Eclipse manages community associations across a service area that stretches from Columbus through Dayton, Cincinnati, and into Northern Kentucky. The Columbus market represents one of the most dynamic environments in our region and one where the standard for management firms is rising quickly.

Central Ohio is not just growing. It is growing faster than nearly every other part of the state. Franklin County remains Ohio’s most populous county at roughly 1.36 million residents, but the real story is the surrounding suburban counties. Delaware County has grown more than eight percent since 2020. Union County has grown more than ten percent. Licking and Fairfield counties continue to add residents at rates that outpace state averages. New construction is pouring into Dublin, Powell, Marysville, New Albany, Pataskala, and Westerville at a pace that creates new community associations almost every month.

That growth comes with a question every board in Central Ohio should be asking: does our management company actually understand this market, and are they poised to help us achieve our goals as an association?

This post is a working overview of how Eclipse serves Central Ohio, the counties and municipalities where we operate, and what boards in the region should expect from a management partner who knows the territory.

The Central Ohio Footprint

Central Ohio is geographically large and demographically varied. Each community requires a different operational approach, and the cross-county nature of the market means a manager who only knows Franklin County is missing significant portions of where growth is actually happening.

The major counties in the Eclipse Central Ohio service area:

Franklin County is the population center, anchored by Columbus and home to most of the established condominium associations in Central Ohio. Suburban cities including Dublin, Westerville, Upper Arlington, Worthington, Gahanna, Hilliard, Grove City, New Albany, and Bexley each have their own character, their own regulatory overlays, and in many cases their own established community associations dating back decades.

Delaware County has been one of the fastest-growing counties in Ohio for the better part of a decade. Powell, Lewis Center, and the city of Delaware itself have absorbed substantial new residential development, much of it in planned communities and condominium projects that fall under recent recording dates.

Licking County, on the eastern edge of the metro, has seen significant growth in Pataskala, Granville, Johnstown, and the city of Newark. The Intel investment in New Albany and the surrounding industrial corridor has accelerated residential development across Licking County as well.

Union County, on the northwest edge of the metro, includes Marysville and Plain City and has grown faster as a percentage than nearly any other county in Ohio. Many new-construction HOAs in Union County are still in developer control and approaching transition.

Fairfield County, on the southeast edge, includes Pickerington and Lancaster, with a mix of legacy and new-construction communities.

What the Ohio Framework Means for Columbus Boards

Central Ohio community associations operate under the same statutory framework as the rest of the state. The Ohio Condominium Act (ORC 5311) governs condominium associations. The Ohio Planned Community Act (ORC 5312) governs HOAs. The Ohio Nonprofit Corporation Law overlays on both as the corporate governance baseline. The statutory framework is consistent across Ohio, but the operating environment in Central Ohio creates some specific pressures that boards should understand:

New-construction density. A significant portion of the residential growth in Delaware, Union, and Licking counties is happening in master-planned communities and condominium projects with recent recording dates. Many of these communities are still in declarant control, are approaching transition, or have transitioned within the last few years. Transition is one of the most consequential moments in a community association’s life cycle, and it requires a manager who understands both the legal mechanics and the practical operational handoff from developer to owner control.

Lender scrutiny on resale. Central Ohio’s strong housing market means a high volume of resale transactions, which means a high volume of lender questionnaires and condominium project approvals. The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac condo lending guidelines that took effect in March 2026 have tightened the documentation requirements significantly. Communities with weak reserves, incomplete records, or governance gaps now face direct consequences for unit financing eligibility.

Insurance market conditions. Master policy placement for aging condominium properties in Central Ohio has become measurably more difficult over the past three years. Carriers are pulling back, deductibles are climbing, and the gap between what boards want their coverage to do and what carriers will actually underwrite has widened. Boards need a manager who understands these dynamics and works with insurance professionals who do as well.

Architectural review volume. Mature suburbs like Dublin, Upper Arlington, and Bexley have layered municipal architectural standards on top of association requirements. Newer suburbs like New Albany and Powell have established their own design overlays. Boards in these communities need management partners who can support homeowners as they navigate these complexities without slowing requests to a crawl.

What Columbus Boards Should Expect from a Manager

Given the market dynamics, there are specific things a Central Ohio community should expect from any management company under consideration:

Transition expertise. For communities still in developer control or approaching transition, the manager should be able to walk the board through the legal, financial, and operational steps of the handoff. This includes document review, reserve study commissioning, vendor contract review, and the careful process of asserting owner control over the association.

Modern technology platform. Boards should expect homeowner portals, online payments, board-facing dashboards, document libraries, and electronic notice capability that meets the current standard under Ohio’s planned community laws. Communities being managed on technology that has not been updated in a decade should be asking serious questions of their current firm.

Credentialed talent. CAI’s professional credentials (CMCA, AMS, PCAM) and the firm-level AAMC designation exist because community association management has become a specialty discipline. A firm that does not invest in credentialed talent is signaling that it does not treat this work as a focus area.

Financial and reporting discipline. Central Ohio boards face homeowner expectations on transparency and reporting that are higher than they were five years ago. The manager should produce financial packets that boards can actually use, on a schedule boards can rely on, with the level of detail that supports real decision-making.

What Makes Central Ohio Different on the Ground

Beyond the statutes and the standards, Central Ohio community associations operate in a market with its own character:

• Strong housing demand keeps property values high, which makes lender questionnaire scrutiny and resale processing volume meaningful operational considerations for boards.
• Suburban municipalities are increasingly involved in community-association-adjacent matters, from short-term rental regulation to architectural overlays to stormwater management requirements. The board’s relationship with the city matters.
• Vendor markets are competitive but uneven. Quality landscapers, painters, paving contractors, and pool operators are in demand. A management firm with established vendor relationships can deliver better pricing and better service than a board can typically secure on its own.
• New community development continues across all surrounding counties, which means a steady stream of new boards encountering the work for the first time and looking for partners who can guide them through it.

What Boards Should Do Next

Three practical steps for any Central Ohio board, whether or not you are currently considering a management change:

• Audit your current service standard. When were your governing documents last reviewed? When was your last reserve study? When was your master insurance policy last benchmarked against current market conditions?
• Confirm credentials. Does your management firm hold the AAMC designation? Are your assigned managers CMCA, AMS, or PCAM credentialed? Credentialing is a meaningful signal about how seriously a firm treats this work.
• Ask about technology. What platform does the firm use? When was it last upgraded? What does the homeowner portal experience look like? What is the manager’s day-to-day technology stack?

If you would like Eclipse to walk through your community’s current situation, identify gaps, and explain how we serve Central Ohio communities, reach out to us here. We work with associations throughout Franklin, Delaware, Licking, Union, and Fairfield counties and would be glad to start with a no-obligation conversation about your community’s needs.