eurokie

The project hasn't grown as the 515 tower appeared in at least one of his early massings and the two corporations he formed relating to 515 Euclid were incorporated at about the same time as the corporations relating to the site at/near/between Huron, Prospect and East 4th. However, we were all drawn to the latter address by the sheer scale of that component, sort of a magician's misdirection -- be it intended or not. My guess is that Stark's first phase (or perhaps phases 1a and 1b) of nuCLEus will consist of the following: > Demolition of the parking deck on Huron and the "Mr. Albert's building" on Prospect > Renovation of the Herold Building on Prospect and development of the vacant lot at Prospect/East 4th > Laneway conversion of East 4th between Huron & Prospect, plus additional streetscaping > Construction of the multi-level parking pad, laneways and ground-floor retail between Prospect and Huron > Construction of a residential tower atop 515 Euclid Needless to say, that's still a significant addition to Cleveland and would change downtown quite dramatically. What I know of Stark, he will not talk about these as phases or sequences. He thinks holistically so when someone suggests phasing to respond to market conditions and lender interest, he almost takes that as a personal offense. But few things get built when you want them to, and Stark is well aware of that. Stark has invested $26 million to buy the property for this site (and the Warehouse District lot too, BTW!) but let's assume Stark has only 20 percent equity in that. He also has $3 million from the county in the form of a loan, which I seem to recall is being financed by casino revenues. And eurokie noted the TIF and residential tax abatement, which could comprise a significant portion of the financing. But the $9.5 million, a 20 percent debt-to-equity ratio, means the base amount of what they could develop right now would have a value of about $47 million. That actual amount is much more with the TIF and tax abatement, so we're likely looking at all of the above elements, less the tower atop 515 Euclid, as what Stark can afford. And if he's putting his own personal equity into 515 Euclid, then that can be part of this initial phase as well. Great update/summary of where this project stands now. I suppose it's really just semantics as to whether the scope has increased, or gets decreased in the future, and how the tower really relates. I am sure if all is built as planned, the narrative will be that East 4th was the first phase of his & Maron's nuCLEus project, for a little revisionist bravado. I doubt he's finished raising raising equity for the first phase, but the DTE ratio simulation is helpful. On top of having raised the ballpark of $47 million so far, he has A) a very high market value which will enable him to get more financing; and B) generous subsidy from the city that can close the gap that will remain. I'd imagine that the tax abatement could be worth $10-20 million, and the TIF is supposed to bring around $60 million. For a $350M development, he will need $70 million of equity when finished. However, if he takes $80 million off the top from the subsidy, he then only needs around $55 million in equity. I am pretty sure that TIF, depending on how it is structured, can count as an equity contribution.

Too bad both are relatively worthless toward improving transit in Columbus...

It's hard to tell if this is a blow or an opportunity, but it's probably somewhere in between depending on what the community makes of it. On another note, I didn't see this posted anywhere else, but I think that this could make a substantial difference in community branding and appearance. I don't have a lot of faith when I hear a "public arts masterplan" being underway anywhere in Columbus, but I think that doing LED in the steps behind COSI is a huge opportunity. Daniel Burnham drew inspiration around the idea of creating a classical "mall" around the Scioto River's bend, and I do like the way vistas line up between the State buildings and the former high school / now COSI. http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/gallery/170551?r=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bizjournals.com%2Fcolumbus%2Fnews%2F2015%2F03%2F26%2Ffirst-look-led-light-display-coming-to-scioto.html%3Fana%3Dfbk Also starting to like the flag-branding theme that ColumbUS is establishing, now that the effort to pander for a political convention is over. Also really love to see flag bunting in late Victorian neighborhoods, which Cbus certainly has aplenty.

The problem is we sure as hell aren't going to use our CMAQ for CMAQ....

Here are two pics of the progress in OTR.. Apologies for my tendency to over-expose iPhone pics so that lighting highlights intricate design features...

Absolutely. I can say with pretty confidently that we're getting the best streetcar system in the US to date. (Tucson is debatable, but the rest are inferior.) So there's nearly a year in between procurement and operation, presumably for all these test runs. Most other cities would've sped through that to get the thing operational. I agree that the tortoise wins the prize, but there is also a value in getting the public's buy-in ASAP..

