| Skyline of Columbus | |
|---|---|
| Downtown Columbus and the Scioto Mile | |
| Tallest building | Rhodes State Office Tower (1973) |
| Tallest building height | 624 feet (190 m) |
| First 150 m+ building | LeVeque Tower (1927) |
| Number of tall buildings (2025) | |
| Taller than 100 m (328 ft) | 15 |
| Taller than 150 m (492 ft) | 5 |
| Number of tall buildings — feet | |
| Taller than 200 ft (61.0 m) | 37 |
| Taller than 300 ft (91.4 m) | 18 |
Columbus, the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Ohio, is home to 37 buildings with a height greater than 200 feet (61 m) as of 2026, the third most in any city in Ohio after Cincinnati and Cleveland. 18 of these buildings taller than 300 feet (91 m), the second most in Ohio after Cleveland, while Columbus ties Cleveland in terms of skyscrapers taller than 492 ft (150 m), with five. The tallest building in Columbus is the 629 ft (192 m), 41-story Rhodes State Office Tower, a modernist skyscraper completed in 1973.[1] It is Ohio's fifth-tallest building. The city's second tallest building is the LeVeque Tower; this 1927 Art Deco skyscraper was the first in the state to be built on caisson foundations.[2]
The history of skyscrapers in Columbus began in 1901 with the completion of the 13-story 16 East Broad Street, regarded as the first high-rise in the city.[3][4] The city went through an early high-rise boom in the 1920s, during which the LeVeque Tower (then known as the American Insurance Union Citadel) was constructed; at its opening in 1927, it was the fifth-tallest building in the world, and tallest outside of New York City and Chicago. Known for its ornate ornamentation and terracotta facade, the LeVeque Tower rose above the rest of the city's skyline for decades, as high-rise construction came to halt after the Great Depression.
From the early 1960s to the early 1990s, Columbus witnessed a second, larger construction boom that lasted until 1991. Most of the city’s high-rises were built during this period, including the Rhodes State Building, the William Green Building, the Huntington Center, and the Vern Riffe State Office Tower. Despite strong continued population growth, the city's skyline has grown little from the 1990s onwards, and remains dominated by office buildings. Between 1990 and 2020, the tallest additions to the skyline was the Fifth Third Center in 1998 and the 314 ft (96 m) Miranova Condominiums in 2002, the city's tallest residential tower. The 2020s has seen an uptick in high-rise development; the 350 ft (107 m) Hilton Columbus Downtown Tower was completed in 2022. Work on the Wexner Medical Center Inpatient Hospital and Merchant Building, both over 350 ft (107 m) tall, are anticipated to be finished by 2026.
Most high-rises in the city are located in Downtown Columbus, which lies within the Inner Belt and sits east of the Scioto River. A ring of towers, including four of the city's five tallest buildings (the exception being the William Green Building) surround Capitol Square, a public square that includes the Ohio Statehouse. Three buildings taller than 200 ft (61 m) that lie outside downtown are hospital buildings: the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Southern Orchards, the Ohio State East Hospital in King-Lincoln Bronzeville, and The James Cancer Hospital, on the campus of Ohio State University. Also at the university are The Towers, two student dormitory high-rises.
History
Cityscape
Map of tallest buildings
The maps below show the location of buildings taller than 200 ft (61 m) in Downtown Columbus. Each marker is numbered by the building's height rank, and colored by the decade of its completion.
Tallest buildings
This list ranks completed buildings in Columbus that stand at least 200 ft (61 m) tall as of 2026, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. The “Year” column indicates the year of completion. Buildings tied in height are sorted by year of completion with earlier buildings ranked first, and then alphabetically.
