Alton Place a $300M Mixed-Use Development in Hilliard Gets Approval

Alton Place, a proposed 354-acre mixed-use development in Hilliard has been approved to move forward.

After carefully reviewing the latest iteration of the project, one which has been in the works for nearly three years, Hilliard City Council voted 6-0 to approve the development agreement for Alton Place. The nearly $300 million “generational” development will be located at the northwest corner of Roberts and Alton Darby Creek roads and is the second massive development planned for the area. (Pulte Homes of Ohio and Harmony Development Group has proposed an 1,100-home residential development that would require rezoning and annexation of the property, now in Norwich and Brown townships, to the city of Columbus.)

Plans for Alton Place call for 447 housing units, including 167 single family lots for single-family homes and “empty nester” homes, and 280 multifamily lots. The multifamily lots would include denser “urban housing.” A lake and wetlands would separate that dense development from single-family and empty-nester homes to the west.

The development also would include 53 acres for a walkable “village center” featuring 245,000 square feet of commercial space and 177 acres of open space, including 3 miles of trails. This will include medical and professionals offices, retail space for restaurants and other businesses catering to residents of the neighborhood.

Many traditional suburbs are looking for ways to limit sprawl and appeal to younger and older residents alike with more walkable urban-style centers. Dublin’s Bridge Park project is an example, along with the still-developing Evans Farm in Delaware County.

Alton Place would feature a manmade lake with a wharf and be surrounded by wetlands, streams and grasslands that would be preserved on the property. It would include “an integrated system of walk/bikeways” and feature connected roadways with no suburban-style cul-de-sacs, according to McCabe.

Alton Place site will be located within walking distance of five Hilliard schools, a big bonus for families with children. The site sits next to three elementary schools as well as Hilliard Memorial Middle School and Hilliard Bradley High School.

120 acres of open space would be owned by a non-city entity such as MetroParks or a community authority. An additional 51 acres would be a preservation area conveyed to the city.

Impact fees of $2,500 per unit, water and sewer capacity fees also are part of the agreement, which also establishes a New Community Authority, Crandall said. McCabe has proposed a tax increment financing district as well.

Alton Place would generate an estimated $555,000 in annual income tax, including $81,000 in annual property tax once it is fully built out. The income tax revenue is more than twice a single family development, said Economic Development Director David Meadows, but the number is a “moving target” based on market values and final specifics of the project.

Developer Dwight McCabe of McCabe Construction said he plans on closing on the property from owner Homewood Corp. and start engineering after 60 days.