Category Archives: Columbus Development

Housing Market Update January 2021

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housing market update January 2021 Columbus, Ohio

The Columbus area housing market update January 2021 report is now available! Let’s be honest, the current housing market is extremely tough to navigate right now. This is true not so much for sellers, but rather buyers who are finding it nearly impossible to find a home they like at a good price in the neighborhood they want. There are relatively few homes available on the market, and those that are tend to get tangled in bidding wars that ultimately jack up the average sales price for the whole area.

The cause of this boils down to one critical problem- supply. There just aren’t enough existing homes to meet demand, nor are there nearly enough new homes being built. NIMBYism, local zoning and more issues are generally preventing increased home density in and around Columbus, keeping many potential homebuyers- and renters- struggling to find a place to live.

I haven’t done a breakdown of the Columbus real estate market in some time. Because of the current situation, I thought it would be a good time to take a fresh look.

The data below is from the January market report, the latest one available.

First, let’s look at those local areas that had the most homes for sale.

# of New Listings By County, January 2021
Franklin: 1,291
Delaware: 187
Licking: 157
Fairfield: 129
Union: 64
Pickaway: 47
Madison: 28
Morrow: 27
Perry: 20
Hocking: 16
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Franklin County has the most new listing by far.

Change of New Listings by County January 2020 vs. January 2021
Morrow: +8.0%
Fairfield: -5.8%
Licking: -6.5%
Franklin: -6.6%
Union: -7.2%
Perry: -13.0%
Madison: -20.0%
Pickaway: -23.0%
Delaware: -31.0%
Hocking: -42.9%
New listings were generally down across all but one metro county, a continuing story even before the pandemic.

Average Sales Price by County in January 2021
Delaware: $430,684
Union: $312,742
Fairfield: $265,821
Pickaway: $256,235
Franklin: $253,852
Licking: $234,116
Morrow: $232,393
Madison: $231,396
Perry: $219,053
Hocking: $208,231
All counties saw the average sale price of homes sold exceed the $200K mark, but Delaware County remains the most expensive place to buy a home in the metro.

Change in Average Sales Price by County January 2020 vs. January 2021
Perry: +53.7%
Pickaway: +36.4%
Fairfield: +25.9
Delaware: +23.5%
Franklin: +13.4%
Union: +12.0%
Madison: +9.6%
Licking: +9.0%
Morrow: +8.9%
Hocking: -7.6%
All but Hocking County saw significant year-over-year sales price increases of homes sold.

Now let’s take a look at individual communities. Which ones were the hottest in January 2021?

Local Communities/Areas by New Listings in January 2021
1. Columbus (Overall): 850
2. Columbus City School District (CSD): 579
3. South-Western CSD: 173
4. Olentangy Local School District (LSD) (Delaware): 95
5. Hilliard CSD: 92
6. Westerville CSD: 86
7. Grove City: 77
8. Dublin CSD: 68
9. Pickerington LSD: 59
10. Groveport Madison LSD (Franklin): 56
11. Worthington CSD: 51
12. Gahanna Jefferson CSD: 50
13. Newark CSD: 42
14. Lancaster CSD: 41
15. Delaware CSD: 40
16. Upper Arlington CSD: 40
17. Pataskala: 37
18. Beechwold/Clintonville: 35
19. Gahanna: 35
20. Westerville: 35
21. Hilliard: 35
22. Blacklick: 34
23. Marysville School District: 33
24. Reynoldsburg CSD: 32
25. Dublin: 31
26. Teays Valley LSD (Pickaway): 30
27. Downtown Columbus: 29
28. Pickerington: 27
29. New Albany Plain LSD: 24
30. Short North: 24
31. Big Walnut LSD (Franklin): 22
32. Powell: 22
33. Canal Winchester CSD: 19
34. London CSD: 15
35. German Village: 15
36. New Albany: 14
37. Hamilton LSD (Franklin): 14
38. Buckeye Valley LSD (Delaware: 13
39. Bexley: 11
40. Worthington: 11
41. Granville CSD: 11
42. Obetz: 8
43. Johnstown-Monroe LSD (Licking): 8
44. Circleville CSD: 7
45. Grandview Heights: 7
46. Sunbury: 7
47. Whitehall: 6
48. Jonathan Alder LSD (Madison): 6
49. Jefferson LSD (Madison: 5
50. Minverva Park: 2
51. Valleyview: 1
52. Lithopolis: 0
It’s pretty clear that the number of new listings falls off dramatically outside of Columbus proper. Only a handful of suburban areas had more than 50.



