Metropolitan Library Requests Redevelopment of Grant Oaks Apartments

Columbus Metropolitan Library is now soliciting proposals to redevelop their seven Grant Oaks Apartment buildings.

As they currently stand, Grant Oaks Apartments feature 130 studio and small one-bedroom apartments with rents raging from $440 t0 $510 a month.

The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) posted by the Main Library replaces the 1940s-era buildings with two mid-rise apartment buildings that would host up to 100 possible units framing a small park, with two new roads leading to easier access to the Library parking garage.

In addition to residences, the RFQ requests around 2,000 to 5,000 square feet of retail space, and asks that the new developer partner with the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority to make sure that at least 10% of the housing would be accessible and affordable to “working persons earning 80-120% of the area median income.”

This translates to at least 10 of the 100 possible units being available to people who earn $35,075- $52,612 (based off the median Columbus income of $43,844, according to a Biz Journal article.)

Although these new tenants might be entirely different from the current tenants due to the probability of higher rent, Ben Zenitsky, Marketing & Communications Specialist for CML, said, ““Restoring the existing buildings was certainly an option, but we no longer are able to justify retaining ownership of them and would hate to see them fall into disrepair,” he said. “Our primary two goals with this sale and development are to ensure the safety of our customers by incorporating the much-needed ingress/egress routes connecting our garage with Oak Street, and also enhancing and elevating the area around Main Library.”

After a proposal is chosen, it will have to go through Downtown Commission for approval.

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