Was the tallest building in Columbus upon completion| Rank | Name | Image | Location | Height ft (m) | Floors | Year | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhodes State Office Tower | 30 East Broad Street | 624 (190.2) | 41 | 1973 | Office | The 5th-tallest building in Ohio and the tallest building completed in Columbus in the 1970s. It is the tallest office building in Columbus and the tallest mid-block building in Ohio.[5][6][7] | |
| 2 | LeVeque Tower | 50 West Broad Street
39°57′44″N 83°00′08″W / 39.962357°N 83.002235°W / 39.962357; -83.002235 (LeVeque Tower) | 555 (169.3) | 47 | 1927 | Office | 7th-tallest building in Ohio. Tallest building in Columbus for 46 years, from 1927 to 1973. Tallest building completed in Columbus in the 1920s. Briefly the tallest building in the United States outside of New York City and Chicago until 1928.[8][9][10] | |
| 3 | William Green Building | 30 West Spring Street
39°58′00″N 83°00′09″W / 39.966553°N 83.002388°W / 39.966553; -83.002388 (William Green Building) | 530 (161.6) | 33 | 1990 | Office | 8th-tallest building in Ohio. Tallest building completed in Columbus in the 1990s.[11][12][13] | |
| 4 | Huntington Center | 41 South High Street
39°57′40″N 83°00′03″W / 39.961155°N 83.0009°W / 39.961155; -83.0009 (Huntington Center) | 512 (156.1) | 37 | 1983 | Office | 10th-tallest building in Ohio. Tallest building completed in Columbus in the 1980s.[14][15][16] | |
| 5 | Vern Riffe State Office Tower | 77 South High Street | 504 (153.5) | 33 | 1989 | Office | ||
| 6 | One Nationwide Plaza | 1 West Nationwide Boulevard
39°58′06″N 83°00′09″W / 39.968445°N 83.002373°W / 39.968445; -83.002373 (One Nationwide Plaza) | 485 (147.8) | 40 | 1978 | Office | ||
| 7 | Franklin County Courthouse | 373 South High Street | 464 (141.4) | 27 | 1991 | Government | ||
| 8 | AEP Building | 1 Riverside Plaza
39°57′54″N 83°00′20″W / 39.964989°N 83.005508°W / 39.964989; -83.005508 (AEP Building) | 456 (139) | 31 | 1983 | Office | ||
| 9 | Borden Building | 180 East Broad Street
39°57′48″N 82°59′45″W / 39.963257°N 82.99588°W / 39.963257; -82.99588 (Borden Building) | 438 (133.5) | 34 | 1974 | Office | ||
| 10 | Three Nationwide Plaza | 230 N Front St
39°58′02″N 83°00′11″W / 39.96722°N 83.002998°W / 39.96722; -83.002998 (Three Nationwide Plaza) | 408 (124.4) | 26 | 1988 | Office | ||
| 11 | One Columbus Center | 10 West Broad Street
39°57′45″N 83°00′05″W / 39.962521°N 83.001289°W / 39.962521; -83.001289 (One Columbus Center) | 366 (111.6) | 26 | 1987 | Office | ||
| 12 | Chase Tower | 100 East Broad Street
39°57′47″N 82°59′52″W / 39.963081°N 82.997643°W / 39.963081; -82.997643 (Chase Tower) | 357 (108.8) | 25 | 1965 | Office | Formerly known as Bank One Tower and the Columbus Center. Tallest building completed in Columbus in the 1960s.[32][33] | |
| 13 | Capitol Square | 65 East State Street
39°57′36″N 82°59′54″W / 39.959965°N 82.998299°W / 39.959965; -82.998299 (Capitol Square) | 350 (106.7) | 26 | 1984 | Office | [34][35] | |
| 14 | Hilton Columbus Downtown Tower | 402 North High Street | 350 (106.7) | 27 | 2022 | Hotel | Tallest building completed in Columbus in the 2020s.[36][37] | |
| 15 | Continental Center | 150 East Gay Street
39°57′52″N 82°59′50″W / 39.964485°N 82.997131°W / 39.964485; -82.997131 (Continental Center) | 348 (106.1) | 26 | 1973 | Office | [38][39] | |
| 16 | Preston Centre | 155 East Broad Street
39°57′44″N 82°59′48″W / 39.962219°N 82.996613°W / 39.962219; -82.996613 (Preston Centre) | 317 (96.6) | 24 | 1977 | Office | Formerly known as the PNC Bank Building from 1977 to 2024.[40][41] | |
| 17 | Miranova Condominiums | 1 Miranova Place
39°57′18″N 83°00′19″W / 39.955025°N 83.005409°W / 39.955025; -83.005409 (Miranova Condominiums) | 314 (95.7) | 26 | 2000 | Residential | Tallest building completed in Columbus in the 2000s. Tallest residential building in Columbus.[42][43] | |
| 18 | Fifth Third Center | 21 East State Street
39°57′36″N 83°00′00″W / 39.959927°N 82.999886°W / 39.959927; -82.999886 (Fifth Third Center) | 302 (92.1) | 21 | 1998 | Office | [44][45] | |
