Keeping up with CRE trends is as easy as 1-2-3 with our weekly piece! The Weekly Review is a new blog series that will be released every Friday. The market is constantly growing and adapting to new ventures and ideas, and our goal is to provide up-to-date information into what is happening in both the Columbus and U.S. markets, as well as the commercial real estate industry as a whole. As stories evolve, the Weekly Review will continue to follow along and update our clients and community.
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1
“A new development anchored by an aquatics center is moving forward after Berlin Township officials approved a revised plan. Buckeye Swim Club's competitive training facility received unanimous support from township trustees, who voted in favor of revisions to the original development plan at a recent meeting. The approval sets the stage for the project to begin construction this year and open in fall 2025. The 10-acre property, located at 1895 Peachblow Road, will include a 22,600-square-foot aquatics center as well as a commercial development with two buildings measuring 17,000 square feet and 10,000 square feet. Specific plans for the commercial portion of the project have not been identified, but the site is zoned for office, healthcare, childcare, recreational and educational uses.“
“The aquatics facility will house a 25-yard-by-25-meter competitive pool and a dedicated pool for Buckeye Swim School. The school is operated by Buckeye Swim Club, which also manages the Buckeye Swim Team. "After conversations with the community and schools, we made modifications to increase the footprint of the 10-lane, 25-yard pool," Buckeye Swim Club Managing Director Laurie Karr said in a press release, adding that expanded deck space will accommodate area high school teams and provide more training and spectator space.”
2
“Columbus City Council has approved legislation updating the city's zoning code. The vote at Monday's meeting is the culmination of years of work to overhaul the code, which hadn't been updated comprehensively since the 1950s. Council President Shannon Hardin said that now is the time to update the zoning code because of Columbus' projected growth. A recent study showed that the city needs to build at least 200,000 new housing units over the next 15 years to keep up with the growth.”
“The new zoning code creates six new mixed-use districts, all along busy corridors. In the most dense of the newly proposed districts, developers could put up buildings as tall as 16 stories. The new code reduces the need for variances because more types of developments would be allowed within the districts."
3
“A national retailer with headquarters over on Dublin Granville Road has lost about $114 million in net sales in the first quarters of both 2023 and 2024, which is leading them to make the difficult decision to close around 150 stores nationwide. While there’s speculation that this retail chain, Big Lots, will file for bankruptcy soon, they’ve only filed their initial store closures to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. But the filing report also discloses that Big Lots acquired $72.2 million in debt just from 2023 and 2024 alone, pushing the company into now billions of dollars (yes, billions) in total debt, which the chain said in the SEC filing means there’s “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue.””
“There are 102 Big Lots in Ohio, 17 of them being here in central Ohio, and as of now, the company hasn’t disclosed they’re closing any of them. The first Big Lots to ever open was located at the Berwick Plaza Shopping Center, and it’s still open today! The retail chain, which first started in 1967, is still headquartered in Westerville.”
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