This summer, Construction Dive is taking a look at some of the largest multifamily projects to break ground in recent months. Click here for the previous article in this series.
Long known as an affordable place to live, Columbus, Ohio, has been a surprisingly lucrative market for multifamily developers and owners recently.
Ohio’s capital saw 4.5% year-over-year rent growth in March, second only to New York City, according to Multifamily Dive.
Catering to renters who want to live in the city limits, the new mixed-use, 32-story Merchant Building office and residential tower in the North Market neighborhood is expected to open in 2026, per the project’s website.
Developed by Columbus, Ohio-based investment firm Rockbridge and developer Edwards Cos. and designed by Seattle-based architect NBBJ, was among the largest multifamily builds to break ground last year, according to Dodge Construction Network, with a price tag of $345 million when it was first announced. That cost has since increased to $430 million, according to Columbus Business First. Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Co. is constructing the structure, according to a news release.
The developers did not respond to Construction Dive’s request for comment.
The build will feature 174 rental units, according to the Columbus Dispatch. The tower will also provide nearly 65,000 square feet of Class A office space, along with a 206-room luxury boutique hotel and a 350-space parking garage, per the project’s website.
In addition to the Merchant Building, the adjacent North Market, a 148-year-old public market that features dining and shopping from dozens of vendors, will also gain 15,000 square feet of expansion over two stories, which includes space for eight or nine more vendors in the market, according to NBC4, Columbus’ local NBC affiliate. Alongside the space, the developer will also add a farmers’ market and plaza.
As of last year, the city of Columbus has dished out nearly $50 million to aid aspects of the project, which include the expansion of the market itself, a new atrium and work on the parking garage and spaces, according to Business First.
Some of those funds have gone to non-construction costs — construction was halted in February 2023 as archaeologists dug for human remains on the jobsite, NBC4 reported. The city gave approximately $7.1 million for the removal and care of bodies discovered during the digs, Business First reported.
The 1-acre site that the tower will rest on was originally a cemetery. Krista Horrocks, an archaeologist with the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office, told NBC4 that there were probably “thousands upon thousands” of people buried at the site.
