Olde Pickerington Village's Next Restaurant Is Already on the City's Property List

Who decides what opens next on East Columbus Street? In Olde Pickerington Village, the answer is more and more often the City of Pickerington. The City acquires the building, adds distinctive upper-level features such as balconies and porches, and brings in a tenant. City materials describe this as a deliberate redevelopment program for downtown.

This changes how you read the village. When the City holds the deed, the next restaurant shows up in a council resolution or a city newsletter months before any sign goes up. Over the last two years the openings have also come at a faster clip, one roughly every few months, and the order follows the City's property list.

A former gas station set the template

The first project was ice cream. Johnson's Real Ice Cream opened at 192 Hill Road North in a former gas station. The City had bought the site and then looked for a family-friendly tenant. The plan called for about 1,400 square feet indoors, a 748-square-foot covered patio and a 678-square-foot rooftop patio.

Look at those numbers again. The outdoor space adds up to more than the indoor space. That roofline was the point. The City calls Johnson's its first redevelopment built around a raised outdoor feature, and Local Cantina was second. Every project since has followed the same plan: an older building, a public owner, and seating up off the sidewalk.

Local Cantina needed a vote before it needed a menu

The second project shows how much groundwork a public landlord can do before a tenant moves in. Local Cantina's lease for the City-owned building at 4 E. Columbus Street depended on Precinct A voters passing alcohol-sales ballot issues. Before that vote, each restaurant had to bring its own ballot initiative to serve wine and spirits in the precinct. The measure made the whole precinct "wet" under Ohio law, so later businesses could skip that step.

In other words, the City brought in one tenant and cleared the way for every tenant after it. City Council then approved a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area on Sept. 2, 2025. NBC4 described it as a 52-acre district bounded roughly by Reynolds Avenue and Wes Borland Street to the north, Park Alley to the south, North East Street to the east and Hill Road to the west. The City's DORA page says it covers the entire Olde Village, including Columbus, Church and Center streets, and runs daily from noon to 10 p.m.

Local Cantina opened in March 2026 with a street-level patio and a rooftop patio inside the DORA. CityScene described the renovated building as having second-floor seating and wraparound patio space. Its neighbors include businesses that were there long before the City's program started. CityScene named Combustion Brewery, Romeo's Pizza and Bob's Backyard Barbeque among the storefronts with DORA decals.

The ledger, address by address

Put the City's downtown activity side by side and the pattern is easy to see. Each row is a building whose former use had nothing to do with dining. Every one has a public hand in its next chapter.

The 14 E. Columbus project is the most ambitious one yet. Orange Restaurant Group, the team behind Local Cantina and The Rossi, plans to open Fourteen & Ember there in December. It will be an upscale American restaurant serving steaks, seafood and pasta. Below it will be The Ember Room, a members-only cocktail bar. The City says the old Solomon's Carpet building got a complete renovation and that the restaurant is working toward a December opening. As of early October, the Ember Room's website still says founding memberships "will be released in September" and offers an interest list. It doesn't confirm that applications have opened or give a price.

One more thing stands out in the table. The same operator now has two of the village's newest restaurants within a few doors of each other. When an operator's first City lease goes well, the City's next building may well go to that same operator.

What a $1 lease says about the next diner

The Hamburger Inn deal shows how the City pays for this. Resolution 2026-08R authorizes a master lease of 51 E. Columbus Street from the City to the Pickerington Community Improvement Corporation. The PCIC can then sublease the property for economic development. Total base rent to the PCIC is $1 for the full term, which covers an initial 10 years plus one optional five-year renewal. The document allows a triple net commercial sublease to HAMBO 2 LLC.

Under that setup, the City keeps ownership, the PCIC acts as middleman, and the restaurant pays building costs under a triple net arrangement. The sublease form wasn't attached to the public document, so the diner's actual rent isn't public. What is clear is that the City is using its building as a recruiting tool, not as a source of rent.

The diner itself is personal to its owner. "Hamburger Inn has been such an institution in Ohio's diner history that I'm just excited to be able to bring this great old-school diner menu and legacy to Pickerington where I'm originally from," owner Rob Pearson told CityScene. The City says it's slated to open in spring 2027.

The City plans to keep using this tool. A separate measure, Resolution 2026-11R, authorizes master leases for City-owned properties at 122 W. Church Street and 38 N. Center Street, either directly to tenants or through the PCIC. That gives two more addresses the same legal setup that brought in Hamburger Inn.

"This activity has spurred other property owners to take action and redevelop their properties, so keep an eye on the Elevate District." Dave Gulden, Pickerington development director, in CityScene's October/November 2026 issue

Gulden also said more City-owned properties are "primed for redevelopment." The City hasn't named the private projects he says its work has prompted.

The fall calendar runs through the same blocks

The City's events program uses the same streets as its property program. Its fall dates bring people past nearly every address in the table:

1. Village Shop Hop, Thursday, Oct. 8, 4 to 8 p.m., repeating Thursday, Nov. 12.
2. Haunted Village, Thursday, Oct. 22, 6 to 8 p.m. It's free, with a haunted museum, food trucks and trick-or-treating at downtown businesses.
3. Community Trick or Treat, Thursday, Oct. 29, 6 to 8 p.m. The same day brings Tots Trick or Treat at City Hall from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and library trick-or-treat at 201 Opportunity Way from 1 to 3 p.m.

This year the City added several downtown events: an America 250 celebration after the Fourth of July parade, Picklefest, Chalk the Walk, the Pickerington Area Chamber of Commerce's Murder Mystery event and Fit Fest. Mayor Lee Gray says more is planned for 2027. Events give the new patios a reason to fill up, and full patios make the next lease easier to sign.

Where to look next

Parking is part of the plan too. The City bought 122 W. Church Street this spring. "We saw an opportunity to secure additional parking in downtown, and while we work on future development for the building, we were pleased to offer a home for The Grove Community Christian Church," Mayor Gray said. The lot is mainly for City use, and The Grove can use it as well. A downtown that adds restaurants has to put the cars somewhere. By buying a lot, the City is preparing for more visitors before more tenants arrive.

The clearest next step is at 9 Hill Road North. The former Lisk Dental office is set to come down before the end of 2026, and the City will design a new commercial building for the site. That would make it the first new building in the program, not a renovation. Johnson's is up the same road at 192 Hill Road North. Whatever replaces the dental office will add another City project to Olde Village's western edge, which also marks the DORA boundary.

When the City is one of the biggest owners downtown, a single building can change how nearby homes are valued. If you own near East Columbus Street or Hill Road and want to know what these projects mean for your property, the team at Guided Property Sales will walk you through it privately. Request your VIP home valuation.