CMH_Downtown

Thursday, March 5, 2009, 9:06am EST Convention center hotel gets new life Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball Plans for a second convention center hotel downtown are moving forward after two years of discussions about how to finance the $160 million, 500-room project. The city of Columbus and Franklin County have joined with the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority on a financing plan for a publicly owned hotel across North High Street from the Greater Columbus Convention Center. If the plan is approved, the hotel could open in 2013. The project would include a $10 million, 300-slot parking garage. The plan, which was set to be announced March 5, calls for the city and the facilities authority, the owner and operator of the convention center, to divert nearly $1.9 million in additional bed tax revenue that the hotel would generate to help pay off bonds. The city may also divert $1.4 million in downtown parking revenue that it had considered as a way to subsidize a High Street streetcar. The Convention Facilities Authority would commit about $1.7 million in rent it receives each year from Nationwide Arena and the Hyatt Regency hotel. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/03/02/daily31.html

Thursday, March 5, 2009, 9:49am EST AirTran’s Ft. Lauderdale flight ready for takeoff Business First of Columbus AirTran Airways is set to take off for its fourth destination from Port Columbus International Airport. The discount carrier said its daily nonstop flight to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., begins service Thursday. The Orlando-based airline, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings Inc, said it’s the only carrier to offer nonstop daily service between Columbus and Fort Lauderdale. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/03/02/daily32.html

What the...how can they get rid of the entire arts section? Will it just be "Life" then, or will they revert back to calling it the "Accent" section? That's incredibly disappointing to hear. :x Side note: does the Alive! share the same newsroom as the Dispatch? Is it possible that some of these people might be able to secure a spot at one of the Dispatch Printing Co.'s other subsidiaries?

They did a great job with Harrison West, here's hoping for similar success in Weinland Park. My hope is the proximity to OSU and High St. will attract the ever-present population of OSU students to choose to live in this area. Definitely. According to other sources, the plans for the Kroger redevelopment are currently going through the city permit process for construction.

Wow, Gowdy Field filled up quickly! Interestingly enough, the Grandview Yard development is pretty-much directly behind the Gowdy Field development. All that separates them is a rail line. It would be fantastic to see these two areas connected, and a light rail station would be a great way to do it.

It's definitely an improvement. I wish that the ground floor retail that had been proposed would have been built as well, but I'll take it.

Columbus City Center will be razed by summer. Columbus Commons will be built in its place. Plan calls for green space and eventually 7 to 8 new buildings. Town Street likely will be reconnected to 3rd St.

Ask and yee shall receive: AirTran Airways Announces New Service Between Columbus, Ohio, and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Tuesday January 6, 6:00 am ET -New Service begins March 5, 2009- ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI - News), today announced plans to begin flights between Columbus, Ohio, and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., effective March 5, 2009. The expanding carrier will be the only airline to offer nonstop daily service between Port Columbus International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Rest of the story: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/090106/ny55610.html?.v=1

^They look temporary, so hopefully.

Wow, that is crazy. Ever since I was a kid and my family would go downtown to visit City Center I remember that sky bridge being there. I must say, opening up High St. by tearing the thing down is a HUGE improvement. I can't wait to have the Lazarus facade restored and (later) something done with City Center.

Movin' right along. CCAD is building themselves quite a nice little campus downtown. Keep is coming!

Agreed. This is looking like a great facility that will add another facet to the learning institutions located on the eastern fringe of downtown (CCAD, CSCC, Franklin, and Capital Law) in the Discovery District. Not to mention it's another surface lot stricken from the landscape.

Man, I absolutely hate what they've done with Town St. What the heck is with the grass strip in between the sidewalk and the street? In my dreams, Town St. runs right through City Center and the stupid grass strip is a dedicated bike lane. Oh well, at least it's an improvement over what was there.

Here is a fantastic graphic that accompanied the above article: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/12/15/annexation_large.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

Time for cities to try teamwork Dramatic annexation slowdown gives central Ohio a chance for better planning Monday, December 15, 2008 3:07 AM By Mark Ferenchik THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/12/15/copy/COLSANNEX.ART_ART_12-15-08_A1_5JC7IVT.html?adsec=politics&sid=101 The housing market is in the dumper, and there's little reason to build stores in a bad economy. The result: Columbus is on track to approve annexations totaling just more than 100 acres this year. For more, click link

BriHi dust flying BriHi Square, the signature development taking place in old Dublin, is well under way. Bridge & High Ltd., an affiliate of developer Stonehenge Co., has told surrounding businesses that foundations have been poured for the $9 million project. The next step, burying power lines and doing plumbing work, could lead to "intermittent traffic disruptions over the next two months," the company wrote in a memo to the businesses. BriHi, at Bridge and High streets, will create a gathering space for the city as well as the site of 22,000 square feet of office and retail space at the busy intersection. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/12/15/ZONE1215.ART_ART_12-15-08_C8_4GC6IB0.html?sid=101

Easton doesn't think the time is right for major expansion Monday, December 15, 2008 5:33 AM By Mike Pramik, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Tiffany & Co. has settled into its new space, and work has begun on a nearby multitenant building. But don't look for many other new retail projects at Easton Town Center in the next year. The plan to expand the lifestyle center slowly will trump new capital projects for the time being, despite a laundry list of interested prospects, said Adam Flatto, president of Easton co-developer Georgetown Co. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/12/15/ZONE1215.ART_ART_12-15-08_C8_4GC6IB0.html?sid=101

