Why the Best Mixed-Use Projects Think Like Brands
The most successful mixed-use developments share a counterintuitive truth: their competitive advantage isn’t about mixing uses — it’s about creating something that can’t be replicated anywhere else.
Rather than focusing on unit mixes and retail square footage, developers achieving the fastest lease-up with premium rents have discovered that creating one-of-a-kind destinations generates the best competitive advantages. According to McKinsey partner James Patchett, mixed-use success requires three critical elements that separate winners from runners-up:
- Strategic anchors are the distinctive draw that sets a location apart from generic alternatives. Today’s anchors go beyond simple space-fillers to become experiential destinations that people seek out.
- Intentional programming involves curated experiences and events that activate spaces around the clock that maintain energy through constantly changing for an “always something happening” atmosphere that drives foot traffic.
- Nature integration addresses post-pandemic demand for outdoor experiences, even in urban contexts, connecting people to green space and fresh air in the built environment.
Architecture doesn’t just house these strategies; it creates them. These four projects show how design thinking delivers both community impact and strong returns.
The interior of The Little Grand radiates from a central bar, with private vendor stalls positioned along the perimeter to maximize visibility and flow. This principle extends to exterior plaza spaces, where seating creates an intimate social setting within broader circulation patterns.
Market Hall as Community Catalyst
Grandview Crossing centers around the 35,000-square-foot Little Grand Market as its hub. The market’s exposed steel trusses and skylit roof create an open, airy environment that becomes a destination for Central Ohio residents.
The design radiates from a central bar, positioning vendor stalls along the perimeter to maximize visibility and circulation. This space planning enables patrons to transition from their morning coffee to evening events, generating multiple revenue streams from the same space.
The market’s design features garage doors into the adjacent 3.5-acre park to extend programming outdoors, while residential units benefit from community energy. The market hall generates multiple revenue streams while creating a community draw that supports premium residential rents.
See The Little Grand became the community’s gathering ground →
Integrated paving and lighting systems guide movement from the public sidewalk through the building and onto the terraced outdoor spaces. These pathways create a sequence of spatial experiences that support the hotel’s programming while activating the street-level environment.
Hospitality as Urban Anchor
Hotel Celare demonstrates how all three success factors work together in a single project. The 171-key Marriott Tribute Portfolio is right across the street to the University of Cincinnati campus, providing access to parents and guests of the university and bridging the campus’ scale and residential neighborhood character.
The architecture draws people in through integrated lighting and pathways that guide visitors from the streetscape up through the building and out onto terraced porches overlooking the campus. The terraces connect patrons to the hotel’s urban, collegiate environment through its indoor-outdoor connection.
Located on the ground floor, Cap City Fine Diner serves both hotel guests and the broader community, further activating the street environment. The hotel is a steady anchor tenant, with a 24/7 operation that provides consistent district activation through a kind of around-the-clock energy.
The project fills the gap of once vacant buildings along High Street, enhancing connectivity and walkability throughout Downtown. As a crucial part of the efforts to revitalize Gay Street, the project brings ground-floor galleries and a restaurant, making it a lynchpin for initiatives such as the installation of Janet Echelman’s sculpture, Current, and the future Capital Line.
Historic Preservation as Market Differentiation
After 40 years of vacancy, The Madison elevates historic preservation into an anchor strategy for a burgeoning arts district in Downtown Columbus. The restored terra cotta facade and 7-tier plaster molding create an experiential draw that new construction just can’t replicate.
Ground-floor galleries and a French bistro activate High Street’s pedestrian experience, while 44 residential units above benefit from cultural programming without interfering with street-level activities. The project completes a critical streetwall gap, enabling broader district programming initiatives, including the Capital Line and the Columbus Museum of Art’s BAM Under Current.
Historic character creates instant recognition and appeal, while preservation incentives improve project economics. The result is economically viable multifamily housing that anchors downtown events and activities.
Discover how 40 years of vacancy became a neighborhood gem →
The project’s success is tied to it’s unique relationship with it’s site. Unlike generic apartment blocks, South Bank Apartments is intrinsically tied to its quarry setting through both design strategy and material choices.
When Site Becomes the Selling Point
Located on Ohio’s largest contiguous former quarry, now remediated and converted to Quarry Trails Metro Park, the site is the 154-unit Southbank Apartments’ unique selling point.
Scandinavian hygge-inspired design creates a cabin-like retreat experience, while articulated gables break down the building’s mass to complement the landscape. Quarry views are maximized for tenants, while adventure-oriented amenities like bike and kayak storage attract active young professionals and empty nesters.
The extraordinary park setting commands premium rents while reducing marketing costs through inherent differentiation. Unlike generic apartment buildings, Southbank offers an experience that competitors cannot replicate.
Discover how Quarry Trails transforms industrial heritage →
The Strategic Design Advantage
Each project demonstrates the cycle in action: each distinctive place attracts people, which attracts businesses, which creates more activity, which attracts more people. Unlike generic mixed-use developments that rely on proximity alone, these projects create competitive advantages through strategic design and programming.
The most important question for any mixed-use project isn’t “What uses can we mix?” but rather “What makes this place unique?” Whether the answer is its site, historic character, community needs, or experiential programming, it becomes the foundation for both anchor strategy and architectural design that delivers measurable value for developers, tenants, and neighborhoods alike.