Average Sales Price January 2021, # of Homes Sold and % Change vs. January 2020
1. New Albany: $788,943: 14: +8.4%
2. New Albany Plain LSD: $669,455: 20: +10.2%
3. German Village $637,550: 10: +2.3%
4. Olentangy LSD $494,911: 96: +23.0%
5. Powell: $493,087: 11: +19.2%
6. Granville CSD: $492,045: 6: +31.3%
7. Dublin: $468,902: 37: +17.5%
8. Upper Arlington CSD: $462,594: 26: -9.2%
9. Bexley: $438,288: 13: -17.6%
10. Grandview Heights: $437,010: 6: +8.5%
11. Buckeye Valley LSD: $403,616: 20: +40.9%
12. Downtown: $384,230: 22: -36.4%
13. Dublin CSD: $378,788: 78: +11.8%
14. Johnstown-Monroe LSD: $375,598: 12: +110.8%
15. Short North: $360,830: 10: -8.7%
16. Jonathan Alder LSD: $340,887: 15: +20.7%
17. Big Walnut LSD: $337,550: 14: -8.8%
18. Gahanna Jefferson CSD: $335,621: 34: +19.7%
19. Blacklick: $325,445: 32: +39.7%
20. Sunbury: $318,980: 5: +39.1%
21. Pickerington LSD: $318,093: 40: +28.6%
22. Worthington: $316,625: 8: +7.0%
23. Teays Valley LSD: $315,316: 21: +52.5%
24. Beechwold/Clintonville: $300,780: 43: +15.4%
25. Hilliard: $297,387: 25: +0.9%
26. Worthington CSD: $294,236: 40: +17.5%
27. Pickerington: $282,044: 18: +13.0%
28. Westerville: $279,126: $279,126: -0.9%
29. Hilliard CSD: $277,377: 92: +5.9%
30. Canal Winchester CSD: $276,299: 17: +21.7%
31. Grove City: $272,378: 47: +17.8%
32. Minerva Park: $269,580: 5: +21.2%
33. Westerville CSD: $265,781: 68: -3.3%
34. Obetz: $260,825: 6: +26.4%
35. Gahanna: $255,650: 16: -2.1%
36. Marysville CSD: $254,363: 32: +17.8%
37. Hamilton LSD: $245,750: 4: +85.8%
38. Delaware CSD: $245,526: 31: +21.8%
39. Pataskala: $237,293: 18: +26.8%
40. Lithopolis: $228,125: 4: -1.4%
41. South-Western CSD: $227,266: 131: +17.9%
42. Columbus: $222,124: 761: +17.0%
43. Columbus CSD: $215,256: 507: +20.2%
44. Jefferson LSD: $210,225: 4: -35.5%
45. Reynoldsburg CSD: $203,965: 34: +9.0%
46. Lancaster CSD: $203,095: 44: +37.5%
47. Groveport Madison LSD: $194,690: 43: +30.3%
48. London CSD: $190,733: 14: +43.8%
49. Circleville CSD: $183,546: 13: +5.3%
50. Whitehall: $165,361: 11: +68.6%
51. Newark CSD: $143,241: 51: +15.9%
52. Valleyview: $120,000: 1: N/A
As stated above, most areas in the metro are priced above $200,000 for a house. Columbus overall is still one of the least expensive options. New Albany is really in a league all its own. It should be noted that many of these average price figures are based on relatively few sales. Because available inventory is so low, the average sales price is being pushed higher. However, it is certainly possible to find homes lower- and in some cases, much lower- than the average price. This is especially true in Columbus.

