A two-story penthouse perched atop downtown Columbus's landmark LeVeque Tower sold at auction Thursday evening for $608,999, closing out a bidding war that drew 21 offers on the historic property. The auction for Unit #3602, which spans the building's 36th and 37th floors, opened at $580,000 and wrapped up at 7 p.m.
The sale was first reported by The Columbus Dispatch, which spoke with Mandy Reeves, the auctioneer and realtor with Auction Ohio who handled the sale alongside Cindy McCain of Keller Williams Classic Properties Realty. Reeves said the identities of the bidders would not be disclosed. The nearly 2,100-square-foot unit includes two bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms, according to the same report, along with panoramic views of Columbus and the Scioto River from a west-facing orientation. A Sotheby's International Realty listing for the property lists two gated garage parking spaces and a private storage unit as part of the package.
A Rare Slice of a Historic Skyline Icon
Reeves told the Dispatch that the rarity of the landmark building helps make the unit special, noting this penthouse is one of just three in the entire tower, which she said contains roughly 40 to 50 residential units in total. Reeves said the auction format was chosen specifically to help the property stand out in a Columbus luxury condo market that, per the Dispatch's reporting, saw 47 units sell for more than $750,000 over the past 12 months.
The unit was extensively renovated in 2017, the same report notes, and the previous owner purchased it through a traditional sale in 2022. Since then, according to Sotheby's International Realty, the owners invested an additional $150,000 in upgrades, with capital improvements completed as recently as 2024 — details that help explain why the listing was marketed as turnkey.
Tax Perks and Building Amenities Sweeten the Deal
The winning bidder also inherits a 100% real estate tax abatement running through the end of 2032, according to Columbus Navigator, a significant reduction in annual property tax obligations tied to the unit. The penthouse comes with access to the Hotel LeVeque's fitness facility and swimming pool, plus two parking spaces in a garage behind the building, the Dispatch reported. Still, mandatory association dues for standard residential units in the tower range from $608 to more than $924 per month, according to N4MN, with multi-story penthouses carrying even higher monthly maintenance fees — a cost that factors into the total ownership picture beyond the sale price.
Inside the Art Deco Giant's Century-Long Story
The LeVeque Tower itself is more than 555 feet tall and remained Columbus's tallest building until the Rhodes State Office Tower went up in 1974, per the Dispatch. Designed by architect C. Howard Crane, the 47-story building opened on September 21, 1927, as the American Insurance Union Citadel, and its height of 555 feet 5 inches was intentionally built six inches taller than the Washington Monument, making it the world's fifth-tallest building at the time, according to the Ohio History Connection.
After the American Insurance Union went bankrupt during the Great Depression, real estate investors Leslie LeVeque and John Lincoln purchased the landmark in 1945, and it was officially renamed the LeVeque Tower in 1977, the Ohio History Connection notes. The Art Deco skyscraper was added to the National Register of Historic Places in March 1975 and designated to the Columbus Register of Historic Properties in July 1982, according to Wikipedia. The tower complex originally included two 18-story wings housing 600 hotel rooms alongside an attached 2,800-seat performance venue, the Palace Theatre, which remains an active downtown cultural venue today.
From Office Tower to Mixed-Use Landmark
Today the building houses a boutique hotel, restaurant, bar, office space, and residential units, per the Dispatch's reporting. A multi-million-dollar adaptive reuse restoration completed in 2017 converted the tower's upper floors into 68 apartments and 12 luxury condominiums alongside the 149-room Hotel LeVeque, according to Walls & Ceilings Magazine. That redevelopment received $5 million in state historic preservation tax credits awarded through the State of Ohio, the Ohio Department of Development notes, illustrating how public incentives helped fund the century-old building's preservation into its current form.
