casey

Lots of great things happening in Newark these days! Would love to see COTA commit to pursuing the commuter rail line under consideration as part of their NextGen study.

I went ahead and took a quick stab at dividing them up by metro. If anyone sees anything wrong, apologies in advance. I was a little unsure how to categorize the ones around Akron-Canton as I'm not entirely familiar with that region... Anyways, here ya go: Total Ohio Fortune 1000 Companies: 55 Akron-Canton: 6 Cleveland: 15 Cincinnati: 11 Columbus: 15 Dayton: 1 Findlay: 2 Toledo: 5 Akron-Canton Goodyear (#169) FirstEnergy (#188) J.M. Smucker (#467) Timken (#757) Diebold (#778) A. Schulman (#865) Cleveland Progressive (#137) Parker Hannafin (#224) Sherwin-Williams (#253) TravelCenters of America (#439) RPM International (#538) KeyCorp (#540) PolyOne (#668) Aleris (#687) Applied Industrial Technologies (#780) TransDigm Group (#788) Hyster-Yale Materials (#823) Lincoln Electric (#832) Medical Mutual (#852) Cliffs Natural Resources (#860) American Greetings (#968) Cincinnati Kroger (#17) Procter & Gamble (#34) Macy’s (#103) Fifth Third (#376) AK Steel (#383) American Financial Group (#421) Western & Southern (#479) Cincinnati Financial (#499) Cintas (#545) Vantiv (#694) Convergys (#744) Columbus Cardinal Health (#21) Nationwide (#69) AEP (#165) L Brands (#234) Big Lots (#495) Hexion (#580) Greif (#628) Abercrombie and Fitch (#644) Worthington Industries (#667) Huntington (#698) Scotts Miracle-Gro (#724) DSW (#812) Mettler-Toledo International (#864) Express (#876) Wendy’s (#999) Dayton Teradata (#834) Findlay Marathon (#42) Cooper Tire (#739) Toledo Owens-Illinois (#418) Dana Holding (#428) Owens Corning (#480) The Andersons (#574) Welltower (#609)

CU just added renderings of this proposal to their story on it, and WOW. I take back my earlier comment, I can see the VVC having a thing or two to say about this... http://www.columbusunderground.com/12-story-building-proposed-to-replace-grandview-mercantile-in-short-north

^ There is probably some built-in "negotiating room" re: height with this development, but I wouldn't expect the VVC to go crazy and reduce it down to 5 stories. For reference, the office building at Buttles/High was approved at 9 stories and 135 ft height, and White Castle was approved at 8 stories and 106 ft height. The proposal for the GV Mercantile project would be very similar to Pizzuti's existing Le Meridien hotel. Given the lack of directly adjacent single-family homes to this site, and depending on what the building's massing is like, I don't think ~10 stories would be seen as altogether unreasonable for the location.

Well, this is some huge, fantastic news for the SN (!!!) I've been wondering what Pizzuti was up to since finishing The Joseph, hoping for something big - And this certainly doesn't disappoint! From the latest Short North Civic Association newsletter: Special Neighborhood Meeting regarding the proposed redevelopment of the Grandview Mercantile site The Pizzuti Companies has submitted a conceptual proposal to redevelop the site currently occupied by Grandview Mercantile. The proposed development includes removing the current building and replacing it with a 12-story, 144 ft tall mixed use building. The project would consist of the following: 11,185-sq ft retail (no restaurant uses), 41 condominium units, 102 car parking spaces with 40 spaces dedicated to the retail uses. The Short North Civic Association is facilitating a special neighborhood meeting on June 8th at 6:30 pm at Le Méridien Columbus The Joseph hotel. The Pizzuti Companies will present the project and residents will have the opportunity to comment and ask questions. Neighbors are encouraged to attend to learn more about the project and offer their comments. Current site for reference, https://goo.gl/maps/tkNFD7M12Gq

Yuck. But, as said, expected. I wonder what stores they will get here? I had heard rumors of Meijers, but would much rather have a Costco...

I think jbcmh81[/member] was referring to population density within the city proper, CLE, 388,072 pop / 77.7 sqmi = 4,994 pop/sqmi CIN, 298,550 pop / 77.9 sqmi = 3,832 pop/sqmi COL, 850,106 pop / 217.2 sqmi = 3,914 pop/sqmi

I agree that the repetition of 'port' has always sounded a little awkward to me, i.e. Port Columbus Airport, but I did appreciate the uniqueness of the name. However, other than a natural resistance to change, I have no problem with renaming CMH for John Glenn. As others have said, he is certainly worthy of the honor. In the meantime though, Port Columbus seeing more passengers Port Columbus’ April passenger figures continued to mirror the national trend of more people flying, with a nearly 4 percent increase for the month compared with April 2015. According to data from the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, Port Columbus served 581,286 passengers last month. Southwest Airlines, the airport’s largest carrier, saw the biggest increase at 11.7 percent. For the year through April, passenger traffic is up 7.2 percent at Port Columbus, while the number of flights has increased by 5.2 percent. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2016/05/25/1-april-activity-at-port-columbus-up-compared-with-2015.html

