Union Co. to get first Del Webb in the area
712 homes planned for retirement community
Greater Columbus will see its first Del Webb retirement community, with 712 homes built near the U.S. Routes 33/42 interchange in Jerome Township in Union County.
The patio homes are geared toward empty nesters.
“It’s great to see a Del Webb community come to the Columbus region. It’s great to see retirees who want to stay here,” said Eric Phillips, Union County’s economic development director.
It’s unclear when construction will begin. Representatives of Del Webb’s parent company, Pultegroup, did not return several Dispatch calls and emails. But in December, Jerome Township trustees approved rezoning the 356 acres at 8850 Currier Road, 9254 Route 42, and 9524 Mitchell-dewitt Road. The site is southeast of Route 42.
Wezlynn Davis, president of the Jerome Township Board of Trustees, said it will take the developer seven to 10 years to build out the proposed massive development.
The site sits in the Jonathan Alder school district. In December, the school district sent a letter to the township supporting the development, saying it would generate $1.4 million in property tax revenue for the schools in the first year of collection without adding many students to the district because it is geared toward residents 55 and older.
Phillips said the Del Webb community is another example of the development continuing to surge in that part of Union County, in part of because of the Route 33/42 interchange that he said will become more urbanized as time goes on.
That development includes two new Amazon data centers in Jerome
Township – an $800-million investment, Phillips said – and a new Kroger Marketplace store that will anchor the Jerome Market center on the southeast corner of Route 42 and Ravenhill Parkway, part of Nationwide Realty Investors’ Jerome Village community.
Phillips said he expects to see more commercial development.
“There are a whole lot of opportunities in the area,” he said.
Jon Melchi, executive director of the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio, said Pulte has been in the Columbus market for nearly a decade. “They see what a lot of us see. There is certainly a demand for active adult housing in the central Ohio market.”
While Pulte Homes developed one of its “Active Adult” communities in New Albany, this is the first Del Webb community in central Ohio. The company is best known for its Sun City developments in Arizona, Nevada, Texas and elsewhere, some of which include more than 20,000 homes and amenities such as pools, pickleball and tennis courts, golf courses, rec centers and restaurants.
Melchi said new housing like this not only provides opportunities for older adults, but when they move, that opens up houses to other buyers in a tight market.
He also said it makes sense to build a 55-and-older community in Jerome Township because it is close to hospitals in Dublin.
Those include Ohiohealth Dublin Methodist Hospital and Ohio State Outpatient Care Dublin, while Mount Carmel Health Systems continues to build a hospital at the northwest corner of Sawmill Road and Interstate 270 in Dublin. mferench@dispatch.com @Markferenchik