Estrella Tower Grows to 25 Stories Ahead of Columbus Review

A 25-story mixed-use tower called the Estrella returns to the Columbus Downtown Commission on October 27 for a conceptual review, the tallest version yet of a 175 to 199 East Rich Street project that won a $4.5 million state tax credit in 2025 as a shorter building.

## A design that keeps getting taller The Estrella has grown with almost every look the city has given it. Hoodline reported that Bluestone Brothers first pitched the tower in 2023 at 19 stories, and that the Downtown Commission last reviewed it at 24 stories. The certificate of appropriateness application that architect Berardi and Partners filed on September 30 now describes a 25-story building with 296 apartments. That sign-off is the design decision the commission must issue before a downtown project can seek demolition or building permits.

## What the state already backed The project's core was set when Ohio put money behind it. On January 27, 2025, Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Development announced a $4.5 million Transformational Mixed-Use Development tax credit for the Estrella. Local television also covered the award when the state named it. The state's award record described it then as a 24-story, 503,103-square-foot tower with a total development cost of $122.6 million. That summary said the tower would bring a fresh-food grocery store to what the state calls a food desert, and it projected roughly 1,239 construction jobs and 808 permanent jobs on the site.

## A grocery and a Fourth Street address The Estrella would sit on East Rich Street just east of Columbus Commons, in the corridor the state ties to the revitalization of the Fourth Street district. A full-service grocery downtown has been a persistent gap, and the plans set aside nearly 30,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, with a fresh-food market as the anchor. A new resident base in a single tower is the kind of demand such a store needs, though the grocery operator has not been named in the public record.

## What a conceptual review decides The October 27 hearing is a conceptual review, not a vote. The commission will weigh the building's massing, materials and how it meets the sidewalk, and its guidance shapes a project before any permit application is submitted. The city's meeting calendar lists the Downtown Commission for October 27 and set a September 30 deadline for applications on that agenda.

## What to watch Some caution is warranted on the newest figures. The 25-story, 296-unit count comes from the filed application as Hoodline reported it, while Bluestone Brothers' own project page still shows the earlier 24-story, 290-unit design. The tax credit is also earned against the project's taxes over time, not paid up front, and the state can pull an award if a development stalls. The next real test is the October 27 conceptual review itself, where the commission's response will shape whether the taller version moves ahead.