Developer Proposes Mixed-Use Space in New County Courts Building

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Developer Ron Pizzuti, chief executive of Pizzuti Solutions LLC, wants to include commercial and residential space in the new Franklin County courts building, planned for the block of parking lots next to the current site of the county’s justice complex.

The new building, estimated to cost $116 million, would replace the county’s 33-year-old Hall of Justice and could open by 2009.

Pizzuti says officials should consider adding restaurants, stores and even condominiums to cut costs and liven up the south end of downtown. Making it a mixed-use project — combining government functions with businesses or housing — would give Franklin County income to offset the project’s costs, Pizzuti says.

After reviewing proposals by three semi-finalists, Franklin County Commissioners selected Pizzuti to serve as owners’ representative for the Hall of Justice project. The team assembled by the firm includes the principal court management consultant and judicial facility planner for the National Center for State Courts, Schooley Caldwell Associates, which worked on renovations at the Ohio Statehouse, Joseph P. Kinneary U.S. Courthouse and Ohio Judicial Center; landscape architects and planners, MSI-Columbus; and Miles-McClellan Construction.

The development is the biggest construction project Franklin County has seen in nearly 15 years.

During a presentation Pizzuti offered to provide “comprehensive urban planning and programming that integrates architecture, technology/security, and operations and procedures specific to the Franklin County court system.”

As the owners’ representative, Pizzuti will oversee design and construction of the project. The company also would put together a long-term plan for county buildings and land on the southern edge of downtown, an area of the city officials have dubbed River South.