(Columbus Ledger-Enquirer) - A women’s clothing store will be among the local businesses opening in a new Uptown Columbus reuse development.
Highside Market, at the crossroads of 13th Street and 2nd Avenue, will be a hub for dining, retail, office and event space, according to a news release from the Columbus-based real estate development and investment firm The Cotton Companies.
Council Wardrobe Studio, a women’s clothing store that provides wardrobe styling services, will be moving from 1st Avenue to a 1,545-square-foot space in Highside Market. The store is expected to open in its new location around the first week of March.
Columbus-native Clare Koppang founded Council Wardrobe Studio while living in Tennessee, and brought the store back with her when she came back to her hometown. She realized her store could fill a niche gap in the city because there wasn’t any other store like it.
Council Wardrobe Studio has different types of customers, Koppang said, but their common desire is to buy fewer pieces of higher quality rather than buying clothes every year.
“We work with women in their wardrobes,” she said. “And we even do closet edits to figure out the holes in their wardrobe and help them build them instead of buying a bunch of clothes that are going to fall apart or go out of style.”
Koppang found out about the Highside Market development from her customers and word of mouth when she was at the salon. When the opportunity came to join Highside Market, she jumped on it, Koppang said. The new location will add 500 square feet to Council Wardrobe Studio allowing for more inventory, she said.
“We will add more accessories, shoes, handbags and jewelry just to round out your wardrobe in one spot,” Koppang said. “So that women don’t have to shop all over town.”
Having locally owned businesses like Council Wardrobe Studio in Highside Market is instrumental, said Chris Woodruff, president of The Cotton Companies.
“It’s not just about the business,” he said. “But the people who run the business. And we’re very fortunate to have people like Clare who run incredible businesses.”
The new location should help the store get more foot traffic, she said, and Koppang is excited to be surrounded by the “energizing and invigorating” environment that Highside Market will bring.
“I think this development will help (Columbus) feel just a little more elevated,” she said. “We tend to go to Atlanta shopping sometimes, or Birmingham, and I don’t think you’ll feel like you have to leave here as much to have that kind of fun.”
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM HIGHSIDE MARKET
The goal for Highside Market is to make it a place where there is something for everyone that provides a sense of community, Woodruff said. The Cotton Companies hopes to achieve this through the curated mix of businesses - referred to as family members - and the purposeful design of the development, he said.
This can be seen in the position of new buildings that can block the sunlight to make the environment more enjoyable during the summer months, the weekly farmers market and the park, Woodruff said.
Highside Market also will partner with other organizations to regularly provide activities at the development, he said, and hopes this will become a place in Columbus where residents can gather and have fun.
“That’s what we’ve been missing in this post-COVID world,” Woodruff said. “And I think Highside could be the answer for that.”
Highside Market is a “rehab project,” said The Cotton Companies partner Martin Huff. Reuse development is something the firm has focused on and been successful with, he said.
“We take old buildings and breathe life back into it,” he said.
The firm developed Midcity Yards at the site of the former Uneeda Glass building, where Fetch Park and Moe’s Original BBQ are now located.
“Columbus is so fortunate that we have great buildings that were built by great architects and engineers and builders,” Huff said. “There’s no reason we can’t reuse them.”
The central point of Highside Market will include a bakery, dine-in restaurants, office space, event space and a mix of retail businesses. Another newly constructed building will house the new location of Nonic Bar & Kitchen and a former bank building will be the home of Teased Hair Salon.
Daisy Park, a 7,000 square foot urban park, will be available for private events, arts in the park, concerts, movie nights or an area for residents to take a lunch break.
The Cotton Companies has received commitments from prospective tenants for half of Highside Market’s available leases and expects to announce more soon, according to the news release. Huff encourages other business owners in Columbus interested in the development to reach out to the firm at info@highsidemarket.com.
“Our goal here is to either help individual business growth, like Council (Wardrobe Studio),” Woodruff said. “Or to bring new businesses into Columbus or to help new business owners start.”
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