A Columbus-based real estate company hopes to build a complex of 232 apartments, a parking garage, a restaurant and office space between College Avenue and Parkview Avenue within the next two years on Main Street.
Chairman of Continental Real Estate Company Frank Kass said the apartments will mostly be one bedroom units but will also include a small number of two and three bedroom apartments.
He added there will be office space and a restaurant on the first two floors, as well as a few penthouses overlooking Main Street.
The multi-bedroom units will be on the corners of the apartment, so there will not be very many, he explained.
“This is central to all of Bexley,” Kass said. “We have half a mile of retail front, so that made it natural for this kind of project.”
Residents of The Alexander condominiums nearby are suing Kass over the right to use the land, Bexley City Council Zoning and Development chair Sam Marcellino explained.
He said the increase in traffic could cost the condo owners thousands of dollars.
Kass said he has worked with the Architectural Review Board and the Zoning and Planning Board (BZAP), both part of Bexley City Council, to get this project approved.
At a BZAP meeting last August, Kass said Capital University was looking to change the school’s profile, including property.
Kass said Continental is in the process of buying the apartments from Capital, who bought the land in 2018.
Marcellino said there will be very few zoning obstacles as the property is already zoned for mixed use, which is appropriate for anything residential.
“There is a tax incentive to build parking garages,” he said. “There are 300 total spots, and anyone can use the garage when they’re on Main Street.”
However, there are citizens who are wary of the future building. Bexley resident J.D. Malone lives near the development and expressed worries at the August BZAP meeting.
“Our main concern is what is going to be on this property line,” Malone said. “We really don’t like the idea of traffic flowing onto Bryden, a street already full of pedestrians and bikes.”
The Alexander condominium resident and owner Steve Diamond testified against the development at the August BZAP meeting.
“Families with strollers and pedestrians use the private drive to get to Main,” Diamond said.
Diamond also raised the issue of noise pollution, which he said could escalate with construction and increased traffic caused by the development.
At the August BZAP meeting, Kass said he is preparing a traffic study to look at how construction will affect Main Street. There are a few more small approvals, but construction could start as early as this spring and would take around two years to complete, he added.
Additionally, due to some multi-bedroom units, Marcellino said children could be moving to the Bexley school system.
Marcellino added the effects would be minimal, and studies have shown that similarly sized schools have not been impacted by similar developments.
He added the apartments were previously rented to college students, who sometimes had children, so the expected rise in students would not be overwhelming.
Kass said the concerns people are voicing will be calmed when they see the property.
“This is for young adults that need a home office or older residents who are tired of shoveling snow, so it’ll be a real cross-section of Bexley residents,” Kass said.
Some are concerned about the height of the building, he said, but the development is the same height as other condominiums in the area.
He also built the building across from the Bexley Public Library, which houses a bookstore and coffee shop, and he said the size of that development was also questioned.
“This is the only site in Bexley to put nice looking apartments because there aren’t any three-acre sites here,” he said. “And this is three acres on Main Street, which is extremely valuable.”
Kass said due to the previous owners being a religious organization, the development was not producing any tax revenue. However, he said the new development could serve as a financial gain for the city.
“There’s a lot of young people, with their first or second job, who want to be close to a freeway, restaurants, shops and movie theaters,” he said.
Diamond said construction poses a potential safety hazard for current residents, and he wants to ensure that vulnerable citizens are protected.
“Many families use the private drive to get to Main,” he said. “This significantly impacts our quality of life and it’s something no resident should bear.”
Marcellino said the new development could mark the start of a new age for the city.
“Bexley doesn’t really have a space for young adults, and this could bring in a new demographic to keep the city alive,” he said.
