Retail building planned on Olentangy Street site

Powell’s Planning and Zoning Commission has approved initial plans for a developer to build a 14,000- square- foot retail building on one of the few remaining vacant properties on Olentangy Street in the city.

According to plans, Dr. Ali Khaksarfard, a dentist, wants to build a shopping center on 1.5 acres at the southeast corner of Murphy Parkway and West Olentangy Street.

Mark Ford, president of Ford and Associates Architects, said the project will take design cues from an existing complex at the southwest corner of Murphy Parkway and Olentangy Street without being a copy.

Rocky Kambo, a planner with the city’s development department, said no prospective tenants have been named, but plans don’t call for any restaurants.