Katz said commercial development in the Arena District east of Neil Avenue has created momentum for housing development in Pen West, a manufacturing district west of the former Ohio State Penitentiary. Katz and other district developers have put together a plan through Myers-Schmalenberger Landscape Architects that calls for the conversion of former factories and warehouses into offices and residential projects. It just doesn't belong as we try to progress this neighborhood. Katz said the Buggy Works building could become an active residential renovation project in a matter of months. Another property next to the Savko site could seek approvals for a residential project sometime soon.
Nobody wants to look at big piles of concrete and debris as they look out the window.
But Katz said even that property likely would become a residential or commercial office project in the coming years. But he remains skeptical that residential development will occur soon in the district, which retains its historic manufacturing zoning designation. It hasn't happened yet.