Sports entertainment districts? Columbus mastered the model nearly 25 years ago
August 28, 2024
Article originally published by Real Estate Journals, written by Dan Rafter
Sports and entertainment districts are big draws today, with cities across the Midwest either opening or planning these mixed-use developments centered around sports arenas.
But the concept, though often successful, isn’t new. Just look at the city of Columbus, Ohio. Nationwide Realty Investors’ Arena District will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year. And for more than two decades, this district has been a focal point in Columbus, hosting major sporting events and drawing a steady stream of restaurants, retailers, multifamily apartments and visitors to this slice of Columbus.
The Arena District was a $2 billion development on Nationwide’s part. It includes 2.1 million square feet of commercial space and 300,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment venues.
It is also home to the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, AAA baseball’s Columbus Clippers and the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer. The Arena district is home to 1,100 residential units and a series of parks, bike trails, dining and entertainment options.
And today, the Arena District is still booming. You might even argue that it has become an even more popular destination for major sporting events. Columbus hosted the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball first and second rounds and 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Columbus hosted the 2024 MLS All-Star Game in July and is scheduled to host the 2027 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Final Four.
Brian Ellis, president and chief operating officer of Nationwide Realty Investors, recently looked back at the development of the Arena District, its major victories and its future as it prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary next year.
How were the Arena District and Nationwide Realty Investors formed? Why would Nationwide Insurance get involved in arena development?
Brian Ellis: When I was hired at Nationwide in 1989, the company had been in and out of the real estate development business for many years, going back as far as the 1950s. Nationwide wasn’t actively developing in ’89, but we had some legacy assets in the portfolio. In 1996, I put together a business plan for what would become Nationwide Realty Investors. The board approved the creation of NRI effective January 1st of 1997, and I was elected President and COO.
Contrary to popular belief, Nationwide Realty Investors was not created because of the arena. It was, however, a case of excellent timing. Columbus had applied for an NHL expansion franchise, but the May 1997 sales tax levy that would have financed a publicly owned arena and soccer stadium failed. Nationwide’s CEO at the time, Dimon McFerson, immediately began talks with local leaders about the possibility of putting together a privately financed arena. We viewed this as a once-in-a-generation type of opportunity: a potential catalyst to kickstart downtown development. There was very little development activity and very little growth in the downtown core at the time and we saw this as a chance to change that. In fact, Columbus was still the largest city in the country at that time without a downtown arena.
By June of ‘97, we were in front of the Columbus City Council with a proposal to build the arena and the Arena District around Nationwide’s downtown headquarters. The NHL awarded Columbus a franchise on June 17 and the pressure was on to build an arena in a short time frame. That was the beginning: an opportunity that would shape the course of Nationwide Realty Investors’ future and, more importantly, a transformative moment for the City of Columbus.
Was it always part of the vision/master plan to have three stadiums in the Arena District?
Ellis: No, what you see today is a series of opportunistic and visionary decisions that all started with Nationwide’s investment in downtown and, of course, the arena. The original master plan was 75 acres with the arena positioned as an iconic centerpiece, integrated into this well-planned, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use, urban neighborhood. Today the Arena District has expanded to more than 200 acres. We have 2.1 million square feet of commercial space, about 1,200 residences, dozens of bars and restaurants, and three world-class stadiums lining Nationwide Boulevard.
From the beginning, we wanted to build a downtown environment that draws people in 24/7/365. The arena’s the anchor, but we also needed well-appointed streets, restaurants, residences, best- in-class office space, riverfront connectivity, and green spaces to build this major-league city where people want to live, work, and play. Following the success of Nationwide Arena, adding Huntington Park and then Crew stadium years later just took the great energy and synergy to an unprecedented level.
Huntington Park, home of the Triple-A baseball Columbus Clippers, opened in 2009 on a 7-acre site. The ballpark has been enormously popular. It’s frequently voted best minor league baseball stadium in the country. Both the ballpark and the team are owned by Franklin County—so it’s both literally and figuratively a community asset. Lower.com Field, home of the MLS Columbus Crew opened in 2021 and has hosted numerous major soccer events including the 2023 MLS Cup, from which they emerged champions, and recently the 2024 MLS All Star game. These are the types of events that create global exposure for the city.
Why is Columbus and the Arena District experiencing such a notable spike in national sports event hosting and activity?
Ellis: I think the world is recognizing what a dynamic downtown environment we have here in Columbus now. The vision we started 25 years ago is on full display. Case in point, we were recently ranked 10th on Sports Business Journal’s list of best host cities in the country.
