A new proposal to redevelop a used car lot on High Street will be heard by the Clintonville Area Commission’s zoning and variance committee this week.
The latest plan for the half-acre lot near the Weber Road intersection calls for a five-story, 45-unit apartment building on the site. The first floor of the building would hold a 2,000-square-foot commercial space and a partially-covered parking garage with space for 28 cars.
It marks the third time that Brian Higgins, of Arch City Development, has brought the development to the commission for discussion.
The pandemic and rising costs have both impacted the project, Higgins said, explaining that concern about the viability of retail led his team to initially propose residential units on the first floor. That first proposal, submitted last summer, called for a five-story building with 43 apartment units.
“We then got some feedback from the commission, which ended up making the project a little smaller,” Higgins said. “However, our new post-Covid reality raised its head and like everyone, we are experiencing increases in material costs, labor, and challenges with the supply chain.”
With the latest proposal, “we tried to create more of an economy of scale with the project and added a fifth floor back in,” he said, adding that, “it is smaller and recessed so that when you are standing on High Street in front of the building, you won’t be able to see it..we thought that was a reasonable compromise.”
New renderings also show a name for the project – the Loop – which Higgins said is a tribute to the “Loop the Loop” ride, a featured attraction at Olentangy Park for several years in the early 20th century. The amusement park, which closed in 1937, was located at the end of the North High Street trolley line, where Olentangy Village now stands.
The zoning and variance committee meets on Wednesday, August 24. For more information, see clintonvilleareacommission.org.
