CMH_Downtown

Yay! The south side is getting an Easton (kinda)!

I can't believe the complete ineptitude of city leaders two decades ago... COTA’s proposal for light rail still struggling to get on track Thursday, February 16, 2006 Tim Doulin THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Although the idea of some sort of rail system first came up in Columbus in the 1970s, it wasn’t until 1984 that the Central Ohio Transit Authority had a cash surplus and considered spending it on light rail. However, the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce told COTA to forget it and instead concentrate on its buses. ... But the transit system is working on new cost estimates for light rail and the other two options. COTA officials say they will present a recommendation to their board this summer. "Anything that was done previously is institutional history," said William Lhota, COTA’s president and chief executive officer. "(We) are starting with a clean slate in developing a long-range comprehensive transit plan." The board could endorse one of the three transit options or none at all. ... But by the end of 2004, the federal agency told COTA it was going to lose that rating. "It had nothing to do with the merits of the project," Doug Moore, COTA vice president of planning and customer service, recently told the COTA board. "It had to do with the fact we had not been to the voters yet. ... http://www.masstransitmag.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=360&pageNum=2

Light rail is indeed in the airport's master plan, which can be found at: http://www.port-columbus.com/about/m_plan_future.asp There are several PDF files showing planned layouts and renderings of the airport over the next 12 years. Lots of glass and water.

Oh lord...1977 was when the Renaissance Center was built. I wouldn't have thought that would need explaining, but, well, here we are. Like I said before, this is NOT NEW! We have a shining example of how *cough* "wonderful" *hack* such a monstrous, mixed-use project can be up in the Motor City. History is bound to repeat itself, who would've thought it would be in Louisville... Oh and also, Cincinnati's tallest has TIMELESS beauty. That proposed thing in Louisville wouldn't know beauty if it smacked it in the proverbial face.

There are a ton of smaller projects currently under contruction as well, mostly along High St., downtown, and in other surrounding neighborhoods. Many are floating around in the forums, hopefully they'll find their way back here eventually. Alrighty, I'm beat. If anyone else has more to add, please do!

Awww, we're good enough to have one of these threads now! Here are the high-profile projects I can think of that are coming up in the not too distant future... High-profile projects currently under construction: Residential Jeffrey Place (http://www.jeffreyplace.com) - 1,000 residential units plus 250,000 sq. feet of retail/commercial space being built in Italian village directly north of downtown. Harrison Park (http://www.harrisonpark.com) - 16-acre plot being developed into single family homes, condos, and appartments along Olentangy River in Harrison West. The Buggyworks (http://www.thebuggyworks.com) - 68 condos in first phase housed in former buggy factory in River West, west of the Arena District and adjacent to new Clipper's stadium. Burnham Square Condos (http://arenadistrictliving.com/burnham-square.php) - 100+ upscale condominiums rising in the heart of the Arena District. Carlyle's Watch (http://www.carlyleswatch.com/cms/) - 7-story 56 condo building going up on vacant lot in the heart of downtown Columbus. Liberty Place - 300-unit apartment complex being built in the Brewery District [no photo] The Dakota (http://www.dakotaonhigh.com/dakota/default.asp) - 46 luxury units on one of last open plots in the Short North The Terraces on Grant (http://www.terracesongrant.com/) - seven story condo building going up in the Discovery District. Mixed-use Broad & High (http://www.broadandhigh.com/) Offices and condo conversion/construction at city's main intersection. Office Lazarus Building (http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/publications/2005CommunityReport.pdf) - conversion of former department store into cultural arts center as well as offices for state employees. High-Profile Approved Projects Mixed-Use Whittier Peninsula (http://www.brewerydistrict.org/dev/breweryDist.asp) - mixed use development planned on Columbus' Whittier Peninsula. Plans call for office, residential, and parkland in development next to Brewery District. Sports Huntington Park (http://www.clippersbaseball.com/) - new 8,000 seat stadium for the Columbus Clippers to replace aging Cooper Stadium. Office Nationwide (http://www.arena-district.com/newsroom/press-release.php?detail=44) - new 6-story office building going up in grass lot in Arena District [no photo] Grange Insurance (http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2005/10/24/daily21.html) - new 200,000 sq. ft. building in Brewery District to expand Columbus headquarters [no photo] Government Franklin County Hall of Justice [no link] - $100+ million structure to replace/expand existing Hall of Justice. To be built on 4 blocks of surface lots. [no photo] Planned Projects Hotel Hyatt Regency Columbus addition or new Convention Center hotel Residential Riversouth residential [no website] - planned new urban village in area of downtown in between Capitol Sqaure and the Franklin County Government complex. [no photo]

Haha! I can hear it now... "C'mon kids, let's go play under the power lines! Maybe the impending brain damage will enable you to create a mostrocity such as that *pointing to RenCen II* someday!"

