Several nonprofit organizations including the United Way of Central Ohio and the YMCA plan to move into a former Nationwide office building Downtown that is expected to become the largest single collection of nonprofit offices in the city.

The 9-story building, at 215 N. Front St., will be dubbed the Community Impact Center.

"The space is a dream come true for a nonprofit," said United Way President and CEO Lisa Courtice. "The potential is extraordinary."

Among the organizations expected to join the United Way and the YMCA are Per Scholas, Future Ready Columbus, UHCAN Ohio, Communities in Schools of Ohio, and the Wells CPA firm. Ultimately, 12 to 15 organizations employing up to 1,000 workers are expected to occupy the building.

United Way will hold the master lease for the 158,000-square-foot building and will sublease space to other tenants. United Way announced in September that it is selling its headquarters at 360 S. 3rd St. to a partnership that will convert the building into affordable and market-rate housing.

The career-training service Per Scholas plans to move into the building in late November, becoming the center's first new tenant. United Way plans to move in December, followed in January by several tenants, with the remainder arriving in 2023 and 2024 as their current leases expire.

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Nationwide vacated the building in August after going to a hybrid work arrangement in April 2020, allowing nearly 40% of its 13,000 central Ohio employees to work from home.

The company's hybrid model has allowed it to vacate some of its real estate across the country, including a 360,000-square-foot building in Des Moines, Iowa, that Nationwide is selling to the city of Des Moines.

"We’ve made tremendous progress in shedding excess space in a lot of markets around the country," said Kieran Sherry, senior vice president of Nationwide Corporate Real Estate. "We think this building is a great example of a thoughtful approach to repurposing space Nationwide no longer needs."

Earlier this month, Grange Insurance announced a similar partnership that will allow Goodwill Columbus to occupy some of Grange's vacated space in the Brewery District.

When Nationwide made plans to vacate the Front Street building, it reached out to United Way to explore turning the building into a nonprofit center, Sherry said.

Courtice said the idea appealed to United Way because it will allow nonprofits to better collaborate — in some cases, in literally the same office space — and save money by sharing expenses such as a receptionist and technology.

"There are a lot of opportunities for efficiencies, with HR, staff training, accounting," she said.

The building includes multiple conference rooms, an auditorium and a café space that Courtice hopes to find an operator for. It also offers garage parking next door, and is on a bus line, which is valuable for many of the agencies' clients.

"The space is very attractive," Courtice said. "We're confident other agencies will be attracted."

jweiker@dispatch.com

@JimWeiker

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: United Way, YMCA and others to move into former Nationwide building