November 2, 2026
NetJets Services is pursuing a multi-phase expansion of its corporate headquarters campus at 4111 Bridgeway Avenue near John Glenn Columbus International Airport, with city planning records outlining new office buildings, a multilevel parking garage and expanded surface parking across a 42.48-acre project area. The proposal, known as Project Ascend, is undergoing zoning review, but the public filings reviewed do not establish an 800-job commitment or an early 2029 completion date.
The application, submitted Sept. 22, identifies NetJets Services Inc. as the applicant and the Columbus Regional Airport Authority as the property owner. The proposed development would expand NetJets’ existing airport-area campus and add facilities supporting its corporate and aviation operations.
City departments reviewed the application Oct. 15, and updated review comments were uploaded Oct. 26. Planning staff expressed support for the requested zoning changes, while building and zoning officials identified additional technical requirements that the applicants must address.
Where is NetJets planning to expand its Columbus headquarters?
The proposed expansion is located at 4111 Bridgeway Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43219, on property associated with John Glenn Columbus International Airport.
The 42.48-acre application area is on the south side of Bridgeway Avenue, near the southern end of Goshen Lane.
NetJets already operates its U.S. global headquarters at the airport-area campus.
The company’s existing headquarters includes corporate offices and the NetJets Flight Center, which supports teams coordinating its worldwide flight operations.
NetJets says it has been based in Columbus since 1964.
The current expansion proposal is designed around additional office space and supporting infrastructure rather than relocating the company’s headquarters to another city.
What is included in Project Ascend?
Project Ascend is a phased corporate campus development.
Site plans prepared by Langan Engineering and Environmental Services show the existing office buildings BW1 and BW2 alongside proposed additional office buildings identified as BW3 and BW4.
The wider development plans also include a structured parking garage, expanded surface parking and supporting campus infrastructure.
The Federal Permitting Dashboard describes the NetJets airport-campus expansion as including:
- An additional office building.
- A flight-training facility.
- A multilevel parking garage.
- New and expanded surface vehicle parking.
The proposed parking garage would stand approximately 59.17 feet tall.
These improvements are intended to accommodate the company’s expanding headquarters operations and provide additional facilities and parking capacity.
The current city variance application, however, focuses on parking expansion and associated zoning requirements. It should not be interpreted as final approval for every building shown in the broader campus plans.
Why does NetJets need zoning approval?
The project area includes property classified under the Rural District, where certain commercial parking facilities are not permitted as a matter of right.
NetJets Services and the Columbus Regional Airport Authority are requesting zoning variances to allow the proposed parking expansion.
The application also seeks permission for a parking garage exceeding the standard height restriction for the rural zoning district.
Columbus zoning regulations generally establish a 35-foot height limit in that district. The proposed garage would reach approximately 59.17 feet.
The requested variances would allow the development to proceed beyond those standard requirements.
The application is identified as Council Variance CV26-095.
What concerns did Columbus planning officials identify?
City departments reviewed the proposal on Oct. 15.
The Planning Division supported the requested variances and said the proposed use is consistent with the Columbus Growth Strategy’s recommended Industrial and Warehouse land-use designation.
However, the Department of Building and Zoning Services identified several issues requiring clarification.
One concern involves the number of proposed parking spaces.
Zoning officials asked the development team to clarify whether the parking numbers shown in the application represent additional spaces for each construction phase or the total number of spaces available after each phase is completed.
Officials also said parking areas cannot cross or be divided by separate parcel boundaries unless the parcels are combined appropriately.
Additional questions concern the distribution of parking spaces between the garage and surface lots.
That information is needed to determine whether the project meets Columbus parking-lot landscaping and shade-tree requirements.
City reviewers also requested dimensions showing proposed building setbacks, parking setbacks and distances from structures to property boundaries.
Additional variances may be necessary if the revised plans do not meet the applicable standards.
The Planning Division’s support does not constitute final approval of the development.
Why will the project be completed in multiple phases?
The current application covers Phase 1 of the development.
According to supplemental documents from project architect Vocon, the first phase is located entirely south of the existing Bridgeway Avenue and Goshen Road intersection.
A second phase is expected to follow a separate redesign of that intersection by the city.
The final roadway alignment could affect the parking garage’s setbacks and require additional zoning variances.
The applicants will therefore need to coordinate the subsequent development plans with the city’s roadway redesign and approval process.
This phased approach means the entire campus development cannot be treated as one construction project with a confirmed completion date based on the current zoning filing.
Does the NetJets expansion really add 800 jobs?
An 800-job figure has appeared in historical reporting about NetJets’ expansion in Columbus, but it does not represent a newly verified employment commitment for the 2026 Project Ascend proposal.
In March 2008, NetJets announced a major expansion of its Columbus aviation operations after considering other locations.
The broader aeronautical development also involved FlightSafety International, which provides professional aviation training and flight simulation services.
Columbus City Council’s 2008 annual report said the development was expected to retain approximately 2,000 positions and create about 800 additional jobs in the business aviation industry.
