Some of these funds have gone to non-construction costs: construction was halted in February 2023 as archaeologists. excavated for human remains at the work site, NBC4 reported. The city donated approximately $7.1 million for the disposal and care of the bodies discovered during the excavations, Business First reported.
The 1-acre site where the tower will rest was originally a cemetery. Krista Horrocks, an archaeologist with the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office, told NBC4 there were probably “thousands and thousands” of people buried at the site.
