COLUMBUS, Ohio (COLUMBUS BUSINESS FIRST) -- Columbus Downtown Development Corp.'s Topiary Park project, breaking ground Tuesday, is a first for the organization that has led the charge on some of downtown's most transformative projects.
CDDC President Amy Taylor said the organization, responsible for developments like the Scioto Mile and The Peninsula, has not done a project with residences priced for those at 60% of the area median income before. She said a partnership with the city made that affordability possible for the "historic" project.
"Affordable housing is a critical component of downtown's future," Taylor told Columbus Business First.
The Topiary Park Crossing apartment complex will rise at 497 E. Town St. CDDC plans to build about a hundred units, with half serving residents making 100% of the area median income, a quarter of them priced for those at 80% AMI and the remainder for those at 60% AMI. The units will be a mix of studios, one and two-bedrooms.
"This allows people to live in the same building who might be from different walks of life and who might be going off to work in different industries when they leave the building," Taylor said.
Mayor Andrew Ginther said downtown housing has felt out of reach for people like teachers or firefighters, and Topiary Park Crossing will now offer downtown units that are affordable to someone making $35,000.
"We think great neighborhoods are mixed-income neighborhoods," Ginther said. "That's what makes a neighborhood dynamic."
Ginther said he is pushing for affordable housing to be a big part of the next downtown strategic plan. Having housing for everyone in downtown will become even more important as remote and hybrid work are here to stay, Ginther said.
"Housing is even more important to make Columbus competitive (with other cities)," he said.
The building will have a 3,300-square-foot terrace with room for grills, seating and landscaping. There will also be a fitness center and meeting room on the first floor and a parlor with a library on the fifth floor inside the round tower, Taylor said, for residents to work or gather in.
There will be 50 parking spaces for residents in a parking garage.
The project will take about 18 months to build, so the first residents could be in the building in the fall of 2023. Taylor said the CDDC will have more information to release about leasing in the coming months.
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said the region's biggest crisis is lack of affordable housing. And having a workforce housing option in the Discovery District, located close to educational institutions, cultural sites and transit is "critically important" as downtown is built out.
Hardin said many people come to the table to talk about affordable housing with preconceived notions of the kind of people that live there.
"Everyone loves affordable housing until it is proposed in our neighborhood," he said. "But this is workforce housing, these are teachers and technicians. And having workforce housing allows them to live and prosper downtown."
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