Columbus Mass Timber Tower Tops Out Near Ohio State, Tallest in US

Harbor Bay Ventures' INTRO Columbus, a 13-story mass timber student housing tower at 1497 North High Street near Ohio State University, topped out on September 8, 2026 — ten weeks ahead of its November target and one year to the day after construction began.

A Milestone at High and 9th

The topping-out ceremony — the construction milestone when the final structural element, in this case the uppermost cross-laminated timber panel, is set in place — was held on the morning of September 8. DLR Group, the Denver-based architecture firm that designed the project, reported the building reached its full height of 158 feet roughly ten weeks ahead of schedule. ULI Columbus, the local chapter of the Urban Land Institute, organized a Hard Hat site tour for industry members later the same day.

The timing carries symbolic weight: construction broke ground on September 8, 2025, making the topping out exactly one year after work began.

What Gets Built at 242,000 Square Feet

INTRO Columbus rises 13 stories and 242,000 square feet on the former site of the Bier Stube bar, a campus-area institution that closed in 2023 to make way for the project. The building will house 186 units and 493 beds across a mix of studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and townhome-style layouts, according to DLR Group's project page.

The second floor will feature a dedicated amenity deck with grills, a fire pit, yard-game turf, and seating, while interior common spaces include lounges, study rooms, and a library. Residents are expected to move in for the 2027–28 academic year.

The project is being marketed as off-campus student housing serving Ohio State University, whose main campus is roughly five blocks north of the site on High Street.

Columbus' First Major Mass Timber Structure

DLR Group describes INTRO Columbus as Columbus' first mass timber project of this scale — and, at 158 feet, the tallest student housing tower built from mass timber in the United States.

Mass timber uses engineered wood products — in this building primarily cross-laminated timber (CLT), a material made by gluing wood panels in perpendicular layers for structural strength — instead of the poured concrete and steel frames that dominate multifamily construction. Twelve of the thirteen floors are timber-framed; the ground-floor podium is a single-story concrete base that carries the wood superstructure above it. The building's structural columns, beams, and ceiling panels are exposed timber throughout the upper floors.

The Carbon Argument

Mass timber's primary pitch to developers is its carbon profile. According to DLR Group's reporting on the project, INTRO Columbus's timber superstructure is tracking to save approximately 1,128 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent compared to an equivalent concrete-and-steel frame — a figure based on embodied carbon calculations for the materials displaced.

Emissions embodied in construction materials — the carbon released in producing and transporting concrete, steel, and wood — have become an increasing focus for institutional investors and municipalities setting climate targets. Columbus has not yet adopted a binding embodied-carbon policy for private construction, but several OSU-adjacent developers have begun using the metric as part of marketing to campus-area tenants.

Harbor Bay Ventures and DLR Group

Harbor Bay Ventures is a Chicago-based real estate development and investment firm. The company has not announced a total project cost for INTRO Columbus publicly. DLR Group, headquartered in Denver with offices across the country, handled planning, architecture, and interior design for the tower. The general contractor has not been confirmed in publicly available sources. [needs source: GC identity]

The developer chose the High and 9th site after the Bier Stube property was assembled and listed. The site sits in a high-demand OSU-adjacent corridor that has attracted several recent apartment projects, including the Merchant Building renovation to the north and new mid-rise proposals along the Olentangy corridor to the west.

What to Watch

The structural frame is complete, but INTRO Columbus has significant work ahead before residents arrive. Interior mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems remain, along with facade installation, finish work, and inspections. DLR Group's November topping-out target had been the next anticipated milestone; reaching it in September gives the project a wider buffer heading into the winter construction season.

For Columbus-area operators and investors, the building will offer a data point on whether mass timber construction — which proponents argue delivers a faster schedule and lower per-square-foot cost than concrete — can compete at scale in a Midwest student housing market. If INTRO Columbus opens on or ahead of its 2027 target, it is likely to influence whether the construction method moves downstream into market-rate multifamily and mixed-use projects in the city.