The Pizzuti Companies has broken ground on Gateway East Industrial, a 183,479-square-foot speculative warehouse rising on a 12-acre site at 2099 Stelzer Road, just off Interstate 670 near John Glenn Columbus International Airport. The Columbus-based developer expects construction to wrap in the second quarter of 2027, delivering a building designed to hold either a single tenant or multiple users.
The project, first detailed by WhatNow, arrives with a substantial financial incentive already secured. Columbus City Council approved a 10-year, 75% property tax abatement for Pizzuti Stelzer LLC in July 2025, according to City of Columbus legislative records tied to the Stelzer Road parcel.
Specs Built for Fast Move-Ins
The building includes 36-foot clear heights, up to 20 dock doors and 115 parking spaces, features meant to give future tenants immediate flexibility, the outlet reports. KBC Advisors is set to oversee leasing, while RED Architecture is handling architectural services and American Structurepoint is managing civil engineering for the site.
Shawn McGorry, the Pizzuti Companies' vice president of development, said power availability has become an increasingly important feature for tenants, and that Gateway East is designed to offer more immediate power capacity than many recent speculative buildings, per the same report. McGorry also pointed to the project's efficient bay spacing, ample dock doors and modern clear heights, noting that recent custom-built facilities for FedEx, New Era Technology, America's Floor Source and the Intel chip plant in New Albany reflect strong local industrial demand.
A Shrinking Supply of Land Inside the 270 Loop
Joel Pizzuti, the firm's president and chief executive officer, said the scarcity of available industrial land inside the Interstate 270 loop, paired with steady market demand, made the Stelzer Road site well-suited to serve a range of future users. Gateway East is one of only two speculative industrial developments currently available inside the 270 loop, according to The Pizzuti Companies.
That scarcity shows up in the regional numbers. Columbus's industrial market posted 1.9 million square feet of net absorption in the second quarter of 2026, pushing vacancy down to 5.2% and average asking rents up 9.7% year-over-year to $6.76 per square foot, according to CBRE. Available Class A industrial space built since 2020 has tightened even further, dropping from 28% in early 2024 to just 10% in early 2026, per a JLL Research report.
An Airport Overhaul Sweetens the Location
Gateway East's location near John Glenn Columbus International Airport lines up with a much larger infrastructure push underway nearby. The Columbus Regional Airport Authority broke ground on CMH Next, a $2 billion midfield terminal project that will replace the airport's 1958 facility with a modern 1-million-square-foot terminal set for completion in 2029, according to Engineering News-Record.
More Warehouses Rise Near Columbus's Airports
Similar bets are playing out elsewhere in the region. Near Bolton Field Airport on the southwest side, developers broke ground in February on the 110,835-square-foot Alkire Air Commerce Center, backed by $3.25 million in state loans and grants along with its own 10-year, 75% tax abatement, according to JobsOhio. On the east side, Trident Capital Group broke ground on the 368,077-square-foot Columbus Works Commerce Center near I-270 and John Glenn Airport, per a separate CBRE update.
Farther south, the scale climbs dramatically. A 1.6 million-square-foot distribution facility near Rickenbacker International Airport sold for $137 million this summer, its second ownership change in roughly ten months. Nearby, developer Core5 Industrial Partners broke ground on a 2.5 million-square-foot campus east of the airport, underscoring how bulk distribution parks keep expanding in outer submarkets while infill sites like Stelzer Road serve mid-size users needing central access.
Five Decades Building Columbus's Skyline
The Pizzuti Companies was founded in Columbus in 1976 by Chairman Ron Pizzuti and has been led by Joel Pizzuti since 2006, with regional offices in Columbus, Chicago, Nashville and Orlando. The firm says it has developed more than 100 million square feet of real estate nationally, with a portfolio that includes projects for Whirlpool, Home Depot, PetSmart, Walmart, DHL, Goodyear, Caterpillar and Nationwide.
