Nationwide to Build 500 KSF M-U Campus in Columbus, Ohio

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Nationwide Realty Investors, developer of the $500 million mixed-use Grandview Yard in Grandview Heights, Ohio, has just revealed plans for the development’s next phase, and it hits close to home. NRI will build a 500,000-square-foot office campus for its parent company, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., at the suburban Columbus site.

“The new Nationwide campus at Grandview Yard will be located in close proximity to Nationwide’s downtown home office campus, allowing the company to bring central Ohio associates closer together over the next several years,” a Nationwide spokesperson told Commercial Property Executive. The insurance and financial services company houses 3,600 associates in offices of Dublin and Westerville, Ohio, and as leases expire at those locations, Nationwide will relocate 3,000 associates to Grandview Yard and house the remaining 600 downtown.

There will be ample room for all. Nationwide’s new Grandview Yard campus will consist of three interconnected four-story buildings, the largest of which will feature 320,000 square feet and make its debut in 2016. The other two buildings will open in 2017 and 2019.

“Nationwide’s goal is to create efficient and collaborative work environments, better align business units and take advantage of Nationwide-owned properties,” the spokesperson added. “Ultimately, this better positions Nationwide to serve the needs of its members and associates over the long-term.”

However, the next phase of Grandview Yard, which is the first development in the Midwest to be pre-certified as a LEED-ND Silver community by the U.S. Green Building Council, is not all about Nationwide. It will also feature a 135-room hotel and 13,000-sf conference center, owned NRI and operated by Columbus Hospitality, as well as a 2.5-acre public park.

The Nationwide campus, hotel and park will cost an estimated $100 million to complete.