If I ever saw that monstrocity adorning the front page of the Dispatch, I would burn it. We have enough ugly buildings here, thank you! Seriously though, haven't we seen this before? Haven't we learned our lesson? Isn't there a gargantuan building complex in a city not so far away from Louisville that has been credited with hampering further downtown growth, creating a horribly unbalanced skyline, and now, nearly three decades later, looks just as grotesque as it did when it was built? I speak of Detroit and it's ever-so-fabulous Renaissance Center. Yay Louisville! Here's to your "forward-thinking" architectural jauggernaut that will propell you to the far off year of 1977!

Oh, also, does anyone know if the plan to put a median through Broad St. downtown is still in the works. Last I saw, it was supposed to be a done deal, assuming the money could be allocated for the project, of course.

Wow, that second phase sounds nice. I sorely wish the recently completed project would have included burying the gaudy powerlines that line High St. on the East side. The new light poles and traffic signal post look nice, but taking away those powerlines would definitely improve the streetscape far more.

In the Short North, just a little bit north of the High St. cap over I-670.

I remember way back when seeing some conceptual images of a COTA multi-model transit center at that very intersection, which is what I based my fantasy from. I definitely think it could work well, since that rail line could connect downtown to the airport and branch out to Easton, then the north corridor line would be at street level on High St. Then there could be a plaza for COTA buses. But that would make too much sense.

Pappa-whaa? ;) *Sigh* What I wouldn't give to see set of passenger rail cars riding alongside the stadium ready to come to a stop at the new multi-model transit center at the Northwest corner of High and Nationwide. *Sigh*

Dost thou challenge the almighty New Albany!? New Albany, OH 43054 MLS ID#: 2404761 8 Bed, 10 Bath 17,771 Sq. Ft. 15 Acres All for the low, low price of $8,950,000! And to top it all off, it's in a subdivision, so it's surrounded by other houses of similar stature! The true estates in New Albany all go for over $10 million.

My zip code, 43220, is split between the northern part of Upper Arlington and Columbus. Upper Arlington is mostly grossy large, single family homes, while the Columbus section of 43220 is mostly apartments and condos, though there are some single family homes north of Henderson Rd. (I of course live in an apartment in the Columbus section :wink:) From Realtor.com: Most Expensive: $2,499,000 UPPER ARLINGTON, OH 43220 MLS ID#: 2422300 6 Bed, 8.5 Bath 11,308 Sq. Ft. 7.26 Acres Least Expensive: $83,900 [no photo] Columbus, OH 43220 MLS ID#: 2605649 2 Bed, 1.5 Bath 1,024 Sq. Ft Second Least Expensive: $159,900 COLUMBUS, OH 43220 MLS ID#: 2554448 3 Bed, 1.5 Bath 1,188 Sq. Ft

Where is the SeaGate Center in reference to the above photo? It looks like that area downtown has a lot of promise, especially that surface lot next to the parking garage. A row of condos/apartments with ground-level retail stretching that block would be magnificent. I'm still somewhat undecided on whether plunking the arena in the middle of downtown like that would be a good idea. If it's connected to the convention center, like in Louisville or St. Louis, it could be a great thing for Toledo's downtown. Otherwise, I like the site in the Marina District better.

Just thought I would add the neighborhood plans for King-Lincoln and South Linden, for anyone interested. Lots of good history and photos in these PDFs: King-Lincoln: http://www.columbusinfobase.org/eleclib/library/kinglincoln.pdf South Linden: http://www.columbusinfobase.org/eleclib/library/SouthLindenNeighborhoodPlan.pdf

^Ooooh, purdy! Agree also, that Huntington Park sounds good. Much better than Value City Arena! From 10TV: Downtown Columbus Clippers' Stadium Gets A Sponsor Feb 7, 2006, 03:30 PM EST Reported by Kevin Landers Plans are moving forward for a new baseball stadium in downtown Columbus. There was a major financial announcement Tuesday morning. Huntington Bank has become the first corporate sponsor of the new stadium for the Clippers. The new stadium, Huntington Park, will be located at the corner of Neil Avenue and Nationwide Boulevard, and they hope to start their games in 2008. Full story at http://www.10tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4468188

The Wendy's in the student union at OSU has served breakfast ever since it's inception. I think there's only one other Wendy's in Columbus that continued serving breakfast even after it was abandoned in stores company-wide. I'm not sure which cities were test markets in this campaign to bring breakfast back, maybe Cincy was one of them.