Finally, let’s look at how long for-sale homes actually stay on the market.

Average # of Days Listings Remain on the Market Until Sale, and % Change January 2020 to January 2021
1. Valleyview: 1: N/A No sales occurred in January 2020.
2. Gahanna: 9: -74.3%
3. Groveport Madison LSD: 9: -69.0%
4. Hamilton LSD: 9: -50.0%
5. Worthington: 9: -72.7%
6. Reynoldsburg CSD: 10: -68.8%
7. Obetz: 12: -71.4%
8. Hilliard: 13: -61.8%
9. Worthington CSD: 13: -56.7%
10. Circleville CSD: 14: -76.3%
11. Lithopolis: 14: -61.1%
12. Marysville CSD: 14: -63.2%
13. Minerva Park: 14: +133.3%
14. Pataskala: 14: -46.2%
15. New Albany: 15: -88.9%
16. New Albany Plain LSD: 15: -83.9%
17. Pickerington: 15: -71.7%
18. South-Western CSD: 15: -34.8%
19. Teays Valley LSD: 15: -58.3%
20. Canal Winchester CSD: 17: -73.0%
21. Whitehall: 17: -46.9%
22. Hilliard CSD: 18: -48.6%
23. Lancaster CSD: 18: -52.6%
24. Westerville CSD: 18: -47.1%
25. Delaware CSD: 19: -51.3%
26. Grove City: 19: -36.7%
27. Beechwold/Clintonville: 20: -53.5%
28. Columbus: 21: -30.0%
29. Westerville: 21: -27.6%
30. Newark CSD: 22: -31.3%
31. Pickerington LSD: 22: -45.0%
32. Dublin: 26: -55.9%
33. Buckeye Valley LSD: 27: -44.9%
34. Columbus CSD: 27: -18.2%
35. Dublin CSD: 27: -41.3%
36. Jefferson LSD: 27: -46.0%
37. London CSD: 27: -32.5%
38. Blacklick: 28: -12.5%
39. Grandview Heights: 28: -37.8%
40. Gahanna Jefferson CSD: 29: -23.7%
41. Johnstown Monroe LSD: 29: -12.1%
42. Sunbury: 29: +222.2%
43. Jonathan Alder LSD: 35: -10.3%
44. Short North: 35: -47.8%
45. Big Walnut LSD: 37: -54.3%
46. Bexley: 44: -18.5%
47. Upper Arlington CSD: 46: -17.9%
48. Olentangy LSD: 49: -16.9%
49. Powell: 52: -8.8%
50. Granville CSD: 54: -15.6%
51. German Village: 56: -38.5%
52. Downtown: 96: +242.9%
Only 2 places in the metro saw an increase, with the big one being Downtown. This was most likely due to a few factors- last year’s protests and the pandemic reducing demand close to Downtown jobs. I would expect it to recover somewhat this year and certainly next year. Overall, though, most places saw significant drops in how long homes lasted on the market. Given that these are averages, we know that there were plenty of instances of homes flying off the market in just a few days.

Furthermore, the actual inventory on the market is 30 days or less. This means that if no more homes became available for sale, all the homes on the market would sell out in less than a month. In many cases, the supply would run out in just a few weeks.

Certainly, all these numbers indicate that Columbus itself is still one of the best options for home buying given its lower costs and greater supply, but even there, homes are selling in just a few weeks on average. There’s really been no better time to sell in a long time, but also no worse time to buy. Hopefully, this data provides at least a little insight into the local market and where one might fight the greatest advantages in finding a home. My recommendation is to use every available resource- from realtors to social media- to aid in the search.

You can find full data reports at Columbus Realtors, and links to Columbus area resources at Columbus Links and Resources

Happy hunting!



