What used to be Ohio State’s livestock turf next to Don Scott Field is on track to become one of Columbus’ newest clusters of market‑rate housing. The 27.27‑acre stretch at 2575 W. Dublin‑Granville Road has been rezoned and is working through permits, signaling a sizable buildout of apartments and townhomes on land the university once devoted to cows instead of commuters. It is a textbook case of campus‑adjacent institutional property flipping into private housing stock.
What’s proposed
Columbus Business First reports the project as “nearly 500” apartments and townhomes. City rezoning documents put a precise cap at 474 dwelling units across the 27.27 acres, broken into 336 apartment units and 138 townhomes under Rezoning #Z24‑052, according to the development text filed with the City of Columbus.
Who’s building it
NRP Group is listed as the applicant for the project, and the company’s bidding board labels the apartment portion “OSU Airport East,” a 336‑unit plan with 11 three‑story residential buildings, a standalone clubhouse and two underground storm tanks. The materials place that apartment component on a 13.97‑acre “Area East” within the larger site, with the townhomes filling in on the neighboring western portion, according to NRP Group.
How the land became available
Ohio State’s Planning, Architecture and Real Estate office says the university tagged the 2575 W. Dublin‑Granville parcel as surplus after livestock programs were shifted to the Waterman facility, a move made to support the airport’s master plan. The university’s notice states the land was no longer needed for College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences activities and that its sale opened the door for this redevelopment opportunity, according to Ohio State PARE.
Traffic, timeline and approvals
City permit records for Zoning Record Z24‑052 show Ordinance #0276‑2026 took effect on March 11, 2026, signing off on the rezoning and locking in a site plan with traffic upgrades, including an eastbound left‑turn lane at West Dublin‑Granville Road and McVey Boulevard, according to the City of Columbus. A “Final Bid Set” listing for the apartment section on the developer’s site signals the project has moved into bidding and pre‑construction, per NRP Group.
Why planners backed it
City staff recommended approval in part because the plan was found to align with the Northwest Plan and the Columbus Growth Strategy and because the rezoning would add housing supply along a major corridor. The ordinance and attached development text also spell out rules for setbacks, parking, landscaping and building materials to guide future permit reviews, reflecting the city’s effort to push denser housing toward sites that can handle it, according to the City of Columbus.
From here, neighbors and city officials will be watching the remaining permitting, traffic review and bidding steps, with timelines hinging on those approvals and related infrastructure work. If it all comes together as proposed, the project would deliver a sizable block of market‑rate housing next to campus and turn a familiar stretch of Ohio State’s former farm ground into a very different kind of field.
