Program Directory

Columbus Metropolitan Club - 3-1-2023 - State of Downtown - Corner Offices to Condos

With many downtown Columbus high-rise office buildings still partially or completely empty, at least part of the solution to Central Ohio's worsening housing crisis seems to be at hand. Can empty skyscrapers be repurposed and refurbished into residences to help revitalize downtown Columbus and provide desirable new housing? It's a transformation that doesn't come easily or cheaply: with windows that don't open and vast floorplans sprinkled with columns, many office buildings just aren't viable candidates for conversion into high-rise residences. Still, several high-profile skyscraper conversions in Columbus are moving ahead through, including conversions of the 26-story Continental Centre on Gay Street and the former PNC Building on East Broad Street into mixed-use towers. With a panel of experts, we'll take a figurative elevator to the top floor to survey how empty office buildings in Downtown Columbus just might become the city's newest sought-after neighborhoods.

Featuring Tracy Hadden Loh, Fellow, The Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking, The Brookings Institution, and Philip Aftuck, Director, Investments, The Bernstein Companies, with host Sam Rosenthal, Principal, CEO, and Architect, Schooley Caldwell. Opening remarks by Marc Conte, Executive Director, Capital Crossroads and Discovery Special Improvement District.

March 1, 2023