Hubbard Park Place, the new mixed-use development at the corner of Park Street and West Hubbard Avenue, was first brought before the Victorian Village Commission in 2013. The design proposed at that time – which called for an underground parking garage, a raised interior courtyard over a second level of parking, and three distinct sections surrounding the courtyard designed to blend in with the neighboring streets – very much resembles what has now been built on the site.
Schooley Caldwell was the architect for the project, which was developed by the Wood Companies and Schiff Capital Group.
About 70 percent of the 101 apartments are now spoken for (with around half of those renters coming from out of town), and half of the 12,000 square feet of office space has been leased, according to Tyler Puhl, Leasing Director for the Wood Companies. He and company President Mark Wood recently gave Columbus Underground a tour of the development.
Wood has said from the beginning that the goal of the project is to establish a new tier at the very top of the rental market in Columbus.
With several two-bedroom, two-bath apartments in the building renting for $3,800 a month – and with the most expensive units, priced at $4,850, already leased – that tier has been firmly established.
“I think we invest at such a high level, that hopefully we’re separating ourselves from most of the competition,” said Wood. “What we’re doing is not for everyone, but we think there’s kind of a niche for what we’re doing, and we’re trying to distinguish ourselves that way.”
“I don’t think we have head-to-head competition for what we’re doing, the closest competition would be a condo someone could buy,” he added, explaining that he has never been interested in developing for-sale products. “We just aren’t sellers…we develop for the long term.”
Puhl pointed to amenities like a rooftop pool area and steam room – as well as high-quality materials, like clay tile roofs with real copper flashing – as details that set the project apart from the many other new buildings going up in urban neighborhoods around Columbus.
“There are five different kinds of brick on the building, cast stone, wood-clad windows,” he said. “You walk by this building, and it seems like it’s been here a hundred years.”
Scroll down for more pictures from the tour and additional information on the project.
