Hilliard in line for 2 major projects
A 360-acre mixed-use development has been proposed at Roberts and Alton Darby Creek roads in Hilliard, the second massive development planned for the area.
Columbus developer Dwight Mccabe of the Mccabe Companies will present plans for the $275 million project, dubbed Alton Place, at the Hilliard Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday.
Alton Place is proposed for the northwest corner of Roberts and Alton Darby Creek roads. On the southeast corner of the intersection, Pulte Homes of Ohio and Harmony Development Group has proposed an 1,100-home residential development that would require rezoning and annexation of the property, now in Norwich and Brown townships, to the city of Columbus.
Alton Place would include a full range of housing, including apartments, single-family houses and “empty nester” homes, along with a walkable “village center” featuring medical and professional offices and retail space for restaurants and other services catering to residents of the new neighborhood.
Mccabe’s plans call for the village center immediately northwest of Roberts and Alton Darby Creek. North of the center would be “attached urban housing.” A lake and wetlands would separate that dense development from single-family and empty-nester homes to the west.
Mccabe said the Big Darby Accord Advisory Panel unanimously supported the concept at its December meeting.
“This checks the boxes” of what development officials want to see, Mccabe said.
Many traditional suburbs are looking for ways to limit sprawl and appeal to younger and older residents alike with more walkable urban-style centers. Dublin’s Bridge Park project is an example, along with the still-developing Evans Farm in Delaware County.
Alton Place would feature a manmade lake with a wharf and be surrounded by wetlands, streams and grasslands that would be preserved on the property. It would include “an integrated system of walk/bikeways” and feature connected roadways with no suburbanstyle cul-de-sacs, according to Mccabe.
For now, Mccabe said he is focusing on the overall plan, without setting a specific number of housing units or size of retail and office space.
Mccabe said he got excited about the prospects for the Alton Place site when he learned it was within walking distance of five Hilliard schools, a big bonus for families with children. The site sits next to three elementary schools as well as Hilliard Memorial Middle School and Hilliard Bradley High School.
Mccabe is a veteran of construction and development whose other current projects include the $70 million planned renovation of the former Hoster Brewing site in the Brewery District.
A video with animated renderings of the Alton Place proposal can be viewed at https://vimeo. com/300489239.