Grandview Yard developer eyes project’s next phase after Panera, Giant Eagle deals finalized

Now the attention on Grandview Yard turns toward the middle.

It’s been another newsy week for Nationwide Realty Investors Ltd.’s mixed-use project with the securing of Panera Bread Co. for a new bakery-cafe and confirmation that the Giant Eagle Inc. store under construction will be its fancier Market District model.

With those projects, the portion of the project north of West Third Avenue is done, Nationwide President Brian Ellis told me. Panera is the last piece of that part of the project, joining the Giant Eagle, a GetGo gas station and Wright Patterson Credit Union.

“Everybody is trying to finish by mid-year, that June-July time frame,” he said. “We want to make a great first impression.”

The next key step is the extension of Yard Street to West Third Avenue, expected to occur in the next 24 months, which will spur more development in the middle of the almost 100-acre footprint.

Nationwide has plenty to keep it busy with $25 million of new projects moving along.

  • Ernst & Young and its 226 employees will take at least 15,000 square feet to anchor a 75,000-square-foot building coming next year.
  • There is another 30,000 square feet of ground-level office space in the new apartment buildings under construction now. “That’s unique in that it’s high quality but tailored to smaller tenants with good visibility,” Ellis said.
  • A Hofbrauhaus restaurant and brewery is scheduled to open in the fall. “We think that will be a destination restaurant that will draw from all over Central Ohio,” Ellis said. Hofbrauhaus, at 10,000 square feet, may be the biggest restaurant, but it won’t be the last. “We want a great mix,” Ellis said. “”at segment will grow as development grows. Grandview, the Olentangy River Road corridor is well known for the great restaurant mix. We expect we’ll have our share.”
  • OhioHealth Corp. will have an Urgent Care at the development as well.
  • Plans also call for more than 600 residential units with 154 apartments open now and another 120 under construction.

Ellis said the future includes condominiums and other urban residential products.