Details unveiled for Hoster Brewing redevelopment

Includes restaurants, bars, apartments, more

Two years after it was announced, work is well underway redeveloping the massive Hoster Brewing Co. complex in the Brewery District.

Plans unveiled this week call for the complex, at S. Front and W. Fulton streets, to be transformed into Front & Fulton, a 242,000square-foot development that will include restaurants, bars, offices and event space, along with 40 apartments.

The $105 million project is being developed by Stage Capital Partners and Mccabe Companies, both based in the Columbus area.

“We are excited to revitalize this irreplaceable piece of Columbus,” said Stage Capital President Erwin Effler III. “The spaces within the buildings are simply awesome and will be a ‘culture creator’ for office and other users.”

Mccabe Companies announced the development in June 2019 after receiving a $5 million state historic tax credit for the project. At that time, company owner Dwight Mccabe

“It’s quite amazing. That building’s been around for more than 180 years. It will now be around for at least another 180 . ... It’s going to be a very special place for the Brewery District and all of Columbus.”

Erwin Effler III Stage Capital president

hoped to start construction in 2019 and open the first phase in 2021.

Developers say they now hope to open Front & Fulton in the summer of 2023. Effler said the project was delayed by the complexity and condition of the property, which includes two structures housing eight buildings, in addition to the pandemic.

Considerable work has been done on restoring the buildings. Windows and roofs have been replaced, and the brick renovation

completed.

“We’re wrapping up the historic preservation work,” Effler said. “it looks like a brand-new structure.”

A 1960s-era addition along S. Front Street on the east side of the project has also been removed. The original plan called for a new seven-story hotel to be built on that site. Now, instead, a twostory building housing a restaurant, offices, patio, and rooftop bar will occupy the space.

Effler estimated that Front & Fulton will include four or five bars, restaurants and coffee shops when finished. Plans also call for 150,000 square feet of office space and a 25,000-square-foot event center.

Stage Capital and Mccabe Companies also plan to build a 350-space, fouror-five-story parking garage on the west side of the complex.

Colliers International is handling leasing for the project.

Effler said he hopes the project is fully leased by summer of 2023.

“It’s quite amazing,” he said. “That

building’s been around for more than 180 years. It will now be around for at least another 180 . ... It’s going to be a very special place for the Brewery District and all of Columbus.”

After working on the project for years, Mccabe said he is excited to see it take the next step.

“This historic address is being reclaimed and turned into a place unlike any other in our City,” he said. “It will become the ‘meet me at...’ place in Downtown Columbus; a prime spot for gathering, working and living.” jweiker@dispatch.com @Jimweiker

PHOTOS BY STAGE CAPITAL PARTNERS/MCCABE COMPANIES The Hoster Brewing Co. complex is being transformed into the Front & Fulton mixed-use development.

Front & Fulton, the proposed redevelopment of the former Hoster Brewing Co. complex will include a 25,000-square-foot event space.

The former Hoster Brewing building in the Brewery District will be transformed into Front & Fulton, including Ludlow Alley outdoor space, shown in this rendering.