Marble Cliff is pleased to have the two large buildings at 1400 Dublin Rd. redeveloped and occupied by thriving businesses.
When developer Brad DeHays needed more space for his growing businesses, Connect Realty and Mid-Ohio Contracting Services, he chose the site that had been home to a bowling alley, the Custom Coach company and several other entities.
“Dublin Road is a main artery, and I drove by 1400 every day on my way to my office. I was looking for a new location that could accommodate my growing companies. And I knew I wanted a building that would showcase our skills at adapting and reusing a well-built shell structure for new purposes. We don’t build new buildings. We design and redo existing properties creating functional spaces for our tenants,” DeHays says. “I’m pleased that Mary Evangelista of M Design Décor was able to design our new offices using original casework, doors, exposed steel structure, natural light and concrete floors.”
Titled 1400 Dublin LLC, the property consists of almost 6 acres of land and two buildings. The 34,436-square-foot building seen from Dublin Road is fully leased, with over half the space occupied by DeHays’ vertically integrated companies. Mid-Ohio Contracting Services, Inc. provides full-service construction services to commercial and residential clients. Connect Realty is a boutique residential and commercial real estate brokerage firm. It also manages a portfolio of apartments, commercial properties, houses and parking lots.
Park Ops, a valet parking and management company, occupies about 2,000 square feet of the main building, and Blue Car Commissary occupies the rest. Blue Car Commissary will have its test kitchen, event space and food preparation areas built out by late 2014. The business includes a massive commercial kitchen with equipment that can be leased by the hour.
The second building, located behind the main building, is occupied by Rock Solid Academy, a gymnastics and cheerleading gym and training school.
“We were pleased to renovate that 27,000-square-foot space for their use as a long-term tenant,” DeHays says.
And Rock Solid co-owners Kelley Capretta-Smith and Debie Hague say, “Brad’s been very supportive and a huge part of this facility’s success. He’s a great landlord. You don’t get one like him very often.”
DeHays graduated from Cambridge High School and attended Allegheny College before graduating with degrees in business and economics from Muskingum College. Since he already had been making real estate investments in Columbus during college, he chose to continue his business efforts in central Ohio.
“I’m an entrepreneur and have always been interested in historic properties. We’ve become one of the largest historic property owners in Columbus. I take pride in historic preservation,” says DeHays.
His latest purchases and projects are the Franklin Park Trolley Barn property on the near east side, the Ohio Finance Co. building located downtown at 39 W. Long St. and the Gaetz Music Store building directly next door.
Some of the favorite historic properties DeHays has acquired and developed include the Columbia Building on North High Street that is occupied by Elevator Brewery and Draught Haus Restaurant, which was owned for more than 60 years by the Larrimer family; the original Ohio Farm Bureau offices on East Broad Street just west of Interstate 71; the Rehab Tavern in East Franklinton; and the Stoddard Block Building and the Zettler Building on South Fourth Street, which will house a new micro-living concept focused on micro luxury apartments.
DeHays and his wife, Jaeleen, are proud parents of three young children: son Clark and daughters Julianna and Evelyn. DeHays says his family is the center of his life: “I work a lot and have little time to relax. Rather than playing sports as I once did, I now coach kids. I enjoy watching them learn sports.” DeHays is also a member of the Upper Arlington Rotary Club.
His commute from their Upper Arlington home to his new office in Marble Cliff is a quick one.
“Marble Cliff is strategically located to Downtown and the outerbelt. It’s insulated by great communities. I wasn’t sure how our move would work out. But Marble Cliff Mayor Kent Studebaker was very open about the process of locating my business in the Village. He and Village Council took a collaborative approach to our economic package. We plan to be at 1400 Dublin Rd. for a long time,” DeHays says.