We have outstanding facilities capable of hosting major sporting events, world-class entertainment, and national conventions. And it’s all within walking distance of great restaurants, park spaces, and hospitality. We have a lot of high-quality hotels, including the Nationwide Realty Investors-owned Hyatt Regency connected to the Greater Columbus Convention Center, and the newly expanded Hilton, which is the largest hotel in Ohio. Also, we partner closely with nearby Ohio State University, which has incredible athletics facilities and a top-notch staff specializing in premier NCAA events.
The Greater Columbus Sports Commission, which is an LLC of Experience Columbus, our city’s visitor’s bureau, has also done some outstanding work over the years raising the profile of Columbus as a sports city. The commission’s executive director, Linda Logan, deserves a great deal of credit. Under her leadership along with the Board of Directors, which I’ve been a part of since its inception, we’ve secured events like the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which took place at Nationwide Arena in January and drew more than 60,000 fans. It’s those types of events that put Columbus on the national stage.
I’ve heard the women’s free skate competition alone generated well over 2 million TV viewers. It’s really been an incredible year. The Columbus Fury, our women’s pro-volleyball team, kicked off their inaugural season at Nationwide Arena earlier this year. We’ve also hosted the NCAA and U.S. Fencing Championships, USA Volleyball National Championships, the annual Arnold Sports Festival, Savannah Bananas, and most recently, the MLS All Star game at Lower.com. Next year, Columbus will host the NHL Stadium Series, where the Blue Jackets will play the Detroit Red Wings at Ohio Stadium. Then in 2027, we’ll host the NCAA Women’s Final Four at Nationwide Arena for a second time.
The exposure from these high-profile events is key — the word is out that Columbus is a great host city.
How has the Arena District evolved over time to be a good fit to host such large-scale sporting events?
Ellis: The evolution is really the result of decades of thoughtful and intentional master planning and development. Every element of the Arena District has been additive, synergistically contributing to the whole. Nationwide Arena, Huntington Park, and Lower.com field are all outstanding places to watch a game or catch a concert. The Convention Center is fundamental to Columbus’ thriving tourism industry. But you also need exceptional infrastructure – both physical and experiential – to support a large influx of fans and visitors. It’s worth noting that the same infrastructure has been critical to driving the significant office and residential populations we have here. More than 100 businesses call the Arena District home. Many of those are Central Ohio’s top employers.
To support that level of density, we have a significant amount of structured parking within our projects, and it’s easy to get in and out of our downtown neighborhood whether you’re driving or walking. The Arena District is easily accessible from every Central Ohio freeway and it’s within about 10 minutes of John Glenn International Airport. Another key component – before the game starts and after the last whistle blows – we have the kind of dining and entertainment options that give locals and visitors a reason to want to come downtown.
The Arena District celebrates its 25th anniversary next year. Has it met your expectations? Where do you see things in another 25 years?
Ellis: It’s fair to say that the Arena District hasn’t just met expectations, it’s exceeded them to a staggering degree. We started with a blighted site with dilapidated buildings, a crumbling 150-year-old penitentiary, and a sea of surface parking. Today, we’ve generated more than $2.5 billion in development activity in and around the district. It’s an economic engine for the city with spaces, places, and experiences that attract people and dollars. Today, there’s so much development activity and momentum downtown and the arena was really the catalyst. Now, with the addition of high-profile neighboring developments like our Grandview Yard project, the footprint of downtown Columbus is expanding.
One of the things I’ve been most proud of in the 25 years since we built the arena and every sequential phase of the Arena District, is the transformative impact it’s had on the city. People want to live here. World-class companies and top talent want to work here. National conventions, NCAA tournaments and All-Star games are drawn here, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in visitor spending and greatly improving the quality of life for the people who live here.
As far as the next 25 years, we’ve always stayed very well-leased, both from an office and residential standpoint, easily outpacing the market. I think you’ll see the residential growth continue both in the Arena District and throughout downtown for the foreseeable future. We’re currently under development on another apartment project along our northern edge called 220 Vine. It’s an exceptional project that’ll bring our total residences to more than 1,200 in the neighborhood.
Residential is a key contributor to our 24-hour energy; and proximity to high-quality residential is extremely important to our office tenants – helping major employers and big brands attract and retain talent. Also contributing to the synergy in the Arena District are our great restaurants, walkable streets, expansive park spaces, riverfront connectivity, and 3 world-class stadiums. It’s a win-win-win for Columbus.
