Another developer proposes demolishing Ohio State dive bar for high-rise apartments

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Another development company is eyeing a popular bar near Ohio State University for demolition.

Illinois-based company Harbor Bay Ventures is proposing a high-rise apartment building at North High Street and West Ninth Avenue, a few blocks from Ohio State’s campus and the current site of multiple small businesses, including the Bier Stube. The storied dive bar, a favorite watering hole for Buckeyes students and alumni, is one of the last 20th-century holdouts in an area under rapid development.

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Under Harbor Bay’s proposal, the modest buildings occupied by Bier Stube, 14-0 Express carryout, Portofino’s Pizza and Yau’s Chinese Bistro would be replaced with a 15-story, 219-unit tower made of mass timber. Mass timber is a heartier alternative to light-frame wood but weighs less than steel or concrete and is typically quicker to build with.

The high-rise proposal would require city approval for a height variance; the zoning code currently allows for buildings up to 72 feet along the High Street corridor, while Harbor Bay’s pitch would be about 100 feet taller than that.

Harbor Bay Ventures has also acquired, through a “partnership,” the 13 rental properties just west of the site on West Ninth Avenue. In its conceptual application to the University Impact District Review Board, the developer proposed that the 15-story building would ensure the preservation of those units, which are currently managed by Hometeam Properties and rent for less than $1,000 per person.

If the developer is not granted the height variance, however, another proposed massing showed the demolition of those properties in exchange for a shorter, six-story building on High Street and a three-story building on West Ninth Avenue.

According to Harbor Bay’s application materials, the group also seeks permission to build fewer parking spaces than required by city code – 39 compared to the required 329. The group pointed to their plan to have ample bicycle parking and the potential use of a 1,200-space parking garage on East Ninth that is “highly underutilized.”

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The conceptual renderings show mostly studios up to four-bedroom units in the high-rise, accommodating upward of 500 tenants. The apartments would be geared toward Ohio State students.

The proposal is the second such pitch for the Bier Stube site in recent years. Last March, local property manager Buckeye Real Estate won approval from the University Area Commission to build a six-story, 95-unit building there, but it never achieved city approval. After multiple Ohio State students and alumni voiced concerns about the preservation of Bier Stube, Buckeye Real Estate said its final plan would have reserved commercial space on the first floor for the bar.

Harbor Bay’s Ohio debut opened to renters in 2022, a mid-rise V-shaped complex across from the West Side Market in Cleveland. The developer touts the building as “America’s largest mass timber project:” Studio apartments currently start at $1,510.

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