Construction Tour: The Keystone on Yard

We’ve been monitoring the exterior progress of The Keystone on Yard apartments in our monthly Construction Roundup series, but last week we had the unique opportunity to get a look at the project from the inside on a hard hat tour.

This latest residential phase of Nationwide Realty Investors’ (NRI) Grandview Yard development is taking the form of three new interconnected buildings lining Yard Street in a linear fashion, and will feature 120 one-bedroom and two-bedroom units sitting on top of 28,000 square feet of ground-floor office space.

“We’re already over 12 percent pre-leased and still have more than 60 days to go before the first resident moves in, so that’s excellent performance,” says NRI President Brian Ellis. “The first 154 units in the first apartment buildings we did at Grandview Yard have stayed very well leased — in the high 90 percent — consistently since they opened.”

The construction teams are working to have the south-most Keystone building completed in mid-September, the center building completed in mid-October and the north-most building completed in mid-November. The unit mix includes 78 one-bedrooms and 42 two-bedrooms. Ellis is confident that the project will well received.

“I have to admit that I had some concern about the marketing being able to absorb all of these new units being built in the Downtown area and near the core of the city, but it’s continuing to perform well,” he explains. “I’ve always been bullish about Downtown residential, but we’re at an unprecedented place with the amount of development that’s occurring. Still, all of our Arena District and Grandview apartments are doing well.”

Tour The Normandy in person on our Urban Living Tour, July 27th. Click the image above for details and tickets!
Discover the urban life on our upcoming Urban Living Tour, July 27th. Click the image above for details and tickets!
Beyond The Keystone building, Ellis anticipates that a different style of residential unit may be next in line for development at Grandview Yard. He says that some smaller single family homes are being reviewed for select portions of the 100-acre site.

“Single family homes, but in an urban context,” he states. “That means separated homes on small lots, but more of the three-level townhome style. We’re evaluating that opportunity west of Bobcat Avenue, which would create a nice transition between the existing Grandview Heights homes and the density of Grandview Yard.”

by Walker Evans, Columbus Underground
Read the original article here.