Gnoraa

I agree, even separate from Gravity and the CDDC projects, I feel West Broad in general has huge long term potential ongoing.

They have, Parks Edge phase 1 and 2 filled up quite fast, and I'm going to assume final phase 3 will as well. A buddy of mine is very interested in condo living downtown, however his complaint has always been the lack of inventory/diversity for what he is looking for. There is a market, yes primarily people that have some money or have done well and retiring that would love a downtown condo, however the inventory is so limited. With Columbus' continued population growth I'm confident we will see more condo developments in the future. Maybe this is just the tip of the iceberg so to speak?

I drove past Gravity 2.0 site this morning on my normal commute in on Broad and there was significant earth movement taking place finally.

I feel Schiff has a pretty solid track record for delivering on their proposals (711 North High, Hubbard Park Place, Atlas, Aston Place, Trotter's Park) relative to other "developers" in town *cough* Arshot *cough* They admittedly say they are not in a rush on this project, but they see the demand for condo's in downtown Columbus, rather than just apartment after apartment and even with Covid, this project would be something that comes online once Covid is basically "solved". I'm sure designs will change as they do, but I still feel we are more on solid ground with Schiff than with some other wishy washy developers in the past. Just my opinion though.

A Columbus developer is proposing a 30-story tower on N. High Street, the tallest new Downtown building in three decades. https://www.dispatch.com/business/20200710/30-story-tower-proposed-in-downtown-columbus

I'll also add there have been concrete trucks lined up in a row all week long down below at the below street High Street grade pouring what seems like nonstop concrete, so I'm guessing they are shoring up much of the foundation area now after all of the below grade work they've been doing for months.

I was just at the copy/printer machine in my office, which overlooks the site, and there was at least one large semi-truck with the large blue crane body laying on it's side. My guess is the crane will be going up rather soon based on this observation. Nothing all that surprising, but just a little update for y'all.

I volunteered for wave 1 of returning to the office just for the sake of UO haha

Site vantage point from my office.

I didn't take the time to seek out/look, and I should have because I did stop in at North Market to pick up my much missed cheese I used to grab at the end of my work week haha I've volunteered to be part of phase 1 for my office building to return, so I will be down there much more in a few weeks to watch for activity.

Agree. I can't tell you how many of my colleagues in my office (Nationwide) commute from Newark, Delaware, Marysville and even Hocking, as far out as that seems. I just know in my 8 years every team I've been on has people from those locations.

I actually drove past yesterday for the first time in 3 months. I've been working from home the past few months, but my office is across the street from this and from what I can tell they had a giant auger/drill in place as well as a street level "boom crane". Kind of reminded me of the huge towering tools you see at the Crew Stadium site. There was definitely activity still taking place. Sorry if my references to the tools/machines are wrong, I'm not all that savvy with that.

So it this kind of like a version of Grandview Yard in Columbus to a degree? Not sure of the size by square footage and housing/hotel units by comparison. Just getting that impression a bit. Granted it sound like Grandview Yard is quite a bit closer to the core of Columbus and Nationwide downtown.

"As for what attracted the Denver-based developer to Columbus in the first place, Dean Dominguez, Senior Investment Researcher for Charles Street Partners, said that there were several factors." “We spent [about] 24 months doing research across country, touring a bunch of markets, and this is one of places we ended up liking, for a plethora of reasons,” he said. “The multi-family market is strong, employment is great, and it’s anchored by a lot of strong companies, including a tech startup scene.” More out of state developers please!! No offense to the local developers, I could get into an off topic tangent on my feeling on them, but keep the out of state developers coming to create more options and competition and our local developers on their toes. Also, just in general, I realize on these forums we all strive and desire high rises, but I have to say in the decade I've lived in Columbus, when I actually think of the amount of infill and density that has been built on almost all surface lots, it's actually quite amazing!! With only more to come!! I would love to find a way to put together a map highlighting the infill projects from 2010 - 2020. If anyone's good with maps and doing this have at it haha Long Street Project on Track for Spring Opening

The rooftop scene in Columbus has been "elevated" so much in the past year, with more to come, I'm so impressed with the direction all of these are going!!!