Cool Link: Columbus Urban Forestry Plan

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Only about 22% of Columbus’ land is made up by tree cover, which is lower than many of its national peers. Because of this, the city has come up with the Columbus Urban Forestry Plan, which in part seeks to plant millions of trees in the coming years, potentially beginning next year. You can view the plan, timeline, tree canopy statistics and neighborhood maps all the way down to a block by block level at the following link: Forestry Plan




1962 Predictions of a Future Columbus Ohio and World

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Back in 1962 on Columbus’ 150th anniversary, local politicians, educators and industry leaders were interviewed by the Columbus Dispatch on what they thought the future might look like. The predictions were made for the year 2000, but even 20 years past that date, many of the predictions have proven wildly inaccurate… and a few that have surprisingly come true. Let’s look back on the 1962 predictions to see just which ones proved prescient and which ones flopped.

1962 predictions for Columbus

How Columbus was supposed to look in 1992.

Growth, Population and Demographics
Prediction: The city would have a population of 1.5 million in 2000 with 2.2 million in Franklin County.
Result: In 2000, the city had less than half the prediction, with just 711.5K and roughly 900K today. The county had 1.069 million in 2000 and 1.318 million today. Both are a far cry from the 1962 predictions, despite relatively strong growth since then, especially by Ohio standards.
Prediction: Columbus and Franklin County would be merged and operated under a single government.
Result: While there have been proposals for this going back to the 1930s, it has never happened and isn’t seriously under consideration today.

Infrastructure Predictions
Prediction: Downtown would have “grass-bordered pedestrian parks with auto traffic running underground”.
Result: While several new parks have been created over the years in and around Downtown, the only significant tunnels built under the city have been for sewage and water.

Prediction: Downtown’s streets would be multi-level, with elevated decks for pedestrians, and cars travelling on lower decks.
Result: There are currently no elevated or multi-level roadways. If anything, an increasing number of such structures are being torn down nationally.

Prediction: Renovation of the Scioto River levees in 1962 would allow for new recreation and parks along the river.
Result: Any infrastructure improvements along the river at the time made little impact on the overall use of the Scioto. It took another 50 years with the development of the Scioto Mile and the Scioto Greenways to significantly alter how Columbus residents interacted with the riverfront- ironically redevelopment that included the removal of a dam.

Prediction: Instead of walking, electronic sidewalks would move people around.
Result: Technically, these already existed at the time in the form of escalators, and while they haven’t proliferated around cities, people-moving sidewalks of a sort are now common at airports in long corridors, though not in Columbus’ single-terminal airport.

Prediction: Cars would be under the control of cables buried under streets instead of drivers.
Result: While no cable system exists, autonomous vehicles are now a thing and Columbus has at least one autonomous shuttle currently operating in Linden.

Prediction: The Ohio Penitentiary would be replaced by an office complex.
Result: The Pen closed in the 1980s and was demolished in the late 1990s for the development of the Arena District. While there is some office space, the AD is a far greater development than envisioned in 1962.

Prediction: Union Station would be used as a transit hub for a monorail, bus and helicopter transit system.
Result: Union Station was torn down in 1976 to build the convention center after much controversy. There is currently no multi-modal transit hub in the city, despite numerous attempts to build one over the years. The city still only has a bus system.

Prediction: High-rise apartment buildings would go up along the edges of Downtown.
Result: Only a handful of legitimate high-rise apartment buildings have gone up since 1962 Downtown, including Miranova, North Bank Condos and Waterford Tower. A few more are in the works, though none are really planed for the “edges” of Downtown.

Prediction: Products and people would be shipped across the country by rocket ships.
Result: Rocket ships didn’t happen, but there are proposals for a super-fast system of transit. The closest example would be the Hyperloop, which is currently under testing and with which Columbus could one day be a beneficiary.

