One of central Ohio’s most influential developers has its sights set on Worthington.
Crawford Hoying, the Dublin-based company behind Bridge Park, has unveiled plans for a sweeping mixed-use redevelopment that would transform more than 17 acres along West Wilson Bridge Road into a walkable district filled with housing, restaurants, shops, offices, and a hotel.
The proposal centers on the Officescape Corporate Center at 400, 450, and 500 W. Wilson Bridge Rd., where three aging office buildings would be demolished to make way for an entirely new neighborhood.
Rather than simply replacing offices with more offices, the vision is to create a destination where people can live, work, dine, and spend time, all while taking better advantage of one of Worthington’s biggest assets: the nearby Olentangy Trail.
According to the preliminary plans, the development would include approximately:
- 250 multifamily apartments
- 182 condominiums
- 8 townhomes
- 150 senior living residences
- A 290-room hotel
- 211,000 square feet of office space
- More than 134,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space
The proposal also includes new public gathering spaces, internal streets, and pedestrian connections designed to break up what is currently a large office campus into a more walkable district.
Instead of isolated buildings surrounded by parking lots, the master plan introduces a central east-west street lined with retail, restaurants, and active public spaces. The goal is to create an environment where residents, visitors, employees, and hotel guests all contribute to activity throughout the day.
While retail and dining would be concentrated along the project’s interior streets, the West Wilson Bridge Road frontage is designed to provide a gentler transition toward the existing residential neighborhoods to the south.
For Worthington, the proposal represents the kind of redevelopment that many built-out suburbs are increasingly pursuing.
With little undeveloped land remaining, growth often comes through reimagining aging commercial properties rather than expanding outward.
The Officescape campus, developed decades ago as a traditional suburban office park, reflects a model that many communities are now reconsidering as office demand shifts and mixed-use neighborhoods continue to attract residents and businesses alike. If approved, the redevelopment would occur in three phases over several years.
The project is still in its early stages. Crawford Hoying is seeking to rezone approximately 17.6 acres from the existing C-3 Institutions & Office zoning district to a Planned Unit Development (PUD), allowing for the mix of residential, commercial, office, hotel, and public spaces envisioned in the master plan.
The Worthington Municipal Planning Commission is scheduled to take its first look at the proposal during its June 25 meeting. For more info about the project, head over to worthington.org.
