Council Approves 318 Affordable Apartments on North Cassady

A plan for 318 income-restricted apartments on the Northeast Side won approval from the Columbus City Council Zoning Committee on Monday, October 26. Ordinance 2915-2026 moves about 30 acres at 2125 Ackley Place, fronting North Cassady Avenue about a quarter mile above Airport Drive, from commercial planned development to apartment zoning, and it passed 9-0 on a motion by Rob Dorans. The companion measure with the site plan's variances, Ordinance 2916-2026, also passed 9-0 after members adopted the staff findings as their own, per the meeting record.

The applicant is Dominium, a national developer and manager of affordable housing that is under contract to buy the six parcels involved. Its filing describes ten three-story buildings, a clubhouse, a mail room, a play area and 501 parking spaces. Money would come through the federal 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, which the Ohio Housing Finance Agency administers. The documents do not list rents, unit sizes or the income caps tenants would need to meet.

Less than half the land would hold buildings. Alum Creek and its required stream buffer take up the western side of the property, and the developer says it will give that whole corridor to the city as public parkland. That leaves about 14.7 acres for buildings, parking, drives and stormwater, or roughly 22 homes per buildable acre. Plans show a footpath from the complex down to the creek trail, plus a covered bus stop along Cassady.

Three variances make that layout work. Rooflines can now reach 38 feet where the code allows 35. The setback along Cassady shrinks from 50 feet to 25, with the shelter allowed inside it. Side yards along the southern edge, next to an existing apartment complex, drop to 10 and 15 feet, though the filing says only pavement moves closer and a 20-foot planted strip stays in between.

Commercial zoning has covered the land since a 2019 rezoning, and the applicant says the commercial uses it allowed never arrived. The Development Commission voted 5-0 for the change on August 13. The Northeast Area Commission backed it if the buildings use natural exterior materials, a line that now appears on the elevation drawings. City staff cite the Columbus Growth Strategy, which marks this spot Mixed Use 2, a category that allows far denser and taller buildings than these. An August staff memo said a traffic study was still under way and could add access conditions, and the October filings do not say whether it is finished. Legistar records no amendments to either ordinance from Monday's session, and by Wednesday morning both still sat in the clerk's signature queue.

For people along Cassady and Sunbury Road, the vote means several hundred new households are coming, along with more traffic on Cassady and public access to a stretch of creek that is private today. The filings give no construction start or leasing date. For another large housing plan, read about One Twenty Vine, size up nearby areas with the where to live by lifestyle guide, browse the East Side page, and watch Real Estate for construction news.