casey

The former Marshall Field's/Kaufman's/2nd Macy's at Tuttle mall appears to have a new tenant lined up - Scene75, an "indoor entertainment center" chain I'd never heard of before. Apparently they have locations already in Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh though, and the reviews are decent. I don't know if it will long-term solve any of the challenges Tuttle is facing, but it certainly doesn't hurt http://www.dispatch.com/business/20180425/indoor-entertainment-center-could-open-in-former-macys-space-at-tuttle-mall

A couple miscellaneous COTA updates, Starting in May the CBUS will now run an hour later on weeknights, ending at 10PM instead of 9. It already runs until midnight on Friday and Saturday Mobile ticketing and re-loadable smart cards are still on schedule to launch sometime this summer. The new fareboxes which enable these features have already been installed "C-Pass" the new bus pass program for downtown employees funded by property owners starts June 1st, with registration available at the beginning of May http://morpc.gohio.com/regional-programs/downtown-cpass/ https://www.slideshare.net/COTA_Bus

Lidl is also around 30-35k sqft, and has been said to be scouting locations in Columbus...

And yet she got 3 million more votes nationwide than Trump, and more votes for president than any other candidate in history besides Obama The deciding factor was a specific appeal of racist, xenophobic, anti-muslim, anti-abortion, gun-toting eff yous to intellectuals and the establishment that appealed to just enough low education conservative whites to flip the rust belt Because it worked, everyone and his brother on the R side is now trying to use the exact same playbook to win this cycle

Parkside on Pearl is back with a revised design, and with increased density - 65 units up from the previously proposed 47 I actually like this design better (minus the IMHO unnecessary building signage), and the new renderings also show how it relates to the neighboring Moxy Hotel/office project under construction on the Haiku site, https://www.columbusunderground.com/parkside-on-pearl-proposal-brought-back-to-italian-village-commission-bw1

Wow. Turning that streetview back to 2007 it looks like such a normal, stable, even nice area - https://goo.gl/maps/8WAjtjZtQdo And then 10 years later it looks like Berlin after the war...

Wow great game tonight. So happy to get that win! Jarmo's major moves are really paying off better than anyone could have hoped - trading Saad for the Breadman last summer, and drafting PLD back in 2016 Can't wait for Sunday night

I've just noticed some Cordray ads beginning to appear on TV here in Columbus, prominently featuring his work for the CFPB and with voice-over from Obama. Elizabeth Warren will also be in town tomorrow for a Cordray rally near OSU

Yeah, that one and a couple others I would say should not really be defined as contributing. The Paradise Garage building just north of Price will also likely be demo-ed at some point which I don't see as problematic. Either way, the SN isn't in danger of turning into the Banks. Pretty much everything shown in green is here to stay. What really stands out from those maps to me is how underdeveloped the whole strip has been for so long. We're just now catching up really to having a fully active urban corridor And while High St is certainly the most noteworthy street in Columbus, it's far from being the only one. But it does provide a living, breathing, very tangible example of what's possible here for any of our other streets. It's a lot easier to imagine how Parsons or Broad or Long or Main or Cleveland, etc might look in the future if they realized their full potential by taking a walk down High. The Short North shows what's possible in Columbus, we already have it and can do it again, you don't have to take a drive to Chicago or wherever to see it Also, I'd love to participate in a conversation about how different neighborhoods in the state have succeeded and what works, or doesn't, and what can be learned from each, but this probably isn't the thread for it. Maybe someone could start one in the city discussions section?

From the Short North Design Guidelines, Contributing/historic structures provide a defining character to their districts; rehabilitation and adaptive reuse should be the highest priority. Chapter 3116.017 of the Columbus City Code provides the following definition of a contributing property "at least forty (40) years of age or contributes to the architectural character or historical and architectural significance of a group or district. A noncontributing property is less than forty (40) years of age or does not make such a contribution." Non-contributing buildings do not meet the same qualifications as contributing buildings (defined above). However, the same provisions apply in terms of review of exterior work proposals, demolition requests and the issuance of a Certificate of Appropriateness apply to non-contributing properties located in a Columbus Registry District. Non-contributing buildings often serve to knit the building fabric/streetscape together and should not be viewed in the same way as vacant lots, often referred to as 'missing teeth‛. Changes to such properties have impacts on the surrounding properties in the district and contribute to the streetscape; even if the individual structures themselves are less significant architecturally or historically than others in the area. These maps are from 2011. Since then, exactly one contributing structure has been approved for demo (Grandview Mercantile), which is a sprawling single-story retail showroom, not a small scale, fine grain, or multi story mixed-use building

