If you have lived in Powell for more than a few years, you know the old rhythm of downtown. You parked once on a Saturday morning, walked to the farmers market on the Green, maybe stopped at Kraft House or Prohibition Gastro Lounge for dinner, and drove home. The block was pleasant. It was also small.
That block is not small anymore. Between March and April of this year, East Olentangy Street gained a full-floor coworking campus, a rooftop bar, and a restored historic member house inside a single 14,000 square foot development. A donut shop opened in Liberty Plaza in February. City Council reviewed plans for a boutique hotel and two more restaurants in November. For residents, the practical effect is not "Powell has changed." It is that a Thursday evening now holds more downtown than a Saturday used to.
Here is what is actually within a five minute walk of the Village Green as of August 2026, and how to string it together.
The two buildings at 50 and 60 East Olentangy
The single biggest shift is COhatch's Powell campus. The Dublin-based company opened its coworking and event campus at 50 and 60 E. Olentangy St. on March 2, and the site includes the Middlebury Member House and Lani Rooftop Lounge. The 14,000 square foot campus features private offices, dedicated desks, coworking areas, meeting rooms and event space, and the Middlebury Member House is a restored historic home on the property designed as a lodge-style setting for members to work, meet and host private events.
The part that changes downtown for non-members is the roof. Lani Rooftop Lounge, on the third floor of COhatch's building on East Olentangy, opened to the public on April 9. It is being touted as Powell's first rooftop bar and one of only about ten rooftop bars across Central Ohio, offering both indoor and outdoor seating above the city's walkable downtown area. The menu leans on globally inspired small plates rooted in Japanese, French and Italian flavors paired with hand-crafted cocktails, and guests can choose between the bar or one of three dining areas: patio, main and sky room. Lani is open Wednesday through Saturday with hours varying by day, reservations run through OpenTable, and parking is available at street level and in Powell's public parking lots.
If you have not been up yet, the short version is that the sight line from the sky room is the first time Powell has offered a view of its own downtown from above.
The DORA is the connective tissue
Here is the underrated infrastructure piece. Downtown Powell's DORA is active Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. That window matters, because it converts the walk between businesses into part of the visit rather than a break in it. A Lani cocktail can travel to the Green. A Nocterra pour can walk to Prohibition. The DORA is why late summer 2026 feels different from late summer 2023, even though most of the buildings are the same. Four days a week, the sidewalk is the venue.
Building a Saturday around the new footprint
A useful test for how much a downtown has actually grown: can you build a full day inside it without needing a car between stops? As of this August, yes.
- 9:30 a.m. Coffee and a donut at Glazed Over. The new location is inside Liberty Plaza at 240 N. Liberty St. in Powell, open from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Every donut is hand-rolled and hand-cut in small batches throughout the day, and they originally opened in Sandusky in 2019.
- 10:30 a.m. The Powell Farmers Market on Village Green, still the anchor of the Saturday routine.
- Noon. DORA switches on. Walk a beer or wine cup from a participating business through downtown.
- 1 p.m. Lunch at Novella Osteria or Kraft House No. 5, both within the walk.
- 4 p.m. A drink on the Lani patio before it fills.
- 6:30 p.m. Dinner reservation somewhere on Olentangy, then loop back to the Green for whatever concert or movie is scheduled that night.
Six stops, none of them requiring you to move your car. Two years ago that same day required at least one drive.
The weeknight layer residents actually use
The festival calendar gets the press, but the residents' downtown is a weekly one. A few worth marking:
- Nocterra Run Club, Thursdays at 6:15 p.m. The run club meets every Thursday for a healthy run, followed by a hangout in the taproom or beer garden, works with Columbus Running Company, and incorporates all levels of ability, pace, or distance.
- Pilates in the Park at Village Green. Powell Parks and Recreation is partnering with Body Alive Powell to offer free Pilates In The Park at 8:30 a.m. at Village Green Park, 47 Hall Street, on select Saturdays including August 15; bring a mat, water, and friends.
- LEGO free play at Nocterra. Bring family and friends to Nocterra for a LEGO free play, grab a drink and build with plenty of bricks provided for all, and the event is completely free.
- Concert Night on the Green. Grab dinner from a local restaurant, sip a DORA beverage from participating businesses, bring lawn chairs and blankets, and enjoy a summer evening of live music in the heart of Downtown Powell.
The point is not that any single one of these is remarkable. It is that they add up to a downtown you can use on a Tuesday, not just a Saturday in June.
What is on the near horizon, and why it matters now
The revitalization is not finished, and the next phase is worth knowing about because it will change parking, sight lines, and dinner options within two years.
Transform Construction has submitted plans for a two-story restaurant at 147 W. Olentangy St. and a three-story building at 173 W. Olentangy St. that would house another restaurant, retail space, and a 16-room boutique hotel, with the combined investment totaling about $7.8 million according to a presentation made during Powell City Council's Development Committee meeting on Nov. 5. City figures show the projects would support more than 70 full-time jobs and bring about $1.95 million in new payroll to downtown, generating around $39,000 annually in payroll taxes.
The reason to file that away as a resident: the west end of Olentangy, which has historically been the quieter side of downtown, is what gets built next. If you have been treating the corner past the Green as the edge of walkable Powell, the map is about to extend.
There is also more food coming. Khaab Indian Kitchen & Bar has announced plans for a new Powell location in 2026, promising traditional recipes, a contemporary vibe, and elevated hospitality. That is on top of Glazed Over and the two restaurants proposed on West Olentangy. Powell's Economic Development Administrator put the reasoning plainly in the November council meeting: "Quite simply, it's because our residents want them. They want to see more choices and restaurants here in our downtown in particular, and Powell in general."
The date to put on the calendar
If you are only going to circle one downtown day between now and fall, make it this one. The Powell Street Market & Business Expo runs Sunday, September 13, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with 60 plus local vendors, food trucks, and access to downtown businesses, restaurants, and bars. It is the day when the full new footprint gets its stress test. If you want to see the argument in this post proven in one afternoon, that is the Sunday to do it.
Why the year matters
Downtowns rarely change in a single stroke. They change in a season where three or four projects finish at once and suddenly the walking loop is different. That is what happened here between February and April, and it is what makes August the first summer where residents can feel it without squinting. The Powell that used to be a good place to live and a fine place to visit is quietly becoming a good place to live and a place worth staying downtown on a weeknight.
If you have friends visiting from out of town this month, do not drive them to the Short North first. Walk them from Liberty Plaza to the Village Green to Lani, then let them ask you how long it has been like this. The honest answer is about four months.
If you have been watching downtown Powell change and wondering what it means for your own next move, the team at Dedra Lucas Group has been tracking these shifts block by block for decades. Let's Connect.
