$60 million project headed for Clintonville
The Dixie trucking terminal that has lined Indianola Avenue in Clintonville for more than 60 years will soon be demolished to make way for a $60 million residential, office and retail development called The Ave.
The development will include 301 apartments in two four-story buildings set behind a trio of smaller buildings on Indianola that will house offices, shops, a restaurant and 24 two-story condominiums above the offices.
“I think in that Clintonville submarket, there’s some pent-up demand for new rentals,” said Brent Wrightsel, president of the builder, Vision Development.
Vision expects to start tearing down the dormant trucking terminal in June. Wrightsel said he expects that to take six weeks, followed by 10 weeks of site preparation and, in September, the start of construction.
The project has been delayed by a lack of sewer capacity. Vision plans to connect to a sewer line 1,800 feet away that can handle the capacity, Wrightsel said.
Some Clintonville neighbors objected to the development, which is being built under a loophole that allows “extended-stay hotels” to be constructed in manufacturing districts. Despite the legal description, the residences will operate as apartments.
“The zoning allows for 30-day stays,” Wrightsel said. “That’s not our plan.”
After more than 30 extended-stay apartment complexes were built in Columbus, the city closed the loophole in December, but allowed two projects already approved to move forward. The Ave is one; the second is on the Far West Side.
That second project is a 256-unit extended-stay hotel planned for 5410 Fisher Road on the Far West Side, said Tony Celebrezze, spokesman for the city’s building and zoning services department.
David Vottero, a member of the Clintonville Area Commission, which heard details of The Ave this week, said he believes some of the objections to the project stem from its use of the loophole.
“It seemed a little deceptive to people to bring them (apartments) in and call them something else,” Vottero said.
Vottero said he is pleased with the latest version of The Ave.
“It’s a good addition to the community, versus a trucking facility that could have come in there,” Vottero said. “It’s going to clean up a piece of Indianola that needs some attention.”
Wrightsel said the apartment complex will include a pool with cabanas, workout facility, movie theater, parks for both small and large dogs, a laundry in each unit and a rooftop deck.
About 10 percent of the apartments will be studios and the rest split between one- and two-bedroom units. He said rents will start around $795 for the studios. The condominiums will cost about $200,000, Wrightsel said.
Wrightsel said the first apartments should be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2018.