JPMorgan Chase Announces Major Solar Project "The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2021, at which time the company says the new panels will generate nearly 60 percent of the complex’s annual energy needs. When combined with existing rooftop panels – which were installed in 2019 – about 80 percent of the total energy needs of the facility is expected to be generated on site." "The rooftop and parking lot panels together will make the Polaris McCoy Center home to the second largest commercial office solar installation in the world, according to the company." It's also so nice when they install things like this from simply a shade aspect for parked cars during the hot summer months!!!

I definitely feel like COTA has made great improvements in the time I've lived in Columbus (10 years). I look forward to seeing them continue this trend. Specifically, I'm excited for them to explore better bus options on West Broad, through Franklinton and into the Hilltop area all the way out to the casino and beyond. Incorporating a CMAX strategy and upgrades on that corridor I believe is a great step.

"The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) posted another year of steady ridership gains, with more total rides on the system in 2019 than during any year since 1988. The uptick in ridership comes at a time that many transit agencies nationwide are seeing declining numbers – a COTA press release stated that in 2018, COTA was only one of six transit systems (out of the top 30 markets), to see ridership growth." "Here are the ridership totals dating back to 2016, with the change from the previous year in parentheses:" 2019 – 19,141,454 (+1.2%) 2018 – 18,913,789 (+2.8%) 2017 – 18,401,546 (-0.8%) 2016 – 18,549,436 COTA Ridership in 2019 Highest in 31 Years

The owners won't get legitimate traction with their street vendor excuse. It's cheap, poor and ridiculous not to take ownership of a trashy situation. I've lived here for 10 years, and 9 of those were directly in the Short North and I can assure you the vendors are not the problem. A bar owner like this is a nuisance, and if they can't shape up and try to correct their culture that clearly seems to be stemming from their establishment, they have to go. At this point, I say pack up, keep you trashy business in Miami and let a more deserving business have this prime location.

I think they will, it'll come after this phase. They may wait for the Chipotle office building down the road to get completed as that access road is quite congested with construction equipment already! That whole area will be built out in the coming years.

A little update during my drive home for lunch today. Looks like they are framing out in steel the top floor. Loving the presence this project is having for this area/street.

Time will tell, but I definitely see VS getting sold off, it's under performing and it's reputation/image has become a liability and hassle in today's PC business, #metoo, etc.......climate. As for L Brands, I don't see this going anywhere, it's staying. I think the coming year(s) will be a time of transformation for the whole company though with Wexner bowing out. I mean, it's not like this is all that ground breaking, he's the oldest CEO of a fortune 500 company, this was inevitable, so there's going to be adjustments and re-alignments with new leadership. I'd like to see him focus more on his philanthropy/legacy projects in his "retirement" and final years, even more so than he already has done. He's got the money to get things done, and a love for Columbus/central Ohio like no other. I mean he is the richest guy in Ohio haha

2019 was record-setting year for Columbus hotels “2019 was a tremendous year by all counts,” Brian Ross, Experience Columbus president and CEO, said in a news release. “We started by being named one of ’52 Places to Go in 2019’ by The New York Times and ended with having broken records in nearly every aspect of what we do. Plus, the announcement that the Hilton Columbus Downtown will become the state’s first 1,000-room hotel combined with having hosted what is being lauded as the ‘best ASAE ever’ has significantly boosted our city’s image and driven new business opportunities, including PCMA’s 2023 Convening Leaders Annual Meeting.” https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/2019-was-record-setting-year-for-columbus-hotels

Kind of been enjoying the different skyline/drone angles than the typical one coming in town from the West.

I'm against adding surface parking by all means, I feel it is a step in the wrong direction from what downtown has been trying to achieve, however I'm going to attempt to see this from a different perspective and play devils advocate. The only thing I can think of is, yes they may need more parking, and given what is to come in the coming years, perhaps they are anticipating using their land and portions of this parking as the staging/equipment area for the future building that will be going up across the street where the fenced off park is? Again, not defending it, but just trying to wrap my head around what logic/planning they may have in mind.