Updated: July 30, 2026
Long before mixed-use developments were the norm, The Continent was one of the hottest shopping destinations in Columbus.
The Continent opened on Busch Boulevard in north Columbus in 1972, a 60-acre attempt at a French village with shops on the ground floor and apartments above. The retail is mostly gone. The apartments are still leased, which is why the place is still standing in 2026.
The quaint, European-style streets were lined with shops, open-air cafes were around every corner, and cozy apartments could be found mere moments away from the action.
What The Continent was in the 1970s
The shopping center, located on Busch Blvd. in North Columbus, opened in 1972. During the 1970s and 1980s, The Continent was the place to be when it came to dining, entertainment, and shopping.
The developers had a specific vision for The Continent. The group was led by Bill Bonner, a local developer, who built it just north of Dublin-Granville Road between Busch Boulevard and I-71. The goal was to create a small French village where visitors could stroll, shop, live, and play. The streets were narrow and the apartments above ground-level shops were modeled after the French Quarter in New Orleans.
In the center of the small village was the French Market, a place where people could purchase locally made goods from local vendors. It’s believed to be the nation’s first food court, up and running years before the format took over American malls. More than 40 independent merchants sold baked goods, fresh produce, sandwiches, and gourmet items, and there wasn’t a single national chain among them. The complex also housed one of Ohio’s first multiscreen movie theaters. When WOSU looked back at the heyday in 2017, the Ohio History Connection’s Emmy Beach described a place people visited as much for the dining and entertainment as for the shops.
The open-air retail and mixed-use areas of The Continent were unique concepts at the time, but eventually, the allure of The Continent faded.
As the rise of the mall swept across America, The Continent lost visitors to places like City Center, Westland Mall, and eventually Easton. Today, few retail shops remain at the 60-acre development.
The Parisian-style apartments are still available for rent, but long gone are the cafes spilling into the winding, narrow streets.
It’s hard not to look at the bones of The Continent and not see an opportunity for a rebirth. Most projects being built around Columbus are mixed-use these days, and if the success of Easton has taught us anything, it’s that people in this city enjoy an open-air shopping experience.
What’s left of The Continent today
The malls that pulled shoppers away from The Continent mostly didn’t survive either. City Center closed in 2009 and was torn down not long after; Columbus Commons sits on its footprint now. Westland came down in 2023, and senior apartments are going up on the site. Meanwhile, the French Quarter apartments at The Continent are still leased and still lived in, narrow streets and all, a half century after they went up. The village outlasted the malls that beat it.
Most of the property has been in the same hands since 2008, when AXS Opportunity Fund, an investment group with a Beverly Hills address, bought nearly 40 acres of the site, including the central buildings and the French Quarter apartments. Columbus Underground dug into what’s next for the site back in 2019, and the answer so far has been: not much.
Redevelopment rumors surface every few years, and it’s easy to see why. Sixty acres of walkable, mixed-use bones on the north side is exactly the kind of thing Columbus keeps trying to build from scratch. As of mid-2026, though, nothing official has broken ground. Until something does, The Continent stays a time capsule you can rent an apartment in.
The Continent FAQ
Is The Continent still open? Parts of it. The retail that made it famous is almost entirely gone, but the French Quarter apartments are still leased and the property’s leasing agent is still marketing space on the site.
Can you still rent an apartment at The Continent? Yes. The Continent French Quarter apartments on Busch Boulevard are still leasing as of July 2026.
Who owns The Continent now? Most of the original site is held by AXS Opportunity Fund, which bought nearly 40 acres of it, including the apartments, in 2008.
When did The Continent open? 1972. Its heyday ran through the 1970s and 1980s, and it faded through the 1990s.
