CHART OF THE MONTH: COLUMBUS MULTIFAMILY MARKET GROWTH

Written by: Jake Lord

Jake specializes in research capabilities, providing support for the Colliers Columbus Office, Industrial, Retail and Capital Market groups. He is responsible for executing data reports, maintaining a commercial property database, reporting quarterly trends, performing data analysis, and utilizing statistical information to predict future behavior in the market. Keep reading for his take on Columbus multifamily market trends 2020 through 2025 YTD.

This month's Chart of the Month features both a graph and map highlighting Columbus multifamily market trends from 2020 through 2025 YTD.

This data was sourced from CoStar, excluding affordable housing units.

The graph depicts the top five submarkets by total multifamily units built. The map illustrates growth in each submarket. Growth is represented by the average year-over-year change in the amount of new units constructed in each submarket. Darker areas show strongest growth since 2020, and lighter areas are the slowest as indicated by the negative values in the legend. The grey area, the Northeast Delta submarket, saw very minimal growth so it’s not grouped with the other submarkets. The dots are new unit construction over the past 5–6 years. Concisely, the graph shows raw inventory while the map illustrates average growth.

Observations

North Columbus and Westerville + New Albany possess the largest inventories. North Columbus gained substantial speed in 2024, with development in Marysville, Delaware and Sunbury. Westerville + New Albany reached its peak in 2020 and plateaued thereafter, though Intel’s future groundbreaking continues to sustain moderate growth.

Hilliard and Grandview + Upper Arlington had strong growth, perhaps due to demand for drive time to downtown, with recent development near I-270 and in East Grandview. Olde Town East grew on the edge of Downtown, and East Columbus grew around the areas closest to John Glenn International Airport

Recently, tenants appear to desire being near downtown without residing in the more concentrated Downtown + German Village and the Short North + University submarkets, even though sustained development continues in these two submarkets.

Predictions

The South Columbus submarket will see increased growth with Anduril's future groundbreaking, spurring development near Groveport and Rickenbacker International Airport.

East Columbus can expect additional growth in the Gahanna, Reynoldsburg and John Glenn International Airport areas, due to a strong employment basis.

Hilltop might grow with Franklinton redevelopment attracting renters seeking downtown proximity.

Overall, the Columbus multifamily market is poised to grow across the submarkets as the city generally expands and renters seek housing close to high employment areas or highways that can take them there.