The team behind The Clocktower Kitchen + Bar is opening an Italian restaurant inside the former Chase bank building at 4056 E. Main St. in Old Hilliard, with plans to turn the old vault into a wine cellar.

Lira Italian Kitchen, announced on Instagram on Aug. 24, will feature handmade pasta, wood-fired dishes, seasonal ingredients, European wines and craft cocktails. The restaurant is targeting an early 2028 opening.

Benjamyn Greig, owner of The Clocktower Kitchen + Bar, which won Best New Restaurant in the 2026 ColumBEST poll, is partnering with Hilliard-based developer Westwood Collective on the project, according to 614Now. His hospitality group, Around The Clock Hospitality, will operate the restaurant.

"Our goal is Lira to feel like the kind of restaurant that becomes part of the neighborhood," Greig said. "A place you can come for a great bowl of pasta on a Tuesday night, meet friends for cocktails at the bar, celebrate something special or settle in for a dinner with family."

The concept will occupy the preserved bank building while a new mixed-use structure goes up on the adjoining parking lot, according to the city of Hilliard. That new building will feature ground-floor dining and retail space with luxury apartments on the upper level.

The Hilliard Development Corporation entered into a development agreement with Westwood Collective for the property on June 5. Chase had closed the branch after relocating to a newly constructed location at 4199 Parkway Lane.

The vault stays. The menu changes.

The 4056 Main St. project continues a pattern of adaptive reuse along Old Hilliard's Main Street corridor. Westwood Collective also redeveloped the former Ketchum's Garage at 4045 Main St. in June, bringing in Bakes by Lo and Cyclical Nature Bicycles.

Lira has launched a website at liraitaliankitchen.com where residents can sign up for updates. No permit filings or groundbreaking dates have been announced beyond the early 2028 target.