I like how the article includes an explanation of what market-rate apartments are:

First of all, I will say that I am a big believer in Stark and think that him being the developer lends an incredible amount of not only credibility but also respect to the project. I know he'll do it right, and get the right players involved and rowing in the same direction. That said, just to recap since there seems to have been a lot of news... Stark has only raised $9.5MM in equity according to a recent SEC filing, when he will need an amount around 20% of the project's entire cost. He can also count the TIF and tax abatement directly into his pro forma... I am going to guess that the SEC filing does not include Stark's own equity contribution, and also that J-Dek wouldn't really be in on this deal unless they had money or knew of money. All that said, we are now talking about adding a residential tower at 515 Euclid, while nothing on the Prospect-Huron site has been reduced in scope. So the project has grown?

That's a significantly larger site than they really need for a library branch. I always wondered why that otherwise dead part of town couldn't evolve into a "campus corner" area for ODU.

Has anyone heard anything more about this? The announcement was a long time ago and then nothing more was ever written about it from what I could find. I mostly ask because for the better part of a year it seems they have been doing utility work (I think that's what it is) around the area the arena was planned for. I don't know if it is related or not. About a year after the arena news, OSU announced a sports medicine center for the same site. I'm not sure what the status of either project is today, or which one will be ending up exactly where though... http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/ohio-state-to-build-sports-medicine-facility I wish they weren't tearing down St. John's Arena, so I'm glad - looks like that building can live a little longer, maybe long enough for someone to see the value in a cool old building.

I really appreciate how this project broke up the massing, and did so in chunks that replicated the original structure that was incorporated. This should become textbook design standards for massing in the Short North moving forward... similar to the Dakota, Joseph, Jackson, basically all other major developments..except The Hub.

One thing that drives me crazy about Columbus, that this development is a brief window to take a crack at, is that the 270 corridor is riddled with easy space. Whenever Columbus puts together an economic development deal, they use that space. Ginther tried to get Bob Evans on 270 for instance, and then attacked them for going to "suburban" New Albany as if it's any different. I would really, really like to see the city's ED people and the Columbus Partnership try to put a deal together for this 400,000 sf of space. Granted, if Two25 gets any more impressive, we will just have to demolish HighPoint across the street...

I was initially concerned by the loss of decent historic buildings combined with the development Carter delivered. That said, this area is finally attaining a higher and better use. Kudos to the local development teams for delivering first-class redevelopment on the City Center site.

High Street is gaining more than enough density to support a streetcar or light rail corridor.

Nice to see this development finally connecting to the "Discovery District"

OTE is doing really well. If it weren't for the Buster Douglas properties, East Main would be seeing some of this revitalization activity as well. It's really encouraging to see such a complimentary mix of market rate and affordable housing.

I remember how it would take 45 minutes to get from Tremont to Downtown during a blizzard (also thanks to Innerbelt detours). Definitely go by train if ya can.

we heard in the stakeholders group that this will just be a small kiosk, and the Starbucks across Clifton is one of the busier in the area, so they're definitely staying. many business owners along Clifton will announce business expansion or renovation plans once the Fifth Church site is settled and moving forward..

Do you mean Akron or Northeast Ohio? Because enrollment is up at CSU and CWRU, with a major housing shortage at both campuses. And if Kent can't rebuild its downtown and expand the KSU campus to downtown Kent, Akron should be able to do at least as much. UA didn't come out of nowhere like CSU tho, whereas CWRU used urban design to boost its enrollment. Smallest freshman class ever pre-Uptown, largest ever post-Uptown, so those results speak for themselves (although no app fee helps those stats). CWRU competes nationally and saw a need to recreate an urban atmosphere more typical of Chicago or Philly just to compete with Nova, UPenn, Temple, Swarthmore, UChicago, Northwestern, etc etc. There's a synergy along Euclid Avenue that has been very good for the knowledge sector. I won't say it doesn't exist elsewhere in Ohio, but future growth prospects are different bc the potential is still so untapped. Akron will have to "suffer" from its stability.

one problem with the floor plans is poor circulation to the amenity spaces, although i understand the starting point made it rough to renovate. at the DCA luncheon the other week people were waiting in long lines for 20 at a time to go up the elevators.

I'm amazed at what's become of Cesar Pelli's architectural career.

Interesting that the rock climbing proposal seems mostly forgotten in this thread since attention shifted to Brickman's proposal.

Perkowski is a good landlord.

The sky bridge is such a beauty.

Ah yes, that's all I've seen too. Although I'm concerned if that took three days for Norman Foster and/or individuals on whom his brilliance has presumably rubbed off.