I remember reading somewhere that those two surface lots would eventually be built on as the district continues to grow. The main priority now is getting the surface lots along Vine St. on the north side of the arena developed (which I think is a much larger eyesore than the surface lots in between the arena and the stadium). Supposedly, appartments and a Giant Eagle will go up there. I want both. We seem to be doing well with getting low-rise infill built (new courthouse, Lifestyle Communities, the Gay St. corridor), but a new shimmering skyscraper I think would not only add to our skyline but breathe new life into the heart of downtown by showing in a very obvious way that downtown investment and development is not dead. I still think a 25-30 story tower on the site of the proposed Capitol Tower housing the Dispatch family of companies would be perfect.

I agree completely. I was hoping a new Union would give the University a chance to truly do something unique and amazing, however just like with the Knowlton School of Architecture, I was disappointed once again. Some of the interior features do sound promising, such as the ballroom and performace space and the "Carmen Ohio" lyrics etched around the atrium. However, as nice as the interior might be, the exterior is looking to be a huge disappointment.

I'll admit I was being somewhat facetious when I made that comment. I meant to add that I also took 2 years of Latin in high school. Sadly, the most I really remember is puella est pulchra...;-) Not at all. Unlike your family, both my parents spoke Spanish. However, I entered preschool as at around age 4, so the majority of the time during my formative years I was spoken to in English, including with my parents. Spanish was really only spoken between the two of them and with other grownup relatives. During my grade school years, I most certainly picked up on words and phrases, however since only seldom was I ever directly spoken to in Spanish (when I was in trouble, the Spanish definitely came out), my proficiency didn't develop like someone to whom Spanish was spoken all the time. When Spanish language courses began in my grade school, my proficiency improved as I learned basic grammar and syntax. Interestingly, since I heard my parents and relatives speaking Spanish, I have only a slight English accent. It usually takes people in PR a little while before they figure out that I was not born and raised there. Interestinly enough as well, since as a child I listened to my parents speak English, I used to speak English with their Spanish accent as a kid. That didn't leave until around the 5th grade.

I had Spanish spoken nearly round the clock in my household, though I didn't really pick it up until the later years in grade school. I'm now, for the most part, fluent in the language, however my Spanish vocabulary isn't quite as developed as my English vocabulary. The other 3 romance languages I can usually get by in half-assed. Portuguese comes pretty easy in listening comprehension and reading due to its incredible similarity to Spanish, however I can't speak a lick of it. I've picked up a little bit of French through my job, and can speak and listen to bits and pieces, however reading totally blows my mind (how the heck is croix pronounces "qua"?). I can get the gist of Italian when its spoken or when reading, however I have trouble speaking it since my mind seems to revert immediately back to either Spanish or French. I've tried to teach myself German and Japanese as well; the latter having taken a back seat recently. I know only very basic Japanese, but know enough to order a meal or buy ask for directions. It truly is a fascinating language that I would really like to eventually get to know fluently. However the Japanese caricatures are completely lost on me. I would need someone to instruct me if I were ever to learn how to read or write Japanese or another Asian language.

Menards puts Westland store on hold Economy-driven move also stalls larger plan for site Thursday, December 4, 2008 3:17 AM By Mark Ferenchik, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Home-improvement chain Menards wants to build a store at Westland Mall but is delaying plans until next year, hoping that the economy will improve. That, in turn, is postponing a long-awaited revival of the mall and its West Side neighborhood. Officials from Menards and Plaza Properties, co-owner of the mostly vacant mall on W. Broad Street at I-270, have presented plans for a Menards, Sears and Staples anchoring a new shopping area. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/12/04/Westland.ART_ART_12-04-08_C12_S4C4GVG.html?sid=101

From The New York Times: A Waterfront Revival in Columbus, Ohio By KEITH SCHNEIDER Published: December 2, 2008 COLUMBUS, Ohio — A decade ago, a 75-acre area along the Scioto River less than a mile west of this capital city’s downtown was an industrial no man’s land, consisting of barren railyards, old warehouses and a shuttered 19th-century penitentiary. But that was before Nationwide Realty Investors, an affiliate of Nationwide Mutual Insurance, turned the area into the Arena District. The district, a $750 million mixed-use neighborhood of housing, offices, retailing and entertainment, has attracted some of the city’s most prominent architecture, law, real estate development and advertising firms and is regarded as one of the Midwest’s most successful urban redevelopment projects. Late in October, the Columbus City Council approved the development plan for the Arena District’s final phase: a $250 million project to add 450 units of housing, 300,000 square feet of office space in two buildings, an 80,000-square-foot grocery store, an eight-level garage with 1,600 spaces and as much as 40,000 square feet of retail space. Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/business/03columbus.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

I distinctly remembering seeing that rendering for the Capitol Tower in the Dispatch when I was around 8 years old. I was so excited something like that was going to go up downtown. Sadly, of course, it never happened. I've always though the Dispatch and and it's media empire could easily consolidate in a building like that downtown, even to this day. Maybe one day the plans to construct Capitol Tower will resurface.

Here's the latest rendering of the Scioto Audubon Metro Park: I think it looks fantastic. It would be nice to have such a varying range of activities so close to the center of town.