Prediction: Big Darby Creek would be dammed by at least 2 structures to provide water for the city and as flood control, with a new water purification plant built along its banks.
Result: Thankfully, this didn’t happen, as the Big Darby watershed is one of the most pristine in Ohio. Instead, it has been expanding as one of Columbus’ largest MetroParks- Battelle-Darby Metro Park- currently encompassing more than 7,000 acres.

Health and Safety
Prediction: Organ transplants would be possible and common, with many made of plastic.
Result: While organ transplants are indeed common now, they are largely just the flesh and blood type.

Prediction: “Irradiated” food would allow the “housewife’s chores” to be “revolutionized, preparing meals weeks in advance.
Result: This one, of course, didn’t happen and is an obvious example of the 1960s limited imagination of a what a woman’s role in society could be or would end up becoming.



Culture and Entertainment
Prediction: Instead of washing machines, people would use “sound waves” to clean clothing as it hung in home closets.
Result: Unfortunately, doing laundry the old-fashioned way is still in our present and future.

Prediction: Clothing would be made out of paper and be thrown away after single-use.
Result: I’m not even sure how this would be possible or practical.

Prediction: The use of “magnetically inscribed cards…read by electronic cash registers” would be used for purchases.
Result: Credit and debit cards are now just as popular, if not moreso, than paper money.

Prediction: Schools would operate year-round.
Result: While a year-round school year has been toyed with over the last 50 years, there are very few districts that have switched to it.

Prediction: Movies could be rented for personal use, and televsions could provide commercial free programs to individual households.
Result: Movie rentals did happen with the invention of the VCR and DVD player. The second part of the prediction is basically describing a streaming service like Netflix, which has killed the rental market.

Another imagined view of Columbus by 2000. Notice that only LeVeque Tower and the Statehouse remain recognizeable, showing obvious atttudes towards historic preservation at the time.

Out-There Predictions
Prediction: Columbus would have its first resident visit the moon.
Result: Ohio has seen several astronauts, a few of which did end up making it to the moon, but no Columbus residents to date have been there.

Prediction: People would be able to read minds with “electronic gadgets”.
Result: While no actual mind reading exists today, the study and understanding of human behavior, and therefore predictions of it, have come a long way.

Prediction: Interplanetary travel would be in its early years and “colonists” would be travelling regularly to Mars and Venus.
Result: There is some truth to this as there are plans to venture to Mars, as well as experimental technology in development that could allow us to travel to other stars and planetary systems someday.  Unmanned probes have been getting closeup looks at other planets for decades. However, no one is going to Venus, which we now know is an incredibly hostile place where no human could ever visit, let alone live.

Planners had many grand ideas in 1962, but they were definitely a product of the times. The city they imagined was full of the bright and shiny hope of the Space Age, with everything old and natural swept away for a Jetsons future. Technology has advanced in ways that they saw coming decades before it happened, but in many ways they never could have imagined. They didn’t imagine, however, the consequences of all that technology and highways and consumption and how we’d still be cleaning up the mess from those mistakes. Not to mention making new ones along the way.

The future we face today perhaps doesn’t have the same irrational, aspirational hope of the 1960s, but there is still hope. We face some of the gravest threats of our existance, with many of them of our own making. We have the capacity and ability to solve them, however, and to have a future every bit as bright as the one imagined almost 60 years ago. This is true perhaps in ways that we too could never have imagined.



Cool Link: Metro Transportation Climate Impact Index

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transportation climate impact index

The Transportation Climate Impact Indexmeasures how the 100 largest US metros rank in terms of climate impact from everything from walkability to vehicles miles.

Ohio cities don’t rank highly, unfortunately. Columbus clocks in at #85, with its worst ranking coming from how much its residents drive. Columbus’ bus system only goes so far, and without any other form of transit, much of the area is completely car-dependent.

Streetlight, which makes the rankings for the transportation climate impact index, gives an explanation on the methodology here: https://www.streetlightdata.com/2020-climate-index-methodology/



What Happened to Columbus Landmarks Endangered List Buildings?