| 19 | The James Cancer Hospital | 460 West 10th Avenue | 297 (91) | 21 | 2014 | Health | Tallest building completed in Columbus in the 2010s.[46][47] | |
| 20 | Franklin County Municipal Court | 375 South High Street | 288 (87.8) | 19 | 1979 | Government | [48] | |
| 21 | Motorists Mutual Building | 471 East Broad Street | 286 (87.2) | 21 | 1973 | Office | [49][50] | |
| 22 | Midland Building | 250 East Broad Street
39°57′48″N 82°59′38″W / 39.963257°N 82.993851°W / 39.963257; -82.993851 (Midland Building) | 280 (85.4) | 21 | 1970 | Office | [51][52] | |
| 23 | The Condominiums at North Bank Park | 300 West Spring Street | 267 (81.4) | 20 | 2007 | Residential | Second tallest residential building in Columbus.[53][54][55] | |
| 24 | Lincoln Tower Dormitory | 1800 Cannon Drive | 260 (79.3) | 24 | 1967 | Residential | [56][57] | |
| 25 | Morrill Tower Dormitory | 1900 Cannon Drive
40°00′00″N 83°01′19″W / 40.00005°N 83.02189°W / 40.00005; -83.02189 (Morrill Tower Dormitory) | 260 (79.3) | 24 | 1967 | Residential | [58][59] | |
| 26 | Hyatt Regency Columbus | 350 North High Street
39°58′11″N 83°00′05″W / 39.969608°N 83.001389°W / 39.969608; -83.001389 (Hyatt Regency Columbus) | 256 (78) | 20 | 1980 | Hotel | [60][61] | |
| 27 | Key Bank Building | 88 East Broad Street
39°57′46″N 82°59′54″W / 39.962879°N 82.99823°W / 39.962879; -82.99823 (Key Bank Building) | 253 (77) | 20 | 1963 | Office | [62][63] | |
| 28 | Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel | 50 North 3rd Street | 250 (76.2) | 22 | 1963 | Hotel | Opened as the Columbus Plaza Hotel in 1963. Became a Sheraton hotel in 1965, and operated until 1987, after which the building remained dormant until it re-opened as an Adam's Mark hotel in 1997. Converted into a Marriot Renaissance hotel in 2006.[64] | |
| 29 | Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square | 75 East State Street | 249 (75.8) | 21 | 1984 | Hotel | [65] | |
| 30 | 280 Plaza | 280 North High Street
39°58′05″N 83°00′04″W / 39.967941°N 83.001205°W / 39.967941; -83.001205 (280 Plaza) | 242 (73.8) | 18 | 1982 | Office | Also known as Two Nationwide Plaza.[66] | |
| 31 | OPERS Building Addition | 277 East Town Street | 242 (74)[i] | 13 | 2004 | Office | Headquarters of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.[67][68] | |
| 32 | Nationwide Children's Hospital Patient Tower | 650 Children's Drive | 234 (71)[i] | 12 | 2012 | Health | [69][70] | |
| 33 | Columbia Gas of Ohio Building | 200 South Civic Center Drive | 213 (65)[i] | 15 | 1983 | Office | [71] | |
| 34 | 8 East Broad Street | 8 East Broad Street
39°57′45″N 83°00′01″W / 39.962536°N 83.000259°W / 39.962536; -83.000259 (8 East Broad Street) | 212 (65) | 17 | 1906 | Mixed-use | Tallest building in Columbus from 1906 to 1927. Tallest building completed in Columbus in the 1900s. Located adjacent to 16 East Broad Street, the previous tallest building in the city. Formally known as the Capitol Trust Building and the State Savings & Trust Building. Originally an office building, it was partially converted to residential use in 2008.[72][73] | |
| 35 | Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund Building | 140 East Town Street | 207 (63)[i] | 17 | 1974 | Office | Also known as Town Center or 140 East Town Street.[74][75][76] | |
| 36 | Waterford Tower | 155 West Main Street
39°57′19″N 83°00′14″W / 39.955261°N 83.003891°W / 39.955261; -83.003891 (Waterford Tower) | 205 (62)[i] | 19 | 1988 | Residential | Constructed near the historical site of the junction of the Columbus Feeder Canal and Scioto River. Waterford Tower was the first high-rise, high-density residential building built downtown in 15 years.[77][78][79] | |
| 37 | University Hospitals East | 1450 Hawthorne Avenue | 202 (62)[i] | 16 | 1970 | Health | [80] |
Tallest under construction
The following table includes buildings under construction in Columbus that are planned to be at least 200 feet (61 m) tall as of 2026, based on standard height measurement. The “Year” column indicates the expected year of completion. Buildings that are on hold are not included.
