Worthington project finally moving foward
A $32 million, mixed-use redevelopment plan for a high-profile site near I-270 and Rt. 23 in Worthington is moving forward after more than two years of planning and tweaking.
The Village at Worthington Square recently gained conditional approval from the city’s Architectural Review Board, meaning it could gain all necessary approvals by March and break ground by the fall.
A Hampton Inn & Suites with 111 rooms is planned on the site, along with a total of 19,000 square feet of office space and 26,000 square feet of space for restaurants or “personal care” businesses such as fitness studios or beauty salons.
Ohm Patel, CEO of developer Witness Group, said plans call for operating the existing Holiday Inn on the site, across the street from the Shops at Worthington Place, through July. Their agreement with the brand expires at that time. The 232-room property has been a Holiday Inn since the 1970s.
The new hotel will have fewer than half that number of rooms. Witness Group will need a variance for height, because its planned buildings go up to four stories rather than the three the area originally was zoned for. The city recently revamped its guidelines for the Wilson Bridge Road corridor, however, including allowing for greater density and buildings that can be four stories tall.
Architectural board members also requested extra landscaping at a few areas on the property, Patel said, along with more consistency in design details.
The developer at one point had proposed two separate hotel buildings on the site, but it scaled that back to one after concerns were expressed about traffic flow in the area.