Bridge Park to expand, add second hotel, restaurants south of Rt. 161

The developers of Bridge Park in Dublin are partnering with Columbus restaurateur Cameron Mitchell to build a hotel, conference center and restaurants in an expansion of Bridge Park to the south.

The complex will be on the southeast corner of Rt. 161 and Riverside Drive, across 161 from the current Bridge Park development.

Few details are available yet on the project, which is a partnership between Bridge Park developer Crawford Hoying and Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, but the hotel, conference center and restaurants would be part of a broader mixed-use complex that would likely include residences.

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"We expect to have one hotel tower and one condo tower, with a signature restaurant in the hotel building," said Cameron Mitchell, founder and CEO of the restaurant company. "Our goal is to have the best hotel in the city."

Mitchell said he and Brent Crawford, the founder of Crawford Hoying, have discussed partnering for years on a hotel and have looked at several sites before settling on this one.

Mitchell noted that he operates "six or seven" restaurants in Crawford Hoying developments, including Cap City Fine Diner, The Avenue and The Pearl already in Bridge Park, in addition to Valentina's, expected to open next year in Bridge Park.

Crawford and Mitchell said they expect the hotel to be the best in town. They did not say if it would be independent or affiliated with a brand.

"With the hotel, we're trying to create an experience and offering that doesn’t exist in Columbus right now," Crawford said. "We’re shooting to raise the level. In experience and stay, we want to elevate the stock that’s available in Columbus, and believe there's no better place to do it than in Bridge Park. Our existing hotels have performed extremely well for us."

The hotel would join the two hotels already in Bridge Park - AC and SpringHill Suites, both Marriott hotels.

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The development marks a major expansion of Bridge Park, which already straddles the Scioto River on the north side of 161 and has developed rapidly since its start in 2016. In addition to the two hotels, the development features more than 600,000 square feet of offices, 728 apartments, 248 condominiums, and more than two dozen shops and restaurants.

Several additional buildings are now underway in the development.

Crawford said Bridge Park has some land to develop to its east, but moving across 161 gives the development more opportunity to expand.

"It's always important to meet the demand of the time," he said. "We didn’t expect to have as much office as we have, for example, and the same might be said of for-sale condos. With each new restaurant and development, we're drawing on a larger radius. When Bridge Park opened, we predominantly drew Dublin residents but now, it's a destination not only around Columbus but regionally."

Crawford said developers hope to build a pedestrian link between existing Bridge Park and the development to the south.

"We feel a pedestrian connection to the first phase of Bridge Park is really important," he said. "We're exploring all options to get pedestrians across the street."

Mitchell said he hoped the development could open by 2025, but he and Crawford said it is in a very preliminary stage.

"In the next few months we expect to have additional details to share," Crawford said.

jweiker@dispatch.com

@JimWeiker

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Cameron Mitchel to partner in major Bridge Park expansion