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As mentioned in the previous post, the Columbus Landmarks Foundation has been creating a Most Endangered List for historic buildings under threat of demolition since 2014. What has happened to those buildings? This post seeks to find out. While I did not research every building on the lists, I managed to get most of those that were inside I-270 and were built prior to 1950. Here are those Columbus Landmarks endangered list buildings.

Original Port Columbus Terminal Tower
Address: 4920 E. 5th Avenue
Built: 1920
List Appearances: 2014, 2015, 2016
Status: Renovated and Saved

Columbus landmarks endangered list buildings

Original Port Columbus Terminal.

This terminal building predates Port Columbus by a full 9 years, and is a very rare example of early air architecture. In 2015, Heartland Bank planned to build its HQ inside, but after performing some of the work, abandoned the project due to renovation complications. This caused concern that the building would be unable to find a new buyer. Eventually, though, new owers scraped together some funding to turn it into an aviation museum.

Clinton Avenue School
Address: 10 Clinton Heights Avenue
Built: 1895
List Appearances: 2014
Status: Renovated and Saved

The school building in 2009.

The school after renovation.

This old school sat in a prime location along North High Street, and after sitting disused for several years, there was concern that Columbus City Schools would demolish it or sell the site to developers. Luckily, that didn’t happen. In 2015, the district renovated and expanded the school into Clinton Elementary.

Elam Drake Farm
Address: 2738 Ole Country Lane
Built: Around 1850
List Appearances: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Status: Existing, but Deteriorating

Elam Drake was one of Columbus’ earliest masons and many of his buildings are still on the National Register of Historic Places. The farm is owned by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority. While it is unlikely to be demolished by the airport due to being on the opposite side of I-670, it is close enough to the highway (you can see it very easily on the right heading west) to be under constant threat of highway expansion. Because it is abandoned, the structure also continues to deteriorate and may just be demolished eventually due to poor condition.

Indianola Junior High School
Address: 420 E. 19th Avenue
Built: 1929
List Appearances: 2014, 2015, 2016
Status: Existing, but Deteriorating

Indianola in 2015.

Indianola has the honor of being the very first middle school in the United States, and many districts eventually copied the model. The building was abandoned in 2010, and over the next several years, vandalism and neglect slowly damaged the building. Columbus City Schools tried to sell the building, but wasn’t successful until 2018, when Ohio State purchased it. As of the end of 2019, there have been no formal plans announced for the future of the building, and it continues to fall into disrepair. Since the university has never been big on saving old buildings, the future could be grim.

Griggs Reservoir Dam Tender House
Address: 2933 Riverside Drive
Built: 1816
List Appearances: 2014
Status: Renovated, Saved

The dam tender house in 2003.

After renovation.

Originally the home of the Richards family on land deeded by John Adams, it became the home of the dam tender for Griggs in 1908. The dam tender manually controlled valves to allow water through the dam. After automation eliminated that job, the home stood abandoned for many years. Eventually, though, the building was renovated in 2015 to be event space for Griggs Reservoir Park.

Engine House #14
Address: 1716 Parsons Avenue
Built: Before 1900
List Appearances: 2014, 2015
Status: Existing, Stable

The firehouse in 2017.

Not much seems to be known about this building other than that it’s an interesting example of an old Columbus firehouse. The building has been empty for many years and has been for sale off and on recently. Currently, the building remains idle with no serious buyers lined up. As the area sees more revitalization, particularly along Parsons, the firehouse could come under threat by redevelopment pressures.

Bellows Avenue Elementary
Address: 725 Bellows Avenue
Built: 1905
List Appearances: 2014, 2015
Status: Existing, Stable

This old elementary school operated until the 1970s and has been abandoned since. It narrowly escaped construction of 315, but a planned rework of the highway intersection threatens its eventual demolition. Despite that, a plan to renovate the school and build apartments or condos on the grounds popped up a few years back, but aside from some stabilization efforts to the school to prevent further building decline, nothing else has occurred.

