$4M upscale apartment building is coming blocks from the Columbus riverfront. What to know
Columbus attorney and developer Ken Henson will soon begin work on a new apartment complex near the High Uptown Historic District and the Chattahoochee riverfront.
The 24-unit complex will be at 1600 Third Ave., and Henson told the Ledger-Enquirer that work should begin in the next 60 days.
It’s the latest project for Henson, who is also behind the 1516 High Uptown complex and the Second Avenue Apartments just north of the Ralston Towers. The developments are all sandwiched between the river and Veterans Parkway.
The new apartments are an extension of 1516 High Uptown. They’ll look nearly identical down to the brick exterior. The properties are a short walk apart. Columbus architectural firm 2WR + Partners designed the building, Henson said.
Half of them will be two-bedroom apartments, and the remaining units will have one bedroom. Four of the one-bedroom apartments will have a bonus/office room.
Most of the units will have a balcony or porch. The apartments range from an estimated 850 square feet to 1,300 square feet, and rents could range from $1,000 to $1,600 per month, Henson said.
“They’re going to have more soundproofing ... than any other apartments in Columbus,” he said.
Henson estimates the project’s cost will be around $4 million, and the complex could welcome its first residents in early 2023.
It’s a convenient location for potential tenants, Henson said. It’s close to Downtown Elementary Magnet Academy and just a few short blocks to the riverfront, City Mills, the new Mercer School of Medicine campus and Chase Homes.
Henson said previously that every unit along Second Avenue — both near the Ralston and 1516 High Uptown — has been rented.
“I felt that there was a need for additional apartments down here,” he said. “(And) that people would be willing to pay a little more than they might on the northside of town for a traditional garden-style apartment.”
Henson has a long history with the area: His mother and grandmother grew up in a home previously located at 1516 Second Avenue — after which the complex is named — in the center of the block.
The home was demolished in the 1970s, Henson said, and the property was vacant for over 40 years. Henson previously said that his goal is to “rejuvenate” most of the vacant land “south of the railroad.”
He started purchasing property on the block in February 2019, including buying the three older homes from Historic Columbus in early 2020. If the area can be redone, Henson said, it would remove a significant amount of blight.
“I’m just trying to revitalize (the area),” Henson said. “. . . I looked at it, looked at it and looked at it, and said, ‘Somebody needs to do something.’
“So, I figured I’d give it a try.”
