The Arena District's dominant developer wants to convert one of the area's remaining surface parking lots into a new Vine Street apartment building.
Nationwide Realty Investors, the real estate branch of the financial services company, is seeking to redevelop the block bounded by Vine, Spruce, Armstrong and Kilbourne streets with a 242-unit apartment building at 120 Vine St., according to preliminary site plans filed with the city of Columbus on July 24. The project would replace an existing surface parking lot with what plans describe as a single residential building consisting of east and west sections connected by a bridge.
The development would include roughly 58 garage parking spaces that would be accessible from Spruce Street, according
to plans.
When asked about the proposal, a Nationwide Realty spokesperson confirmed the company is in the design phase of another Vine Street apartment project and expects to share additional details later this year.
The project would be the latest addition to Nationwide's long-running buildout of the Arena District, where the developer has been responsible for shaping much of the neighborhood surrounding Nationwide Arena and Huntington Park.
Just down the street from 120 Vine St. sits Two Twenty Vine, the five-story, E-shaped apartment building Nationwide developed on one of the last empty spots on the northern edge of the Arena District, and Flats on Vine, a 232-unit complex off Vine Street and Neil Avenue.
Earlier this year, Nationwide purchased three plots of vacant land totaling more than 14 acres off Interstate 670, the bulk of which sits northeast of ScottsMiracle-Gro Field and northwest of Huntington Park, bordered by Vine Street to the north, Neil Avenue to the east and railroad tracks to the south.
This proposal also comes as developers seem to be increasingly targeting surface parking lots for redevelopment, as city officials and others say the lots that sit idly are a wasted opportunity.
The site development application for 120 Vine St. lists EMH&T as the primary contact, with The Columbus Architectural Studio noted as the design professional.
Reporter Emma Wozniak can be reached at ewozniak@dispatch.com or @emma_wozniak_ on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Nationwide eyes surface parking lot for new Arena District apartment building
