As demolition of Westland Mall reaches halfway point, no plans yet for future of site.

Mark Ferenchik, Columbus Dispatch
Updated
Crews on Wednesday work on demolition of Westland Mall, which is about half finished. Officials for the companies owning properties on the site along West Broad Street near Interstate 270 have no specific plans for redevelopment yet. Loewendick Demolition, of Grove City, is doing the demo work.
Crews on Wednesday work on demolition of Westland Mall, which is about half finished. Officials for the companies owning properties on the site along West Broad Street near Interstate 270 have no specific plans for redevelopment yet. Loewendick Demolition, of Grove City, is doing the demo work.

The demolition of Westland Mall is about halfway done, but what the future holds for the site has yet to take shape.

"We don’t have specific plans for the site," said Alex Ruben, who manages companies owning properties on the site, Weston Town Center LLC and LGR Weston LLC.

"We're just focusing on getting a blank campus."

Ruben said plans still call for all the buildings on the 88-acre mall site along West Broad Street near Interstate 270 in Franklin Township to come down — including the former Sears store, which hosts monthly gun shows. The last gun show there will be Dec. 30-31, said Lisa Spence, office manager for Pembroke, Virginia-based C&E Gun Shows.

Spence said the gun shows may move to the Ohio Expo Center.

Ruben said the Sears building is "definitely" coming down.

Crews from Loewendick Demolition, of Grove City, continue work Wednesday on the demolition of Westland Mall along West Broad Street near Interstate 270. There are no immediate plans for the site, the owner says.
Crews from Loewendick Demolition, of Grove City, continue work Wednesday on the demolition of Westland Mall along West Broad Street near Interstate 270. There are no immediate plans for the site, the owner says.

If for some reason company officials decide to keep a building, the companies would forfeit some state grant money for the mall's demolition that the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization awarded in January, Ruben said. The Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation — the Franklin County land bank — applied for the money on behalf of the mall.

Ruben said the terms of the state grant call for his company to pay 25% of the total demo costs of $9.6 million, so the state is paying $7.2 million and his companies are paying $2.4 million.

According to the grant terms, the demolition work has to be done by June 2024. Ruben said it will be finished before that.

Jim Schimmer, director of the Franklin County Department of Economic Development and Planning, said he has talked with Ruben in the past few months.

"We’ve had a good conversation about all of the aspects about future possibilities. I don’t think there is a master plan at this point," Schimmer said.

Curtiss Williams, president and CEO of the Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation, said officials for the companies are still trying to decide what redevelopment plans are for the site.

mferench@dispatch.com

@MarkFerenchik

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What will replace Westland Mall? Owners not sure yet.

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