New Urban Development in Columbus, OH
Woods Development Group, LLC. (WDG) is based in Columbus, OH and Detroit, MI and according to realtor.com, Columbus (Ranked #15) and Detroit (Ranked #9) were the only two large Midwest cities to make the Top 20 list for Real Estate Development in June 2015. Columbus, OH has been booming with real estate and development and specifically the development around and on Long Street. As office space, apartments and condos are being built and renovated in the lively downtown area with an abundance of growth potential. WDG wants to add to the growth of the development.
WDG has turned a building originally built in the 1920’s which acted as the first African-American office building in Columbus, OH, and has made it into a beautiful building that exuberates the history with a modern touch. WDG is devoted to helping the King-Lincoln District (E. Long St.) thrive the way it used to years ago, by renovating the Theresa Building and leasing office space to those also devoted in helping grow the community. King-Lincoln District was once “the place to be,” and by the 1930s and ‘40s, downtown Columbus’ near east side was home to an affluent African-American business and entertainment district.
The King-Lincoln District used to be a place where jazz music could be heard from miles, where art shops or galleries were around every street corner and the buildings and huge houses smelled of fresh paint and were full of people. Nowadays, you can still hear the sound of jazz music but it’s faint and from the renovated buildings or the older gentlemen with his radio on his porch and for art – it is still there – it’s on the bridge as you cross over Long Street, it’s in paintings on buildings, sculptures on the sidewalks – you just have to look.
The music may be playing in the King-Lincoln District but there’s not the flock of people roaming the streets and the smell of fresh paint has disappeared as those new buildings now sit empty full of their history and stories. WDG wants to take those empty lots of land and buildings and create the fun, lively, energetic, and happy feel it has had before. Columbus is growing everywhere and it is being recognized throughout the country and WDG is doing its part by growing a forgotten, historic area.
Photo by Ariel King
