COhatch plans for Westerville Armory geared to whole family, pets

COhatch plans for Westerville Armory geared to whole family, pets

Westerville’s historical Armory property is on its way to redevelopment with COhatch, a company that develops innovative shared work and social spaces, and North High Brewing at 240 S. State St. 

The Westerville Planning Commission on Sept. 22 voted 6-0 to approve an application by Matt Davis for site modification and a conditional-use permit for a mixed-use redevelopment involving two buildings – 12,300 square feet and 4,840 square feet – on a 2.25-acre site at the former Armory.

Approval is with the condition that simulated divided-light windows be used on all sides of the original Armory building, excluding a proposed addition. A simulated divided-light window is one piece of glass with a grid of superficial muntins on the interior and/or exteriors.

Voting in favor were Paul Johnson, Steven Munger, Dave Samuelson, Brian Schaefer, Kimberly Sharp and Craig Treneff. Kristine Robbins was absent.

Extensive landscaping and outdoor seating at North High Brewing are among COhatch's plans for the redeveloped Westerville Armory property.

Davis, cofounder and CEO of Worthington-based COhatch, said a closing is scheduled at the end of this year on the city-owned property, and he anticipates COhatch will open by October 2022.

“The vision for this site started when I was working with the city and we saw the building and fell in love with the historic nature of the Armory building, and we saw the mechanic room in the back,” Davis said. “I’ve had this vision with my team to create not only our COhatch concept but North High Brewing, as well as an outdoor family space and incubator for start-ups, as well as a space that we can be life-friendly, pet-friendly, family-friendly all across the same site.