Columbus Metropolitan Library’s (CML) Board of Trustees today unanimously approved a purchase agreement with The Pizzuti Companies for the sale and redevelopment of the Grant Oak Apartments.

Joel S. Pizzuti, president of The Pizzuti Companies, said the development plan for the 1.25-acre site, located at South Grant Avenue and Oak Street just north of CML’s Main Library, will include ground-floor retail space and multi-family apartments in two five-story buildings.

“We’re extremely pleased to continue our work with Columbus Metropolitan Library,” Pizzuti said. “This is a key site in the Discovery District and will further cement the area as one of our city’s vibrant, walkable neighborhoods.”

The new development will include approximately 120 apartments ranging from studio to two-bedroom units. The two buildings will be separated by green space and a road from Oak Street leading to the entrance of Main Library’s underground parking garage. The building on the eastern portion of the site will have views of Topiary Park; the building to the west will have views of downtown Columbus. First-floor retail space on Grant Avenue will complement walk-up apartment units along Oak Street.

Construction is expected to begin in late 2018.

CML purchased the seven-building Grant Oak Apartments in 1992 with the intention of eventually expanding Main Library’s footprint northward. With the 2013 purchase of land just east of Main Library, CML could no longer justify owning the apartments. CML informed tenants of its plan to sell Grant Oak in a May 2016 letter and offered them month-to-month lease agreements ahead of the sale.

CML has worked to ensure that any sale and subsequent redevelopment of the apartments benefits library customers and adds to the vibrancy of the Discovery District.