A look inside the $10M effort to revive Columbus’ historic City Mills
A revitalization project that began five years ago between a local attorney and the Historic Columbus Foundation is starting to take shape along some of the city’s most historic riverfront sites.
City Mills eventually will include a hotel, a restaurant and more. A yoga studio, River Flow Yoga, has already started holding classes inside the building and outside on a lawn space.
“(City Mills) was one of the last vacant historic properties within the industrial-riverfront-historic district that really didn’t have a plan for redevelopment,” Historic Columbus Foundation preservationist Justin Krieg said. “It’s a very significant building just due to its age and its significance to Columbus, the industry and the economy.”
City leaders unveiled a “City Village” master plan in 2016, with City Mills among four districts along the river that could be revived with the help of $60 million in public money from multiple sources, the Ledger-Enquirer previously reported.
Project developer Ken Henson, operating as City Mills Property LLC, purchased the property around five years ago for $800,000. He since has partnered with the Historic Columbus Foundation to continue efforts to pump life back into the former flour and grist mill. It is on the National Register of Historic Places because it is part of the Columbus Historic Riverfront Industrial District.
Henson is also overseeing the renovation of three nearby buildings on 2nd Avenue, just north of the vacant Ralston Towers building. He’s adding a mix of apartments and some office space.
Krieg said the $34 million worth of investments made by Mercer School of Medicine for its upcoming riverfront campus, paired with other projects like Henson’s apartments, gives more security to the projects yet to come.
“Because we were able to raise those funds through the support of our community, we were able to secure and stabilize the building,” Krieg said. “And it meant that we were able to wait patiently ... until the time was right to take it to the next step.”
A deal was reached in 2018 to put a restaurant and boutique hotel in City Mills, and Columbus businessman Jack Pezold acquired a controlling interest in the historic City Mills property just north of the downtown TSYS campus that year.
The plan
Renderings of the site plan provided to the Ledger-Enquirer show the original River Building with a significant addition on the north facade.
It also shows the addition of a walk bridge that connects the two buildings over the Chattahoochee Riverwalk, with new stairs and an elevator tower.
Krieg and HCF also provided concepts of rooms guests could see inside the hotel.
Concept photos of the king bedroom show a bed with an office space against the wall, with a window that allows visitors to overlook the Chattahoochee River.
The queen bedroom concept is similar, but with brick walls, two beds and two windows.
The plans for the building also include a restaurant. The plans and name for it have not been finalized, Krieg said. In a text message to the Ledger-Enquirer, he said that the group would like it to be a locally-owned and operated restaurant.
Initial investment sparked interest
As of late November, there’s $10 million worth of investment in City Mills. The Historic Columbus Foundation made the initial investment, which launched interest for more investors to focus on areas outside of downtown Columbus.
There’s over $90 million total worth of investment happening in areas like Mercer School of Medicine’s riverfront campus, Chase Homes and City Mills.
“We see the City Mills site, and its investment, as giving a little bit of stability and security in further and adjacent investments,” Krieg said, “like Mercer and like Chase Homes.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
