Luxury apartments planned for downtown Chase Tower

With JP Morgan Chase now gone from its namesake tower near Capitol Square, developers have plans to replace the former offices with luxury apartments.

Why it matters: The proposed Chase Tower project at 100 E. Broad St. involves the convergence of several local trends: a rise in luxury housing and the transformation of underused office buildings as many workers still clock in from home.

• Plus, the redevelopment helps the city with its goal of quadrupling the downtown residential population by 2040.

State of play: JP Morgan Chase moved its local office workers to a separate campus in Polaris in 2021.

• Building owner Lingerfelt CommonWealth Partners told the Dispatch at the time it had no plans to convert it to housing, but has apparently reversed course.
• Though downtown is rebounding well from the pandemic, nearly 25% of Chase Tower remained unoccupied during the first quarter of 2023, Columbus Business First reported.

The latest: The Columbus Downtown Commission will hear an application Tuesday to change the 25-story tower from office to mixed-use space.

Details: Developers want to use historic rehabilitation tax credits to fund a renovation of the granite plaza and build new apartments on all but two floors that will remain office space.

• Ground floor commercial space will also stay — welcome news for fans of the popular Lexi's on Third deli.

• The proposal doesn't list the number of planned units, their price points or a construction timeline, but does lay out an amenity-focused 21st floor that will offer a fitness room, yoga/aerobic studio, game lounge and co-working station.

Meanwhile, about 500 feet to the northeast, a similar project is ongoing to redevelop the 26-story Continental Center office building into 336 apartment units and commercial space.

• The state awarded a $5 million tax credit toward the $89 million project.