The Short North is already pretty well protected by its twin architectural review boards. The smaller-scale, historic contributing buildings haven't been, and won't be allowed to be torn down. Stuff like the former KFC-turned-Checksmart though? Probably (hopefully) not long for this world... Campus is the real neighborhood that needs preservation restrictions, but that likely won't happen as the most egregious offender is often the University itself through Campus Partners However the SN will reach a stage soon where it is basically "built out" (most of German Village has been like this for some time). As that happens, aside from smaller projects that can still squeeze in, development will increasingly spill over elsewhere on its own. We're already seeing this now with the uptick in activity in Fton, OTE, downtown itself, and even Milo

I think it is kind of important that the city continue to strategically annex small amounts in order to not become landlocked. A big reason why our region 'works' so well together is that Columbus itself is firmly in the driver's seat But otherwise, I'd agree that there are almost limitless opportunities for infill and redevelopment within the existing boundaries. And that's without even considering areas that haven't been developed yet but could be - like OSU's airport

Honestly it does seem pretty imposing in those views, but I think it fits in a lot better looked at with more of the neighboring context - White Castle building, Brunner, Pizzuti project, etc

Wow wasn't expecting that kind of design revision for the Kaufman project. But if they can get approval for it, I'd love to see it built And glad to see the awning marquee for the Garden moving forward too. It's crazy how much is happening along High St

Not to pile on but I don't think we'll get it either. I'd love to be wrong though... yes it would bring a lot of new challenges, but the pluses outweigh the negatives IMO

Update from the Dispatch, Cynthia Rickman, assistant development director for the city of Columbus, which controls the North Market property, said details of an economic-development agreement between the city and the developers are being finalized. They are expected to be presented to City Council by early summer for approval, with an anticipated groundbreaking for Market Tower planned for fall. http://www.dispatch.com/business/20180404/boutique-hotel-north-market-redo-hilton-expansion-moving-ahead

This is a pretty great proposal. A 3-story mixed use building on Oak, renovating another historic building on Ohio, and building a pair of townhomes behind on another empty lot Hope it happens and we start seeing a lot more like this on the east side!

It's definitely a nice article for exposure. Re: FT's paywall, if you just search the title "Columbus shows Trump how to thrive in the new world order" it looks like you can access the full article through Google. I was able to read it that way, but not by direct link

I really wonder who the grocer for this will be. The Biz1st article says it's a "national chain" with a "boutique neighborhood concept" 39k is way too big for a Trader Joe's (usually 10-15), but it's about the same size as a standard Whole Foods (though idk about one going in so close to Lane Ave?) Won't be anything from Kroger, GE, or Target either given the location...

So the inevitable development of M-G is actually starting to happen. Hopefully, some of these new residents will take advantage of the Cleveland Ave BRT, or at least walk to and from the SN instead of driving 192-Unit Apartment Development Proposed for Milo-Grogan A new development proposed for Milo-Grogran would bring 192 new apartments to the southwest corner of Cleveland and Reynolds avenues. The project, from local developer Avenue Partners, calls for eight three-story buildings, a clubhouse and a pool. Charles Thompkins is the chair of the Milo-Grogan Area Commission, which voted to approve the project at its March meeting. He was born and raised in the neighborhood and has served on commission for 18 years. “I’ve been here when Milo was flourishing, and also when it went down,” he said, adding that this might be the first new apartment development he’s seen in his 50-plus years in the neighborhood. “To see that growth coming back over here – overall, we think its going to be a good asset to the community and serve as a gateway to the neighborhood as you come across the bridge from downtown.” https://www.columbusunderground.com/192-unit-apartment-development-proposed-for-milo-grogan-bw1

Not gonna lie I'm pretty disappointed in the density of the Poindexter buildout... They could have easily put the same number of units or more from the total project on half the land Going through the parts that are complete f e e l r e a l l y j u s t s o d a m n s p r e a d o u t Every structure is set back from the street and each other an almost ridiculous amount. The buildings themselves feel like a thin veneer screening their massive surface parking lots, and there's an additional huge amount of unnecessary and useless greenspace almost everywhere It's like the motivation was just to use up all the land available no matter what they put on it. Everything is spread so thin...

The full RFP document actually suggests as an option that the developer of the hotel on 'A' propose options for also taking on 'B' and 'C' for additional rooms (as well as possibly constructing the parking garage 'D' themselves) So, we might not see any housing on either of those parcels. The original idea was that they would be apartments

Not to wade into this, but "top 10" lists are the way the Census Bureau released stats at midnight, the full data wasn't available yet till later this morning. I don't think it was worded that way as an intentional slight. That press release is here - https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/popest-metro-county.html The only mention of Ohio on the whole page is Cuyahoga County ranking #3 for numeric decrease

Someone at the Dispatch graphics department should have had way more sense in their head than to make this map using these particular colors. Really thoughtless and careless, I'll be making my voice known to them as a subscriber about this