DUBLIN, Ohio (WCMH) — Developers are proposing a new mixed-use apartment complex across 19 acres in Dublin as part of an effort to revitalize the area surrounding Metro Center, an office district built in the late 1970s.

Columbus-based developer Pizzuti is proposing a series of apartment buildings on 18.9 vacant acres on Blazer Parkway, between Metro Center and the Blazer Research District. The conceptual plan calls for five four-story buildings and one three-story building housing one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments totaling 330 units, an increase of 30 units from Pizzuti’s previous submittal to Dublin’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

A clubhouse is proposed at the entrance of the complex and a dog park is set in the southern portion of the site. Several hundred square feet of open green space anchor the proposal, with space for trail connections to be made using an existing shared-use path.

Aaron Underhill, the attorney representing Pizzuti, said during a Thursday meeting that the proposal also features first-floor co-work units throughout the development, with the opportunity for them to be converted into retail opportunities as market demands allow.

“We’ve tried to design spaces on the first floors of these buildings where they can be converted easily into a restaurant or retail or some sort of service component later on when that market does mature,” Underhill said.

Lance Schneier and Warren Fishman, planning and zoning commissioners, commended the proposal’s mixed-use aspirations but noted they’d like Pizzuti to tackle on-site retail from the beginning rather than waiting for market conditions to improve. Fishman also expressed concern with the proposal’s parking infrastructure.

Commissioner Kim Way echoed Schneier and Fishman, and said the site’s premiere location calls for a proposal that can be “the model for the future” if Puzziti rethinks the development to offer a unique mixed-use complex.

“This almost 20-acre site has the ability, because it’s undeveloped right now, to really set the tone for the rest of the development,” Way said. “The magic’s not there yet, I think there’s magic to be had here.”

After reimagining, Puzzuti will bring the proposal back to the planning and zoning commission for review of a preliminary development plan before a final plan is approved. The commission meets twice each month, watch previous meetings here. View Puzziti’s entire proposal here.