Historic Columbus Castings site prepares for next chapter with new tenant

The historic Columbus Castings site on the South Side is ready for its next chapter, as construction wraps up and the first tenant prepares to move in.

In place of the foundry that once occupied the site is Castings Commerce Park, an industrial park consisting of three buildings totaling 862,000 square feet.

The industrial park was developed by Stonemont Financial Group, an Atlanta firm that bought the 71-acre site in 2021 for $8.5 million.

For more than a century, the site housed Columbus Castings, formerly known as Buckeye Steel Castings, which closed in 2016. The factory, at one time the nation’s largest steel foundry, made steel castings for rail cars and at its peak in the 1950s employed more than 2,000 workers.  

The Maryland logistics firm National Delivery Systems has leased 52,000 square feet in Castings Commerce Park, becoming the development’s first tenant. Stonemont Senior Vice President Dusten Estes said the company is in talks with three other prospective tenants.

“We are excited about this first lease with National Delivery Systems,” Estes said. “We are seeing a lot of positive activity and believe that this momentum will only strengthen with the announcement of this first lease.” 

The three buildings are roughly 600,000 square feet, 148,000 square feet and 114,000 square feet. In addition to the warehouse space, they include small office spaces.  

Alston Construction was general contractor of the buildings while Ware Malcomb designed them.

“Stonemont had a clear vision for redeveloping the historic site, which had been vacant for quite a while,” said Jason Jordan, director of Ware Malcomb’s Columbus region. “We partnered to design highly flexible spaces that should help bring plenty of jobs to the local South Side Columbus community.”