| Name | Image | Height ft (m) | Floors | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wexner Medical Center Inpatient Hospital | 411 (125) | 26 | 2026 | Will become the 10th-tallest building in the city and the tallest building outside of downtown, as well as tallest building constructed in the city since the 1990s.[81] | |
| Merchant Building | 382 (116) | 32 | 2026 |
Timeline of tallest buildings
This lists buildings that once held the title of tallest building in Columbus.
| Name | Image | Street address | Years as tallest | Height ft (m) | Floors | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio Statehouse | 1 Capitol Square | 1857–1901 | 158 (48) | 4 | [86] | |
| New Hayden Building | 16 East Broad Street | 1901–1906 | 180 (55) | 13 | [4][87] | |
| Capitol Trust Building | 8 East Broad Street | 1906–1927 | 212 (65) | 17 | [88] | |
| LeVeque Tower | 50 West Broad Street | 1927–1973 | 555 (169) | 47 | [8] | |
| Rhodes State Office Tower | 30 East Broad Street | 1973–present | 629 (192) | 41 | [5] |
Notes
- Sources do not state the exact height of this building. This figure was determined using Google Earth by subtracting the altitude of the building's lowest main pedestrian open-air entrance from its highest architectural point.
See also
- Architecture of Columbus, Ohio
- List of tallest buildings in Ohio
- List of tallest buildings in Akron
- List of tallest buildings in Cincinnati
- List of tallest buildings in Cleveland
- List of tallest buildings in Dayton
- List of tallest buildings in Toledo, Ohio
References
- General
- "High-rise Buildings of Columbus". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on January 25, 2005.
- Specific
- "Rhodes State Office Tower". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2007.
- "LeVeque Tower". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on February 29, 2008.
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- "LeVeque Tower". Skyscraper Source Media. Archived from the original on December 31, 2006.
- "William Green Building". The Skyscraper Center. CTBUH. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017.
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- "William Green Building". Skyscraper Source Media. Archived from the original on August 20, 2009.
- "Huntington Center". The Skyscraper Center. CTBUH. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017.
- "Huntington Center". Emporis. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017.
- "Huntington Center". Skyscraper Source Media. Archived from the original on August 20, 2009.
- "Vern Riffe State Office Tower". The Skyscraper Center. CTBUH. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017.
- "Vern Riffe State Office Tower". Emporis. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017.
- "Vern Riffe State Office Tower". Skyscraper Source Media. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007.
- "One Nationwide Plaza". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on February 29, 2008.
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- "Franklin County Courthouse". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2007.
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- "AEP Building". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2007.
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- "Borden Building". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on February 29, 2008.
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- "One Columbus Center". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2007.
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- "Capitol Square". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2007.
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- "Commission Approves Hilton Hotel Expansion". June 25, 2019. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020.
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- "Continental Center". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2007.
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- "National City Bank Building". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2008.
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- "Miranova Condominiums". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007.
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- "James Cancer Hospital". dispatch.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015; "James Cancer Hospital". architectscope.com. May 26, 2015. Archived from the original on May 30, 2015.
- "Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital, Columbus - SkyscraperPage.com". skyscraperpage.com.
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- "Midland Building". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2007.
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External links
- Diagram of Columbus skyscrapers on SkyscraperPage