[WOOF] Fetch Park Calling it Quits in Columbus

Fetch Park is closing its doors in Columbus.  According to Fetch management, the park, located at 1432 5th Avenue, will close its doors at the end of the year, with December 29 reportedly their last day open to the public. The "off-leash" dog park and bar started in Atlanta in 2018.  

When Fetch Park Columbus opened in September 2021 it marked the second of what is now five locations for the Atlanta-based business.  

“When we embarked on our Columbus adventure, we knew this was a short-term opportunity to make Fetch happen in Columbus at MidCity Yards. With the growth and development in downtown Columbus, we were thrilled to be able to build a community in such a vibrant neighborhood,” said Fetch Park management in a statement to WTVM, the ABC affiliate in Columbus.   

“The closure of Fetch Columbus comes as part of the natural evolution of the MidCity Yards development and as a joint decision between the Landlord and the Tenant,” Chris Woodruff, president of The Cotton Companies, the project's developer, wrote in an email to the Ledger-Enquirer. 

“That being said, Fetch’s presence in Columbus was based on a lease agreement that had multiple trigger points — it had the ability to be relatively short (3 years) or had the opportunity to extend longer up to a certain time period. “As the area transitioned into its next phase of growth, and as the first trigger point surfaced, the Landlord and Fetch Park, LLC felt it was the right time to move forward with new opportunities,” Woodruff added.    

It's unclear what the developer plans to do with the roughly one acre property.  Jamestown, owner of Buckhead Village District in Atlanta, reportedly has a similar "placeholder" plan in place for its 1.3 acre property where Fetch replaced a surface parking lot in 2022.  There are also no immediate plans in Buckhead, but sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that Fetch is not the "highest and best use" of the property and that vertical development is likely in the not so distant future.    

Fetch Columbus is reportedly working to process refunds to members who purchased annual memberships that extend beyond December 31.

Stephen Ochs opened the first Fetch dog park in June 2018 in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward.  The following year, plans were announced for locations in Charlotte, Raleigh, Birmingham, and Nashville's Germantown neighborhood, but none ever opened.  Georgia locations were later added in Columbus (September 2021), Buckhead (January 2022), Alpharetta (June 2022), and at The Works on the "Upper Westside" (December 2022), but there has been no recent word of expansion in other markets.

The upcoming closure of Fetch in Columbus follows the abrupt closure of fellow off-leash dog park "Off Leash" earlier this month in Alpharetta.  The large format dog park, bar, and restaurant permanently closed December 9, less than six months after its July opening.  The locally owned business also canceled its plans for a second location in Decatur.  

Did you ever visit Fetch Park in Columbus?  Do you like the idea of membership dog parks?  What would you like to see happen to the Fetch Park property in Columbus? 

Please share your thoughts below.