On the house: Housing hot spots both in town, suburbs
January 5th, 2014
Jim Weiker, The Columbus Dispatch
The new year provides as good an opportunity as any to reflect on the big picture. With that in mind, here, in no particular order, are the five most important housing development trends at play in central Ohio as we turn the calendar.
1. Rental boom
The rental market in the Columbus area has rarely—never?—been hotter than it is now. What began as a byproduct of the housing recession has morphed into a phenomenon.
An estimated 13,000 apartments are under construction or well into planning in central Ohio.
This isn’t strictly a construction boom, however. In the past few years, hundreds of central Ohio homes have gone from owner-occupied to tenant-occupied, catering to residents who either can’t buy a home because of the housing crash and tighter lending standards or simply don’t want to.
2. Urban renewal
Downtown gets a lot of attention, for good reason. The area is alive with construction activity that is transforming the city center with new apartments, restaurants and retail space.
About 1,400 apartments are in some form of development Downtown, most of them with commercial space on the ground floor.
The activity seen Downtown reflects a broader interest in urban living. From Merion Village to Harrison West, Franklinton to Olde Towne East, urban neighborhoods close to the center city are seeing bustle they haven’t enjoyed in years.