Photo by Walker Evans.

A trio of three-story buildings located in the Discovery District sub-neighborhood in Downtown Columbus will be getting a residential and retail conversion if a new plan is approved during tomorrow’s Downtown Commission Meeting. Local developer Don DeVere has submitted plans to renovate 288 East Long Street, 294 East Long Street, and 151 North Sixth Street — the latter of which is currently home to the Faith Mission Men’s Shelter.

While the buildings face different streets, they form an L-shape toward the north end of the properties, which would be opened up to serve as a connection between the addresses. The submitted plans call for 30 residential units on the two upper floors of the interconnected buildings with a ground-floor parking garage entrance from Sixth Street with room for 31 cars, and a new 1,791 square foot commercial space on the Long Street side — which is in addition to the existing Beyond Limits Training fitness studio at 294 East Long Street. Combined, the three buildings represent a total of 54,000 square feet of space.

The Faith Mission Men’s Shelter has already announced plans to relocate two blocks north to a larger facility at 245 North Grant Avenue where the organization is bringing multiple operations under one roof. In addition to the relocation and consolidation of services, Faith Mission is celebrating 50 years of service in 2016, making it a very important year for the organization.

“We are very excited about the new shelter – it provides us with the opportunity to create a space specifically designed for our needs and the needs of our residents and clients,” said Jennifer Hamilton, Director of Communications at Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio, the operators of Faith Mission. “With its close proximity to our current client services center, it will be even easier for clients to access all our services.”

The new development is the latest announcement in a rapidly changing portion of Downtown Columbus. The Neighborhood Launch development is currently going vertical with The Neilston building right across the street, which will add 130 more apartment units to complement the existing 130 apartments at The Normandy building. Neighborhood launch is also currently constructing 14 for-sale condos nearby on Sixth Street, and has announced plans to eventually build more north of Long. The The View on Grant is expected to add more apartments to the area just three blocks north, while Platform Brewing will add a new brewery/brewpub facility for residents and visitors in the area. The area is also home to many new retail businesses that have opened in the past several years, including Brioso Coffee, Jimmy John’s, Lomonico’s, The Roosevelt Coffeehouse, The Hill’s Market, Dominos, The Grass Skirt Tiki Lounge and more.

The three buildings would be architecturally restored with design plans by Jonathan Barnes Architecture and Design, with property management to be handled by the Day Companies on the residential side and Ohio Equities on the commercial side.

If approved, construction is slated for completion in mid-2017.

UPDATE (5/24/16 12pm) — This project was approved unanimously by the Downtown Commission.

Photos by Walker Evans.

EDIT: Updated at 2:14pm 5/23/16 with additional information from Faith Mission.