For decades, the Spaghetti Warehouse building was one of those places that felt like it had always been there. Now it’s gone, and something completely new is taking its place. And it’s going to be a big change for West Broad Street.
Developers have revealed their first look at The Macklin, a pair of seven-story buildings set to rise on the former warehouse site.
It’s a big transformation for the space.
In total, the project includes 250 apartments, two amenity decks (yes, one has a pool), and retail spaces on the ground floor that could hold everything from a bar to a bike repair shop.
Each building will also have its own parking garage, and a new pedestrian plaza will run between them. The developers say it could function more like a public space than a traditional road. In other words, this stretch of Downtown is about to get a lot more walkable—and a lot more modern.
The Macklin is named after the historic Macklin Hotel, which once stood on the same block.
Two men stand on the platform at the Toledo and Ohio Railroad Passenger Station before the addition of a raised platform in 1911. The station opened April 18, 1896 and closed January 25, 1930. Building in the foreground is the Macklin Hotel. Photo via CML.
If the renderings are any indication, this new version is less “Old World charm” and more “big windows, clean lines, and rooftop hangs.”
The development is being led by Falco Smith & Kelley, the Robert Weiler Company, and BLD Capital, which owns the Spaghetti Warehouse brand. They’re promising that 30 to 40 percent of the apartments will be affordable, set aside for households making less than 80% of the area median income. That’s about $66,000 for a two-person household in Columbus.
It’s also worth noting that this plan is a scaled-down version of a much taller proposal from a few years ago.
Rising construction costs made the original 15-story idea less feasible, so the team landed on a more compact layout with two buildings instead.
This project still has a few hurdles to clear—like final details on landscaping, rooftop structures, and outdoor dining—but overall, it’s in line with what the city wants to see along Broad Street: density, transparency, and ground-floor activity.
