University Square Hotel, Tribute Portfolio

Ohio State's University District is set to get its first purpose-built hotel: an eight-story Tribute Portfolio tower from developer Crawford Hoying, folded into an $83.5 million mixed-use project with roughly 120 apartments and a 430-space garage. The scheme has cleared Columbus's rezoning process and is aiming for a May 2029 opening, though the room count, reported anywhere from 140 to 145, hasn't been finalized. It's an early-stage announcement more than a locked-in plan.

The place

The site sits at the northwest corner of North Pearl Street and East 16th Avenue in Columbus's University District, directly adjacent to Ohio State University's campus, along the plaza and Friendship Walk that link University Square North and University Square South. The area currently has no purpose-built hotel serving the university's students, visiting families, staff and event traffic.

The concept

Developer Crawford Hoying, selected by Campus Partners, Ohio State University's nonprofit real-estate affiliate, is planning an eight-story, ground-up Tribute Portfolio hotel connected to a five-story residential building, as the anchor of an $83.5 million mixed-use redevelopment of University Square that also includes about 120 market-rate apartments and a 430-space parking garage (half of it reserved for public use for 30 years, with $5 million in city funding). The project traces back to 2018 planning efforts for the area and cleared a rezoning application submitted to the city in October 2025.

Dining & wellness

Ground-floor plans call for a café, a restaurant and a rooftop bar, along with roughly 5,500 square feet of commercial office and retail space built into the base of the tower, though as with much of the project, operators for these outlets have not been named.