As Columbus continues to grapple with rising housing costs and rapid population growth, the region’s largest affordable housing provider is undertaking what it calls the biggest summer construction season in its 92-year history.
The Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) recently unveiled updates on eight major housing projects spanning Columbus, Franklinton, Reynoldsburg, Blacklick, Dublin, and Grove City. Combined, the developments represent more than 1,100 affordable, workforce, and mixed-income housing units either under construction, being renovated, or preparing to break ground.
The largest and most visible project is Westrich, a new $71.1 million mixed-use development in Franklinton located next to the popular River & Rich district.
Construction is now wrapping up on the 234-unit community, with leasing already underway. The project includes two residential buildings connected by a pedestrian walkway, along with retail space, structured parking, and resident amenities. Originally proposed as a 12-story tower, the final version was scaled back but still represents one of the neighborhood’s largest recent housing investments.
But Westrich is only one piece of a much larger effort.
Across the region, CMHA and its partners are renovating aging apartment communities, constructing workforce housing, and launching mixed-income developments designed to serve a range of residents.
In Eastgate, the agency is investing $74.4 million to modernize the 140-unit Nelson Park community, preserving housing that has served residents since the late 1950s. On Columbus’ southeast side, CMHA is developing The Falls, a 220-unit apartment community designed for middle- and low-wage workers.
A $41.8 million renovation project at Walnut Grove in Blacklick will preserve 176 affordable housing units, while Reynoldsburg’s upcoming Heights on Main development will add 103 mixed-income apartments later this year.
Downtown Columbus is also seeing new investment through Aspire Columbus, an 82-unit development on South Third Street that will provide housing for working families and residents with disabilities.
Outside the city, CMHA is partnering on All In Dublin, a 75-unit affordable housing development, while Grove City’s Demorest Townhomes expansion will more than double the size of an existing community through the addition of 104 new units.
The scope of the projects reflects the growing pressure facing the Columbus housing market.
According to CMHA, the agency currently owns and operates more than 6,200 mixed-income apartment homes while administering housing assistance programs that serve tens of thousands of Central Ohio residents. Altogether, the organization estimates that more than 160,000 people live in housing that is owned, managed, or funded through CMHA programs.
As Columbus continues to add residents at a record pace, housing affordability remains one of the region’s most pressing challenges. While no single development can solve the issue, the scale of CMHA’s current construction pipeline highlights the growing effort to expand housing options across a rapidly changing Central Ohio.
And with more than a thousand units either opening soon or moving forward this year, the impact of those efforts could begin to be felt sooner rather than later.
