POWELL — The Powell Development Corporation has assisted 25 businesses opening up shop in Powell already in 2026, with more to come later this year.
Recent restaurant additions include Khaab Indian Kitchen and Bar, Chapala Mexican Grill and the Grateful Griddle.
And restaurant owners aren’t the only ones opening up shop — Spanish immersion daycare Tierra Encantada opened earlier this month and major attractor COhatch Powell arrived earlier this year, bringing Lani Rooftop Lounge with it.
Each month, Powell’s Economic Development Administrator Sean Hughes creates a report about the corporation’s yearly progress for city council.
That report noted 25 new businesses have called Powell home this year, and 15 of them directly came from COhatch officeholders.
“It’s already been a really good year,” Hughes said.
Compared to this time last year, that marks a 78.6% increase in new businesses and startups.
According to the report, so far this year…
- The Powell Development Corporation (PDC) has 317 projects in the pipeline — a 50% increase compared to this time last year.
- Those new businesses created 107 full-time-equivalent (FTE) jobs, $7.7 million in annual payroll and $14.5 million in capital investment.
- 12 companies have retained or expanded business, resulting in 44 retained FTE jobs, seven new FTE jobs and $426,880 in new payroll.
- New payroll will generate an annual $162,000 in new income taxes to support city services. Since 2024, the PDC has helped bring total new income taxes up to $609,200.
“Every year should be building off the previous years,” Hughes said.
More growth to come
Hughes said the city is trying to attract the right mix of businesses to help all businesses be successful.
So far, that has included a lot of restaurants, which Powell residents said they wanted to see more of in the 2025 Community Attitudes Survey.
“You can have 35-40 restaurants in a row and they’ll all do well,” Hughes said, whereas the same isn’t always true for retail.
He also said the addition of COhatch officeholders brings daytime business to restaurants and retailers.
When the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Outpatient Care Powell opens later this summer in Liberty Township, the city will see even more business from hospital employees and patients.
Even with the city’s occupancy rate — the percentage of available space or units within the city that are in use and not vacant — in the high 80s, Hughes said more businesses plan to open later this year.
“We have a healthy perception in the market; businesses are seeing us as a place to do business.”
sean hughes
City lacks appropriate commercial space
Despite an attractive market, there are still gaps that don’t meet resident wants, nor do they fulfill businesses’ needs.
“We’re feverishly trying to bring more family entertainment and eateries,” Hughes said. “We struggle a little bit on that front.”
Hughes said he’s working to get two activity-related businesses downtown, but the city struggles to provide sufficient buildings for those kind of spaces.
“Old houses are not indicative to most types of businesses,” he said.
“We have probably 100 businesses in the hopper at any one time that would like to be here, but we don’t have the commercial inventory to support them,” he said.
The proposed potential Village Green development plans could eventually provide those spaces, along with parking to accommodate for the increased traffic.
