Turning in the keys

Buildings can deteriorate over decades as tenants gradually exit, maintenance slows and the carpet fades. And then there's another way.

Turning in the keys

Tenants of the KeyBank building Downtown appear to be fleeing the building two years after the New York investment firm Zamir Equities acquired the 21-story tower at East Broad and 3rd streets. Tenants complain of water leaks, HVAC inconsistencies, poor janitorial services and an unresponsive owner. The building's largest tenant, the Ohio Auditor's office, is moving to 65 E. State St. while the building's namesake tenant, KeyBank, is moving to 175 S. 3rd St., with plans to take the sign off the building when it leaves. No response yet from the owner.

Motoring along

Honda shared more details about its Ohio electric vehicle plans last week, announcing that it intends to produce both electric and traditional vehicles in its Ohio facilities after it opens the electric battery plant it is building in Jeffersonville with LG Energy Solutions. Honda is spending $700 million to retrofit three Ohio plants − the Marysville Auto Plant, East Liberty Auto Plant and Anna Engine Plant − to build electric vehicles and components.

Boarding up

My colleague Danae King described one answer to central Ohio's housing shortage : "house hacking," a new phrase for what an earlier generation would have called boarding. It's become a more popular way for Generation Z (born 1997 - 2012) to afford homes: buy a place and rent out some rooms. As Danae noted, the practice isn't just a way to buy one home; for some, it's a way to start a real-estate business.

Casting off

Work has wrapped up on converting the former Columbus Castings site on Parsons Avenue into an industrial/warehouse park called Castings Commerce Park. The $100 million development has its first tenant, a Maryland logistics firm called National Delivery Systems. Also on the industrial front: The real-estate firm Colliers announced that it facilitated the sale of the 1.2-million Rickenbacker Exchange Building 2 in Commercial Point, developed by Van Trust Real Estate and fully leased by Hanesbrands, to W. P. Carey Inc. in New York. The sale price: $94.1 million.

Leadership change

The Wood Companies, the veteran Short North firm instrumental in the neighborhood's development, has named Tyler Puhl as president. Puhl was formerly senior vice president for development. Current president Mark Wood will become chairman. The company is the largest property owner in the Short North and has developed over 1 million square feet since its founding in the early 1980s.

New UA home

An Upper Arlington tear-down and rebuild on Cambridge Boulevard has sold for $2.3 million, landing on this week's real-estate transfers .

And that's the wrap for this week's development news.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Turning in the keys