cbussoccer

Yep, I don't think anyone should doubt this project moving forward at this point. My only concern now is them staying on schedule and opening the stadium on time. I'm hoping for mild winters the next couple years to help them stay on schedule.

I just noticed the engineering site review application for the stadium was filed with the city back on 8/7. https://portal.columbus.gov/Permits/Cap/CapDetail.aspx?Module=Engineering&TabName=Engineering&capID1=19PCS&capID2=00000&capID3=00183&agencyCode=COLUMBUS&IsToShowInspection=

This is breaking ground in the spring? Holy crap, next year is gonna be huge for Columbus development. - Hilton 2.0 - North Market Tower - Crew Stadium - Gravity 2.0 - Upper Arlington mixed-use tower - Scioto Peninsula Those are just the big name projects that should be breaking ground, not to much everything currently under construction and other smaller projects to come on line.

The first of three cranes is currently being built at the new rental car facility site. https://flycolumbus.com/about-us/development/new-rental-car-facility

Ah gotcha, that makes more sense. I'm also guessing the site is going to need a lot of prep work before they start working on the structure.

Interesting. GIven that they are officially "breaking ground" today, they seem to be ahead of this schedule. I can't imagine it would be 4-5 months until they start foundation work if they break ground today.

I would imagine there is going to be a ton of prep/foundation work involved, so they probably aren't in any rush to get that application in. We are probably still at least a few months away from seeing a crane on site.

Awesome! I've been waiting for their Crane application to see how tall it will be, but I haven't seen it posted yet.

Last we heard, groundbreaking was scheduled for today. Anyone know if that is officially happening?

MAGA!

^ To add to my post above, Southwest (the largest CMH airline by PAX) is actually experiencing a slight decrease in ridership so far this year. YTD they've seen a 1.3% decrease, or a decrease of 19,284 passengers. They've also seen a 1.5% decrease in landings. I wonder how much of this is a result of of the 737Max issues. I haven't noticed any Southwest routes being cut or reduced since last year, so I wonder if most of this decrease is due to cancellations brought on by the Max issues. Another factor for Southwest's small decrease could be Spirit's increased presence. Although Frontier has greatly reduced their presence (down 38% YTD), Spirit (up 58% YTD) has nearly doubled the level Frontier was at through June of last year.

June stats have been published. Ridership growth has slowed slightly, but it continues to be strong. June 2018: 750,992 June 2019: 783,831 Increase of 4.4% Jan-June 2018: 3,944,167 Jan-June 2019: 4,206,269 Increase of 6.6% Passenger numbers at LCK are starting to rebound after being down quite a bit earlier in the year. June 2018: 39,542 June 2019: 45,570 Increase of 15.2% Jan-June 2018: 165,402 Jan-June 2019: 154,808 Decrease of 6.4% If you combine CMH and LCK passenger totals, Columbus is continuing to gain ground on CVG and could potentially pass it within the next year or two if current trends hold steady. CVG June 2019: 889,365 (+3.72% LY) CMH + LCK June 2019: 829,401 (+4.92 % LY) CVG is 7.2% larger for the month. Last year CVG was 7.8% larger. CVG Jan-June 2019: 4,424,171 (+2.96% LY) CMH + LCK Jan-June 2019: 4,361,077 (+6.12% LY) CVG is 1.45% larger for the year. Last year CVG was 4.36% larger.

Mapfre Stadium was built on land owned by the state. The team leases the land the stadium sits on, as well as a small amount of land surrounding the stadium, from the state. It is perfectly appropriate for the governor of the state that owns the land to create a task force to ensure the land they own is properly used. From what I've heard, this shouldn't be a problem for the overall plans the Crew have. Remember, Dewine pushed the lawsuit against Precourt/MLS that ultimately played a huge part in keeping the team in Columbus. He isn't what I call "anti-Crew".

An office tenant (an unnamed bank) they had lined up decided to back out due to construction delays, so they had to reconfigure the design a bit in to make it economically feasible without that tenant.

There's some new info on this thread on the BigSoccer website from someone who spoke with some members of the FO. I've pasted the specific comment below. Based on the comment, we should get some new renders in September. Went to the chalk talk and got to ask a couple of questions during the session and a couple to Bez after it was done. Phil from the Browns talked about the stadium and IBM IX. Stadium rendering at the end of September. Stadium experience suite in downtown at the end of September. It looks like a place where you can go, check out a virtual layout or a mock-up and probably start to think about your experience and where you'd like to get tickets. Their goal is to make it something that people will think about when asked about the best stadium in Ohio and in the USA. For example, now most people would say one of the most recognizable stadiums in Ohio is the Horseshoe. That's their goal. The stadium will incorporate unique things about Columbus (someone asked about arches). There will be pubs in the stadium grounds for those wanting to stick around after matches. There will be kids areas. Their goal is to address the needs of families, couples, young adults, etc. in their respective requirements. Pricing will be variable to make it more affordable (maybe per opponent, or student pricing?). Looking at concessions pricing like Seattle and Atlanta, or similar options, to make it more affordable for families to go to games. Looking at promotions. We talked Buck-a-brat and bobbleheads and all seem to be in the discussion. IBM IX will track and help the user from the moment they buy a ticket all the way to their trip home after the game. It will also measure the experience across all users so they can measure good versus bad. For example, now the game ends and traffic is a nightmare for many so the experience ends on a negative. They want the experience to be positive most of the time. What's traffic like on the way to the stadium? What are the parking options? Are spots available? Ordering food from your seat? Concession line length? They have weekly meetings with the IX team.

I wonder if we might see some final renderings soon since they have requested approval for a building of a specific height.

They still have the last plot of land behind those two condo towers to develop. Maybe they will go a bit taller with that one...

Now I can’t unsee it....

Google has added new 3D imagery of Columbus. They had updated the northern suburbs about not too long ago, but they finally got around to the Downtown/Short North/OSU/Grandview areas. Not sure what else they've updated as that's all I've checked so far. The imagery is accurate as of about 2 years ago now, but still much more accurate than before. It's crazy how many projects have already been finished compared to what this new update shows.

You didn't add the new Crew Stadium and related mixed-use development. Unacceptable!

Don't give up hope!

I was just making a joke. Relax. I'm not being defensive at all. I don't care what Cleveland or Cincinnati people think of Columbus. It doesn't affect me.

I think the point here is that Columbus is never allowed to get any credit for anything because it's not Cincinnati or Cleveland, which are the true and noble cities.

From the CU article: Architecturally, the building has also dropped from 35 stories to somewhere in the neighborhood of 26 (with a finalized floor count still to be determined).

If you get bored today, could we trouble you for mockup of the entire skyline with these new buildings included?