Mill Run Redux
Latest Round of Updates to Commercial Complex adds Residential Living
Ground-floor apartments and new commercial development is to be built on the former site of Movies 11 at Mill Run, on Hilliard’s doorstep but in the City of Columbus, after the demolition of the dine-in movie theater that closed in July.
Columbus City Council in March approved a variance that allows for the construction of 235 apartment units, including ground-floor residential units, and 1,829 square-feet of commercial space but the developer isn’t yet sharing details about it.
According to landscape plans and site plans submitted with the application, the development is to be called The Gardens of Mill Run.
A variance was necessary because ground-floor residential units are not otherwise permitted in the commercial planned development district (CPD), according to a staff report.
The West Scioto Area Commission, an advisory committee that reviews proposed variances and development proposals prior to Columbus City Council action, did not oppose it, according to the report.
The applicant is MGM Properties, according to the report.
The approved apartments and commercial development is to be built on a 5.2-acre parcel on which a 58,500-square-foot commercial shopping center is to be demolished.
The parcel includes the Movies 11 dine-in theater in the 3700 block of Ridge Mill Drive, the shuttered Joey Chang’s restaurant, and several other former businesses.
As of Sept. 15, demolition had not commenced but fencing is in place on the perimeter of the demolition site.
Demolition cannot commence until the applicant has satisfied all the requirements for a demolition permit to be issued and those requirements had not been met as of Sept. 13, said Tony Celebreeze, deputy director of the Columbus Building and Zoning Services Department.
Jason Taggart, president of the Mill Run Owners Association, said the apartments are to be developed as luxury, market-rate apartments, as he understands through the developers he identified as MGM Mill Run, LLC, and Dune Investment Real Estate.
Steven Hicks, who is listed as representing MGM on the application, said Sept. 15 the company is “choosing not to comment on the project at this time.”
“In the next few months, we would be happy to share details about the project,” he said.
The proposed apartments and mixed-use development is but one development on the horizon as Mill Run is reimagined, Taggart said.
“In the last 24 months, about $117 million in real estate in Mill Run has transferred ownership. Two other large commercial properties are in contract and should transfer by the end of the year,” Taggart said.
A future pedestrian bridge across I-270 is to connect Mill Run to Hilliard, on the west side of the freeway, connecting it to Mill Run and the future TruePointe mixed-use development.
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Long-time Hilliard Developer Equity Takes Transformational Steps with TruePointe
The restaurants and retailers that are to occupy the 52-acre mixed-use development to be known as TruePointe are yet to be revealed but are expected to include some names making their first foray in the central Ohio market, according to Steve Wathen, CEO of Hilliard-based Equity, and the developer of TruePointe.
The proposed mixed-use development at the former theater is to be the latest change in Mill Run.
Sherwin Williams opened last year at the former Spagheddies and an event center is to open at the former Lunada Mexican Grill, just two of the restaurants, along with Damon’s, TGI Fridays and others that have closed in the past decade.
Popeye’s Chicken opened last month at the former Rapid Fire Pizza- which was once a Burger King- and a Moo-Moo car wash opened earlier this year at the site of an Exxon gas station.
There is also interest for an indoor electric Go-Karting race track to open in Mill Run, Taggart said.
“There is a tremendous amount of new investment occurring in and around Mill Run. The Cemetery Road interchange at I-270 is a hot spot for new development and investment,” Taggart said.
Sounds like a smart redevelopment of this area of Mill Run