COLUMBUS, OH – Zimmer Development Company’s Whittier Peninsula project in Columbus’ Brewery District was awarded $10 million for remediation and clean up from the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program. The project will remediate a 16.5-acre contaminated former rail yard and scrap yard to realize an estimated $300 million housing development. The grant will ensure that the property is remediated to the highest Ohio Environmental Protection Agency standards and is safe for future residents and site visitors.

“We appreciate the Ohio Department of Development and the enormous amount of work that went into identifying priority sites for redevelopment. The Franklin County Commissioners and the Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation played an integral role advancing much-needed residential infill housing. This project would not have been possible without the commitment from the City of Columbus in working with Zimmer Development on rezoning and ensuring additional affordable housing.” said Landon Zimmer, Managing Partner at Zimmer Development Company.

“The Whittier Peninsula development will transform a contaminated site into desirable apartments, as well as open greenspace, trails and greenways, which will be open to the public and complementary to the park. The high demand for housing in Columbus is only growing, and our project will help fill that demand,” continued Zimmer.

The planned development will include three multi-story buildings, each having 250-320 units, 5,000 square feet of amenity space, and 350 parking stalls on the first two levels. Zimmer Development worked with Columbus City Council to establish an affordable housing component, ensuring much needed urban infill housing in Columbus.

Zimmer Development is working with the Audubon Center to consider sustainable elements to the design, including green roofs, pollinator gardens, rain gardens, bioretention ponds, reflection pools, and community meadows as part of the approximately 10 acres of usable green space that will be open to the public. Additionally, the property’s 1.5 miles of public trails and greenways will be open to the public and will have connectivity with the adjacent 119-acre Scioto Audubon Metro Park.

Remediation work will include excavation and off-property disposal of hazardous and impacted soils, import and placement of clean soils, and installation of a concrete slab for the first residential building that will serve as an engineering control.