Why it matters: There's so much change on the horizon for downtown Columbus and so many development goals set by local leaders, making it worth taking a regular view from 1,000 feet to track our progress.
Driving the news: The Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District recently released its 2023 report on the "State of Downtown Columbus."
Dozens more projects are in development, totaling $1.7 billion, like the renovation of a historic church to become a performance venue.
There's also the ongoing Interstate 70/71 project, which started in 2010 and feels like it will continue until we have flying cars.
👨👩👧👧 Population goals vs. reality. Columbus wants 40,000 people to live downtown by 2040, but it has a long way to go.
12,000 residents lived there at the end of 2023, a modest 3% increase over 2022.
The report tallies 9,413 residential units, with an additional 1,609 under construction.
The intrigue: Officials bemoan the local housing shortage , but downtown apartment occupancy actually dropped slightly last year.
Around 89.5% of apartments were occupied last year, compared to 94% across the rest of Central Ohio.
By the numbers: Steep prices could be to blame — the average rent was $1,520 for a 1-bedroom apartment and $2,158 for 2+ bedrooms.
That's significantly more expensive than average rents ($988 and $1,340) elsewhere in the region.
🤔 Be like Cleveland? The report credits The Land for aggressively converting vacant office space into apartments and encourages Columbus to do the same.
Reality check: We're working on it , but there's potential for more.
Despite the cheapest lease rates seen in decades, Columbus' downtown office vacancy rate has jumped since 2019 to 21%, thanks largely to people working from home.
More report tidbits from 2023:
🍽 $ 110,000: The amount paid out to restaurants through the LunchBucks discount program.
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