Hilliard's Big Bet: A Tech-Forward Future
City Investment in 120-Acre Innovation Park, Aiming to Attract High-Tech and Advanced Manufacturing Businesses Reaches New Stage
A proposed commercial and technology park on the north side of Davidson Road adjacent to the Britton Farms subdivision has achieved the required rezoning for the project to advance.
John Talentino, a city planner, said the proposed development calls for about 780,000 square-feet of “flex development” that would generate an annual income tax between $700,000 and $1.4 million for the city.
As the city identifies occupants, individual development plans will come forward for consideration by the city’s planning-and-zoning commission and City Council.
City Council on March 10 unanimously approved the rezoning of the 120-acre parcel from R-R (rural residential) to a Planned Unit Development District (PUD).
The rezoning was approved 6-0 in the absence of Councilman Les Carrier.
The resolution was amended prior to its passage to include additional landscaping and buffering at the far north end of the parcel where it abuts the Hayden Crest subdivision, just south of Hayden Run Road.
The amendment was in response to concerns several Hayden Crest residents voiced at the Feb. 24 council meeting about light trespassing and noise from the proposed commercial development.
Prior to its rezoning on March 10, the city’s planning and zoning commission handed up a positive recommendation for the rezoning on Jan. 9 by a 6-1 vote.
The 120-acre parcel was once owned by the family of Larry Wolpert- a former member of the Ohio House of Representative and former Hilliard City Councilman.
One subarea of the rezoned parcel would include 48 acres of open space along the east side of the site, between Davidson Road and Hayden Run Road.
The second subarea would include developable land on the western half of the site along the rail line that crosses Davidson Road.
These subareas would include offices, laboratories, scientific research facilities, advanced manufacturing and other uses intended to attract companies that align with the city’s economic development strategy, according to the city staff report.
Hilliard Development Corporation
The parcel was purchased “for economic development purposes,” according to the staff report.
The transfer price of the parcel, at 4840 Davidson Road, is zero, according to the property record with the Franklin County Auditor’s Office.
Hilliard City Council approved the purchase of the parcel in November 2023, issuing bonds for an amount not to exceed $13 million, for the purchase of the Wolpert property and additional property at another location.
Wolpert Purchase Marks Major City Investment
Hilliard City Council on Nov. 13, at the request of the administration, authorized the issuance of bonds for the purchase of real estate in an amount not to exceed $13 million.
The authorizing ordinance approved in November 2023 called for the Hilliard Development Corporation to purchase 120 acres on Davidson Road for $10.8 million.
The land deal closed in March 2024.
The parcel is bordered on the east by the Britton Farms subdivision, to the west by railroad tracks, and lies between Davidson Road and Hayden Run Road.
The northern portion of the parcel borders the Hayden Crest subdivision in Norwich Township.