Columbus Railway Power and Light Company Building
Address: 838 Cleveland Avenue
Built: 1915
List Appearances: 2014, 2015, 2016
Status: Existing, but Deteriorating

The building in 2017.

This building was part of the Columbus Central Street Railway Car Depot and Power House once located at this intersection. It has been abandoned for a long time with no plans to do anything with the building.

Near East Trolley Barn Complex
Address: 1600 Oak Street
Built: 1880-1900
List Appearances: 2014
Status: Existing, Deteriorating but with Redevelopment Plans

The main trolley barn and grounds in 2019.

This complex was used by trolley car lines for decades to store and repair trolley cars, but has been in disuse for more than half a century. The good news is that a long-awaited revitalization plan is now in the works to turn the complex into a mixed-use development complete with a market, retail space and apartments.

O’Shaughnessy Funeral Home
Address: 405 E. Town Street
Built: 1853
List Appearances: 2014
Status: Existing and Stable

The home in 2019.

One of the oldest remaining homes Downtown, this building has been used as a funeral home, offices and other functions over the years, but has been abandoned for decades. The home apparently needs significant interior renovations, so it remains a tough sell.

Kessler’s Corner Grocery
Address: 553-555 W. Town Street
Built: 1884
List Appearances: 2015
Status: Existing, but Deteriorating

Kessler’s in 2019.

One of just 4 masonry buildings that survived the Great Flood of 1913 in this part of Franklinton, the building has been abandoned for a few decades at least. East Franklinton, in which this building sits, is fast becoming one of the hottest neighborhoods in the city, with a large number of new construction projects coming up. This could serve to save the building through renovation, or put pressure towards its eventual demolition. Without stabilization efforts, renovation may come too late, anyway.

Holy Rosary Roman Catholic High School
Address: 498 Berkeley Road
Built: 1928
List Appearances: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Status: Existing, but Deteriorating

The school was used through the 1960s as part of the Holy Rosary Church complex. There are no current plans for the building.

Trott & Bean Architects, Inc. Building
Address: 77 E. Nationwide Boulevard
Built: 1910
List Appearances: 2015
Status: Demolished

This former plating and silvering plant was later renovated by Trott & Bean as offices. It was demolished to build the Canopy Inn Hotel in 2017. The hotel built a similar looking facade to the original building on lower floors, but no part of the building was used.

Salzgaber Farmhouse
Address: 1192 Grandview Avenue
Built: 1904
List Appearances: 2015
Status: Saved

The house in 2019.

One of the original homes in the Grandview Heights area, the Salzgaber family sold produce at North Market for many years. It came under threat in 2014 and early 2015 from a condo proposal. That proposal was later rejected and a new buyer preserved the house.

East Pilgrim Elementary School
Address: 440 Taylor Avenue
Built: 1921
List Appearances: 2015,
Status: Existing and Stable

East Pilgrim Elementary in 2019.

Built as an overflow for the growing East Side student population, this school was abandoned in 2004. Columbus City Schools sold the build to Partners Achieving Community Transformation, or PACT, around 2010. PACT had originally proposed to renovate the building for adult educational purposes, but later determined that renovation would cost more than tearing it down. However, community leaders were divided on the demolition plan, with many being opposed. So far, it seems no firm redevelopment plans have appeared, and the building continues to sit empty.

The Main Bar
Address: 16 W. Main Street
Built: 1880s
List Appearances: 2015
Status: Existing and Stable

The Main Bar building in 2016.

One of only 2 remaining 19th Century buildings on Main Street between 3rd Street and Front Street Downtown, this building has been used as a saloon, offices, bar and residences over the years. The RiverSouth area has been steadily redeveloped in recent years, and though no specific project is planned for the site yet, it’s only a matter of time.



Pavey Block
Address: Between West Northwood and and West Oakland Avenues along North High Street
Built: Between 1900-1905
List Appearances: 2016
Status: Renovated and (Mostly) Saved

The Pavey Block in 2015.

