Fresh out of his dental residency, Dr. James Ford made a bold move. He knew he wanted to have his dental practice in a metropolitan city and after doing some homework, he decided to open his dental practice in downtown Columbus. He knew the area since he had graduated from The Ohio State University College of Dentistry.

In 1994, there was retail on High Street and City Center was an active shopping destination. Instead of leasing space on an upper floor of a building, Dr. Ford decided to lease space on the ground floor of a building at the corner of Gay and High streets. His goal was to attract attention to his practice from people walking or driving by.

“At the time, City Center was recently completed and I saw potential for downtown and an opportunity to provide services to an underserved market for people working downtown and living nearby in the historic villages.”

Twenty-two years later, Dr. Ford’s practice continues to thrive.  He performs all aspects of general and esthetic dentistry and dental implants, in addition to taking care of patients with special needs. The practice also provides oral solutions to patients suffering from sleep apnea.  Dr. Ford gives back by providing pro-bono dental care to geriatric and special needs patients.

In 2013, he moved his practice to its current location at 118 North High Street when a developer purchased the building where he opened his original practice for redevelopment.

“Downtown is the prime place to be,” Dr. Ford said. “There is a huge influx of people moving down here who want services close to home. The potential growth for retail is posed to jump to the next level.”

Dr. Ford’s current office building is surrounded by construction of new development. To the south, the Day Companies is developing a boutique hotel project and next to it the Tonti Organization is developing a retail and residential project. Across High Street to the west, Edwards Companies is developing a residential project that includes retail on the ground floor.

“None of this would be possible without the special improvement district. The Capital Crossroads ambassadors are the most highly visible people downtown,” Dr. Ford shared. “They keep the sidewalks and streets clean, they escort people to their cars and they promote downtown.”