The city used a combination of enterprise-zone incentives, job-creation tax credits and job-growth incentive agreements involving NetJets and FlightSafety.
That historical employment commitment should be distinguished from the current headquarters expansion.
In a separate announcement dated Oct. 4, 2021, JobsOhio reported that a NetJets headquarters expansion in Columbus would create 154 new jobs while retaining 1,516 existing positions.
That project involved safety, service, information technology, maintenance, operations, sales and support functions.
The public documents reviewed for Project Ascend do not provide a new 800-position hiring target, an updated payroll commitment or a detailed employment schedule.
Is NetJets’ Columbus expansion scheduled to finish in early 2029?
The early 2029 date is associated with a separate major project at John Glenn Columbus International Airport.
The Columbus Regional Airport Authority is developing a new passenger terminal through the CMH Next program.
According to the project’s official website, the new terminal is expected to open in early 2029.
The approximately 1-million-square-foot terminal will replace the existing passenger terminal and include 36 gates, a centralized passenger-processing area and a new 5,000-space parking garage.
The terminal is being built on a different part of the airport property, where the former Blue Shuttle and Cell Phone Parking lots were located.
Its construction schedule does not establish the completion date for NetJets’ headquarters expansion.
For NetJets, the Federal Permitting Dashboard currently lists environmental review and permitting as in progress, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 2, 2027.
That date refers to environmental and permitting processes, not the completion of construction.
No confirmed early 2029 completion date for the NetJets campus has been established in the public records reviewed.
What is the federal government reviewing?
The Federal Aviation Administration is identified as the lead federal agency for the NetJets airport-campus expansion on the Federal Permitting Dashboard.
The dashboard lists the project as an expansion of the existing campus on John Glenn Columbus International Airport property.
It reports that one of two environmental review and permitting processes has been completed.
The federal historic-preservation review concluded July 24, 2026, with a finding that no historic properties would be affected.
A separate review under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act remains listed as planned, with an August 2027 target date.
The federal review is separate from the city’s zoning and land-use approval process.
Both processes are relevant to the development’s ability to move forward.
NetJets and the Columbus airport have a long-term property agreement
The current expansion also follows a long-term land agreement between NetJets and the Columbus Regional Airport Authority.
In August 2025, the airport authority’s board approved Resolution 33-2025, authorizing a lease amendment with NetJets Services.
The original agreement, signed in December 2010, covered approximately 19 acres at 4111 Bridgeway Avenue.
The company also exercised an option to lease an additional 14.009 acres.
Under the amended agreement, the initial lease term was extended through Dec. 31, 2060, with one additional five-year renewal option.
The authority said it would receive fair-market ground rent through 2060.
The agreement provides a longer-term framework for NetJets’ continued presence at the airport, separate from the zoning approvals required for Project Ascend.
What does the expansion mean for Columbus?
NetJets is an established aviation employer in Central Ohio, and its headquarters campus is an important part of the region’s aviation industry.
The company says its Columbus headquarters supports more than 15 teams responsible for coordinating more than 1,200 worldwide daily flights.
The proposed expansion would increase the amount of office and supporting infrastructure available to the company near the airport.
It also represents another proposed development on airport authority property as the broader airport area continues to change.
However, the number of additional permanent jobs, the construction investment and the expected opening dates for the proposed NetJets facilities have not been established in the current public planning documents reviewed.
Those details will be important for measuring the project’s eventual economic impact.
What happens next in the NetJets headquarters expansion?
The Council Variance application remains in the city’s review process.
The applicants must address technical zoning comments involving parking calculations, parcel boundaries, landscaping and building setbacks.
After the required revisions and reviews, the project must proceed through the city’s development commission hearing and recommendation process, followed by applicable Columbus City Council approvals.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s environmental and permitting reviews also remain underway.
Columbus residents can follow the planning application through the City of Columbus Accela Citizen Access system using application number CV26-095.
The project could expand NetJets’ long-established headquarters campus, but its final design, construction schedule and employment impact will depend on subsequent approvals and company announcements.
Sources
- City of Columbus — Council Variance Application CV26-095, filed Sept. 22, 2026; staff review results uploaded Oct. 26, 2026.
- Pique Media — Columbus Planners Support NetJets Variances on Bridgeway Avenue, updated Oct. 26, 2026.
- Federal Permitting Dashboard — John Glenn Columbus International Airport (KCMH) — NetJets Expansion.
- Columbus Regional Airport Authority — Resolution 33-2025, adopted Aug. 26, 2025.
- Columbus City Council — 2008 Annual Report, job creation and aeronautical campus development.
- JobsOhio — Private Jet Company NetJets Expands Global HQ in Ohio, Oct. 4, 2021.
- NetJets — Official Global Headquarters and Locations information.
- CMH Next — Official new terminal project FAQ and construction schedule.
Last updated: November 2, 2026.
Columbus Frontline will update this report as the city advances the zoning application, federal reviews progress and NetJets releases additional information about investment, hiring and construction.