A new stretch of roadway on Westerville’s east side is about to open, but city officials see it as much more than another transportation project. The streets winding through Westar Park provide the first public look at an 88-acre expansion of one of the city’s largest employment centers, where approximately 55 acres are being prepared for new corporate headquarters, professional offices, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, life-sciences companies and other employers.
Economic Development Director Rachel Ray and Planning and Development Director Dave Efland recently took viewers on a drive through the new roads, which are expected to open soon. View video from that trip below.
Westar Park sits east of Africa Road, immediately alongside the existing Westar Place business district.
Five sites ready for development
The City of Westerville, working through its economic development agent, the Westerville Industry and Commerce Corporation, acquired the property in 2023 as available land within the existing Westar district became increasingly scarce. The result is five development sites ranging from roughly six to 17 acres and totaling about 55 acres. The remaining land is planned for parks, greenways and other open space.
Westerville has invested more than $30 million in infrastructure to prepare the property for development rather than waiting for individual companies to arrive before roads and utilities are built. That work includes approximately 1.5 miles of new roadway, sidewalks and bicycle paths, stormwater facilities and access to electric, fiber, water and sewer service. About 11 miles of electrical conduit have also been installed throughout the development. The regional stormwater system was designed to handle drainage collectively, allowing more of each individual parcel to remain available for buildings and related development.
Because Westerville and WICC control the property and have overseen the infrastructure work, companies considering Westar Park can work directly with the community while selecting their own development and construction teams.
Building on an established employment center
Unlike a business park being created in isolation, Westar Park is an extension of a district that has been growing for more than two decades.
Westar already supports more than 10,000 jobs and includes several major corporate employers. Vertiv and The Marzetti Company maintain publicly traded corporate headquarters in Westerville. DHL Supply Chain, Sensience, Central Ohio Primary Care and Orthopedic ONE are among other companies with national or regional headquarters operations in the city.
That existing concentration of employers is a central part of Westerville’s strategy for the new acreage. Companies considering Westar Park would not be arriving in an undeveloped commercial area. Restaurants, hotels, offices and other services are already nearby, while the Polaris corridor sits just beyond the district.
Westar’s growth has also become important to city finances. Income taxes generated by employees and businesses help support municipal services, infrastructure, parks and other public facilities. With much of the original Westar district approaching buildout, Westar Park gives the city room to continue that employment growth.
A business park built around green space
The development also carries Westerville’s longstanding emphasis on parks and trails into what is primarily a commercial project. More than 700 trees have already been planted, including double rows along sidewalks and bicycle paths lining the new streets. The goal is to create a heavier tree canopy as the site matures while giving the district more of a campus setting than a traditional office or industrial park.
Trails, green space, pedestrian connections and water features are being incorporated into the larger development plan. Those amenities have taken on additional importance as employers compete for workers who may consider more than the workplace itself when deciding where to take a job. Westar Park’s location places future employees within walking or short driving distance of many of the restaurants, hotels and services that have developed around Westar Place and Polaris.
Roads first and buildings next
The approach reflects a development strategy Westerville has used before. Long before many of today’s Westar employers arrived, the city annexed property, extended infrastructure and positioned the area for future commercial investment. Over time, those decisions helped produce a business district supporting thousands of jobs. Westar Park effectively extends that strategy another 88 acres eastward.
For now, the most visible evidence is infrastructure. The roads are nearing their opening. Utilities have been extended. Hundreds of trees are already in the ground. What remains largely absent are the buildings. Westerville is now looking for the companies that will fill them.
The video below features Economic Development Director Rachel Ray and Planning and Development Director Dave Efland driving through the newly constructed Westar Park streets and discussing what comes next for the development.