Hmm... Port Columbus airport could soon be renamed for John Glenn Port Columbus International Airport could soon get a new name, honoring an Ohio-born hero known for his groundbreaking flights. If things progress as expected this week in the Statehouse, passengers will soon be flying out of the John Glenn Columbus International Airport. Port Columbus was named when it opened in 1929, and the “international” was added in 1965. Angie Tabor, spokeswoman for Port Columbus, said the board has not been informed of a name change and has not yet discussed it. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/05/24/port-columbus-airport-could-soon-be-renamed-for-john-glenn.html

A very small update in today's Dispatch on the hotel project mentioned a few posts up. The hotel will be called The Hayden Columbus, and be part of Hilton's Curio Collection. This would position it at about the same level as the soon-to-open Hotel Leveque one block to the west, which is a Marriott Autograph Collection property. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2016/05/22/1-downtown-columbus-to-get-4-more-boutique-hotels.html http://curiocollection3.hilton.com/en/index.html

A small update on this project from the Dispatch today, David Patel, president of Indus Hotels, said Hilton has instituted an extra approval-process level for the new Canopy brand, which means that the Canopy across from the convention center will break ground no sooner than December; that would point to a summer 2018 opening. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2016/05/22/1-downtown-columbus-to-get-4-more-boutique-hotels.html

A rendering of the new 12-story design for Two25 has been put up on Kaufman Development's website for the project. While I have to say I'm disappointed in the height reduction, the new design still looks pretty great IMO, and will definitely be a striking, modern, and very welcome addition to Downtown.

Nice! This proposal just got better and better each time IMO. The final product will really fit into the neighborhood and add a lot more activity to the North Market, High St, and Short North areas. Also, it will look pretty impressive from I-670. Can't wait for construction to start!

Disappointed that wasn't included as part of the current project, especially to be done in time for the RNC... But glad it is in the works nonetheless! Enough time has gone by since they started using them IMO that all airports should by now have renovated behind the scenes to accommodate the larger scanners.

Really great to see this development continuing full steam ahead! Jeffrey Park is adding some serious and much needed residential density to the SN/IV.

Can the City of Cleveland legally raise the minimum wage on its own? I guess I'm confused because a similar discussion about this in Columbus resulted in consensus that the city acting alone would be unconstitutional, and any change would need to happen at the state level. Granted, that could just be a convenient interpretation to pass the buck on the issue without offending activists, but... Council member Jaiza Page told voters that there were barriers at the state level preventing cities from being able to raise the wage on their own. “I believe that it is currently unconstitutional in the state of Ohio for a city to raise the minimum wage,” said Page, quoted in the Columbus Free Press last October. “I will, as a member of Columbus City Council, go to our state legislature” … “to raise the minimum wage, and to amend the constitution to allow cities to have the power to set their own minimum wages." http://www.columbusunderground.com/%EF%BF%BCgrassroots-organization-brings-15-wage-fight-to-city-hall

And another view...

Woah. 25-Story “Millennial Tower” Announced for Downtown Columbus http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-millennial-tower

Pax numbers continued their positive trend at CMH in March, up 8.3% from 2015, with the airport being up a similar 8.5% for the year so far - well on track for a 2016 total of over 7 million, the highest since Skybus went bust in 2008. Full stats and numbers are here, http://flycolumbus.com/files/airline-info/monthly-stats/2016-stats/march-2016-flycolumbus-stats.pdf Also, COTA's new express service from downtown to CMH began this past Monday, and looks like it's already proving quite popular with travelers! The bus runs every 30 minutes, and has special branding and amenities like USB charging ports and luggage racks. COTA also installed a new shelter and ticket vending machine at the airport, and CRAA is coordinating promotion throughout the terminal to advertise the service to arriving pax. Via @clairehelene7 on Twitter, https://twitter.com/clairehelene7/status/728284826558709760

According to an update on COTA's website for the ongoing NextGen planning project, the initial list of 26 potential corridors for high capacity bus/rail service has been narrowed to 13 to continue this year through the tier 2 evaluation process. I'm happy to see all of my top picks listed upthread made the cut for further consideration. :-P Here's the full list and detailed map of routes, More info, http://www.cota.com/Projects/NextGen.aspx

That whole block is going to feel so different very soon. Can't wait!

Hooray! Finally! :clap: :clap: Now, how about some kind of reloadable fare card...

COTA posted some photos on Facebook of the new, specially-equipped buses it will use on the AirConnect route providing direct service between downtown and CMH, Snazzy branding! Luggage racks! USB charging ports!

^ I posted this over at CU as well, but I would bet a partnership between COSI and AMNH is brewing which will be very similar to that of the Museum at Prariefire near Kansas City. The Museum at Prairiefire is a collaboration with New York’s famed American Museum of Natural History. This heartland outpost is the first venue outside of New York to continually host American Museum of Natural History traveling exhibitions. http://museumatpf.org/ The Museum at Prairiefire, which opened in May, secured a partnership with the American Museum of Natural History and will display two main traveling exhibits annually from the New York museum. The partnership is a win-win for both museums. For the American Museum of Natural History, partnering with Prairiefire furthers its mission of enhancing scientific literacy through its traveling exhibits and generates revenue to fund its education and science programs. It also allows Prairiefire to showcase first-rate exhibits without having to finance their creation. http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2014/08/29/museum-at-prairiefire-director-world-class-content.html

Woo-hoo! 1/2 down! C'mon Checksmart!