Ohio Living has quietly floated a major shake-up for its Westminster-Thurber campus just north of Goodale Park, pitching a plan to knock down the aging Westminster Terrace tower and rebuild a big chunk of the 10-acre site. The early concept would trade the seven-story 1960s high-rise and its attached healthcare wing for a cluster of new mid-rise apartment buildings and a modern on-campus healthcare center.
As reported by Columbus Underground, Ohio Living has filed a preliminary site plan with the city that calls for demolishing both the seven-story Westminster Terrace and the neighboring one-story healthcare center. The filing sketches out two five-story buildings and one six-story building along Neil and Collins avenues, along with a roughly 25,000-square-foot healthcare building on the parking lot north of the Goodale Landing tower. “We’ve submitted a preliminary site plan for Ohio Living Westminster-Thurber with the city and are currently in the early stages of master planning,” Mica Rees, Ohio Living’s chief brand and growth officer, told Columbus Underground.
What Sits on the Site Now
Westminster Terrace, at 717 Neil Ave, dates back to the mid-1960s, while the campus health center was completed in the 1990s, according to Ohio Living. The nonprofit’s campus map shows a tight cluster of independent-living, assisted-living and skilled-nursing buildings lining Neil and Goodale streets. Goodale Landing and Heritage Pointe are among the more recent additions that have reshaped the Thurber Village edge of the campus.
City Filings Signal Movement
City permit records show multiple recent filings tied to Ohio Living at campus addresses, pointing to active planning and permitting work behind the scenes. The city's Accela permits portal lists Ohio Living as owner on several building and inspection records for parcels along Neil Avenue, including entries tied to 655 and 717 Neil Ave, which suggests the nonprofit is moving pieces through municipal review. Those records do not set a demolition date, but they do show the project is in the city's queue, and that technical approvals will be required before any work can begin.
Where the Neighborhood Line Is Drawn
The Westminster-Thurber campus technically sits inside Harrison West rather than within the Victorian Village boundary, so a formal Victorian Village Commission design review would not be required. Instead, neighborhood groups would provide advisory input, according to local neighborhood materials. Recent campus growth, including Goodale Landing and the Heritage Pointe tower, is documented in local project listings at JMM Architects. Neighborhood resources also spell out that Neil Avenue is the dividing line between Victorian Village and Harrison West, which explains why the commission’s jurisdiction stops short of the site.
Timeline: What Comes Next
Ohio Living stresses that the submitted site plan is conceptual, and that final unit counts, building heights and a construction timeline are still up in the air, according to Columbus Underground. The next key step is a preliminary site plan and engineering review through the city's planning channels, and the City of Columbus outlines the technical materials and approvals that process typically requires. Residents who want to keep tabs on the proposal can watch the city's permit portal and upcoming public notices tied to the site.