The Pavey Block is named after Charles Pavey, a horse breeder, who built his home here at 2259 N. High Street. The block was one of the last intact original residential blocks on High Street south of Clintonville. In late 2015, a developer proposed a mixed-use development on the whole block called Pavey Square, which would have required the demolition of all 6 High Street homes, along with 2 additional homes on Oakland and Northwood and an old commercial building. After local residents and area commission members rejected the demolition, the developer eventually modified the project to incorporate all 6 main homes in their entirety to preserve the High Street streetscape.

Ohio National Bank
Address: 167-169 S. High Street
Built: Early 1900s
List Appearances: 2016
Status: Existing and Stable

The bank building in 2019.

This bank building has been abandoned since the 1990s. Though no plans have emerged for it, the surrounding part of Downtown has been booming with new development, which could eventually threaten the property.

Macon Hotel Building
Address: 366 N. 20th Street
Built: 1888
List Appearances: 2016, 2018
Status: Existing, but Deteriorating

The Macon in 2019.

Built as a hotel, the site was a popular hotel for jazz musicians visiting the city before WWII, and the building later became a club and lounge. In 2017, there was a proposal to renovate the building into residential units, but so far, nothing has come of that proposal beyond some gut work on lower floors.

124 South Washington House
Address: 124 S. Washington Street
Built: 1869
List Appearances: 2016
Status: Existing and Stable

This old home, one of the few remaining Downtown on Washington Street, is threatened by plans by Motorists Mutual to develop the site and nearby areas with mixed-use projects around Topiary Park. Planning maps have shown the house being demolished in the future.

Grant-Oak Apartments
Address: Intersection of Oak and Grant
Built: 1942
List Appearances: 2016
Status: Partially Saved, Partially Demolished

The apartments in 2016.

These WWII-era apartments were some of the last historic apartment blocks Downtown. Columbus Metropolitan Library bought the apartments in 1992, and in 2017 in partnership with Pizzuti, proposed demolishing all 7 of the buildings to construct a new, mixed-use development on the site. In 2019, after some pushback by community leaders, it was decided that 4 of the 7 buildings would be saved and renovated, while 3 of the remaining would be demolished for the mixed-use project. Those 3 were demolished over the summer of 2019.

Hayden Mausoleum
Address: 1000 Green Lawn Cemetery
Built: 1920
List Appearances: 2019
Status: Existing, but Deteriorating

A recent entrant on these lists, Hayden Mausoleum was design by Frank Packard as the largest single-family mausoleum in Central Ohio. It is threatened due to the poor condition of its roof and increasing water damage, that without renovation, could cause it to collapse.

Kroger Bakery Building
Address: 457 Cleveland Avenue
Built: 1914
List Appearances: 2019
Status: Existing and Stable

Another recent entry on to the endangered, this original Ford Motor Company assembly plant was long used as part of the Kroger Bakery. Kroger closed the factory earlier in 2019 and the building is now for sale. Given that the whole area is steadily improving, the site could either be bought and renovated into other uses, or demolished altogether for new development.

Greater Columbus Antiques Mall
Address: 1049 S. High Street
Year Built: 1889
List Appearances: 2018
Status: Existing and Saved

The George Stanton house came under threat early in 2018 when Schiff Properties wanted to tear it down and put in a fast food outlet. The longtime owner and antiques seller wanted out of the business, and the home existed outside of historic area protections. Fortunately, there was enough public backlash to cause Schiff to pull the proposal. As to what might happen to this property remains to be seen. Some proposals have called for it to be moved to a new location, so it still could end up threatened again.

Overall, the vast majority of these buildings have fared well. While plenty are in dire condition and need desperate renovations to save them, that opportunity remains for most. Still many others did, indeed, receive the attention they needed and were saved from the wrecking ball. Of course, Columbus Landmarks Foundation only highlights perhaps a dozen or so buildings each year, and there are dozens more that never make the list at all and end up lost. It’s an important reminder that the best way to save these historic structures is by drawing as much attention to them as possible.