It looks like Huntington wants a piece of the action... Huntington buys naming rights for Clippers' proposed stadium The Columbus Clippers' proposed new stadium has a name: Huntington Park. Franklin County officials made an announcement at noon that they've sold naming rights for the team's new Arena District ballpark to Huntington Bancshares Inc.

You. Me. Arena District at 11PM. Mommy & Daddy parties indeed... :lol: But yeah, Columbus does have a lot of those (it's 222 sq. miles for gosh sakes!), but that doesn't mean that there isn't any good stuff further inside. Columbus is like a Cherry Cordial. There's that disgusting white or clear liquid all around it, but further inside, there's a lucious cherry that makes it all worth while! <---- Columbus and vicinity Mmmm...cherry cordials... :-P

Funny, I just drove by the store this evening. Granted, I drove by it and it was dark, but there didn't appear to be much detail at all on the second story. The windows on the second "level" appear to come into the store, unlike a faux window that's just there for decoration with no glass. I'll try and get a better look sometime this week.

I think I saw the same shot you're talking about. If so, that was an above view of the Compuware Building. I'm sorry, but I do not agree with that. My mother is a member of AADE (American Association of Diabetes Educators). While this may seem like a small, specialized organization, its bredth is monstrous. Why? Because all the companies that make products associated with Diabetes prevention, monitoring, and assistance, come to their annual meetings to have their products tested and recommended. Why haven't they had a convention in Cleveland, a hub of medical research? The convention facilities ARE NOT THERE. This is just a fraction of the medical fields out there. They all host conventions and get togethers. How does Cleveland hope to be in the forefront of the national medical field when they can't even house one group for a summit?! Now I'm sure there are pleanty of medical organizations that have met in Cleveland multiple times, but not to the same degree that Cleveland COULD be experiencing if the proper facilities were available.

Cleveland's Renaissance has been in perpetual motion since the early 90s. From an outsider looking in, the Cleveland I first saw in 1995 has evolved incredibly into the Cleveland of today that, in my opinion, has not lost its momentum. The corporate relocation many times cannot be helped, especiall due to M&A's. While that is a valid concern, I would be more troubled if Cleveland wasn't forging new paths of economic growth, like they are with research and biotechnology. As far as the Super Bowl and Cleveland are concerned, I think it's a two-sided coin. Cleveland needs to think BIG, otherwise it's vulnerable to be overshadowed by other cities in the region, and the Super Bowl is an example. While at the same time, does Cleveland want to spend all the necessary money to "think BIG" when it means a momentary shot in time where it is the attention of the entire nation when those funds can be used for more long-term solutions for a better Cleveland? My personal opinion is that Cleveland really doesn't need the Super Bowl, but it does need to make itself more attractive and diversified in order to stand out in this nation. There are several ways to do this, figuring out the best one for Cleveland should be the goal.

^Agreed. I think that tends to be the case with most of Columbus' ethnic communities. Since the city grew up so much later than its counterparts, there really isn't a "Little Mexico" or "Little Italy" in that there's a small dense tract where an ethnicity has decided to live. There are predominantly ethnic areas, such as the Northland neighborhood for the Somoli population, and Lincoln Park West for the Mexican population, but it's not completely homogeneous. Much the same can be said for the African American community. The African American community isn't what it was in its heyday in Columbus, but I don't think it's ever really reached a low point. E. Long St. and much of the surrounding community was a hub of activity in its day, with countless well-known black entertainers visiting regularly. The area, while not completely void of life, has fallen into disrepair. However there have been many efforts to build new, affordable housing in the area, and several section-8 developments have been leveled and replaced with more liveable environments. The E. Long St. corridor is a focal point for renovation, mainly centered around the historic Lincoln Theater. I'll be frank, one of the current projects, a multi-use building on the edge of the King-Lincoln neighborhood that will house a police detective station, I don't think it a good use of money to help the area, but hopefully it work out in the end. Currently Columbus' most problematic area in terms of violence in the African American community has been South Linden, but through community works projects and joint ventures between governments and private firms, work on cleaning up the area has been progressing, with the focal point being the Four Corners intersection along Cleveland Ave. The last open parcel of land is set to be developed this year, and all the new construction in the area is leased with a mix of national and local, community-owned businesses. As mentioned earlier, I think a big plus is the prominance of African American figureheads in Columbus that are willing to make an effort to continue to improve the community. In fact, there is another thread regarding Columbus' plan to try and curb the trend of "black-on-black" violence as well. Here's hoping the trend continues. (Modified to change "5-Points" to "Four Corners.")