cbussoccer

Perhaps it’s time to start encouraging Ohioans/Americans to have babies.

I gotta say, I really don't care. Give me good amenities. Give me good flight options. Give me solid operations. Give me good infrastructure. Give a comfortable experience. Those are all far more important to me than whether they use wood accents in the design of the terminal. Also, I think this looks quite good. Tons of natural light. Greenery. Looks very comfortable and welcoming. My one one hope is they add some artistic pieces throughout.

Ummmm...ok?

Here are the metro area and county population estimate data sets. MSA: https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-metro-and-micro-statistical-areas.html County: https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-counties-total.html To @TBideon's question, the Cleveland MSA was in fact estimated to have grown slightly between 2023 and 2024. The estimates say it grew by about 5k, although it's down nearly 14k since 2020 and has been passed by the Columbus MSA.

I noticed the elevator core peaking out between the Hyatt and Hilton towers while driving over the Mound Street bridge into downtown this morning.

Bibibop is now open Tuesdays and Wednesdays downtown at 180 E Broad (Hexion building). They started offering lunch Wednesdays only about a couple months ago and are now bumping it up to two days a week. Hopefully by this summer they will increase their hours even more. It's small, but definitely a positive sign for downtown lunch options.

You say that now, but just wait until you go outside to get in your car one morning and discover you have a flat.

Yea that would make sense. They are definitely working on the building though. I go by there every day and there's always construction activity.

I wonder if they are running behind schedule. LoopNet is saying the retail space won't be available until August 1, 2026.

Obetz do be poppin these days.

With an administration that feels comfortable imposing tariffs on foreign goods, thereby making those goods more expensive here, there is a higher likelihood that there will be a higher demand for certain materials to be manufactured here as opposed to overseas. I understand the argument that construction costs may rise, but there is likely more payoff in the long term. Micro chips are deeply ingrained in our every day lives, and if tech companies can reduce the cost of items like smart phones, tablets, laptops, smart appliances, etc., by manufacturing the chips here, they will. Again, this is not meant to be a political debate and it's not meant to be an argument for or against tariffs, it's just my read on the current situation. Also, part of my thinking was that Trump has really emphasized being more self-sufficient in what we produce versus what we import so that we are less reliant on others, thereby giving us more bargaining power and security (at least in his opinion). Drilling for our own oil rather than importing it being a prime example of something he's pushed for. Manufacturing micro chips seems to fall in that same bucket. Knowing how he views international relations and bargaining/deal making, I can't imagine he would be a fan of us bringing in such a large number of microchips from area that could easily fall under Chinese control. Who knows though. You could very well be right. That's just my read on the situation.

Agreed. At the risk of starting political arguments (I have no intention to argue politics, so please refrain), I actually think a Trump presidency makes it more likely that this thing happens. Imposing tariffs and emphasizing the need for us to do things in-house rather that get things from elsewhere seems to bode well from a plant that is supposed to manufacture something as important as micro chips. Again, not trying to argue politics here. I'm just trying to look at the situation analytically and make an educated guess at what will happen.

I wouldn't call it a significant set back. The Central Ohio region is quite healthy already, and we have other significant newcomers to the region like Anduril that will bring thousands of new jobs. If anything, hopefully this allows us time to build up some housing stock.

The more I think about it, the more I'm OK with the commission tabling their approval until the design and engineering plans are finalized. I think we all agree that developers should have all their ducks in a row before being allowed to demo anything. The frustrating part for me is the fact that many other demos have been approved without any plans for a replacement. These developers seem ready to go, yet the commission decides this is the time they are going to pump the brakes on a demo. Very confusing.

That's very unfortunate. I use that every morning.

@CbusOrBust is so on top development around town that we are getting blessed with roundabout updates in Delaware County. I love it.

That definitely didn’t hurt. I’m looking forward to seeing February numbers for this exact reason.

With railroad tracks running directly through it, lol.

Looks like 2025 is off to a good start at CMH.

That and Riverbend Place. The fact someone had plans to build a 10-story office tower on top of the existing parking garage gives me hope that it could still happen sometime in the future. It's a shame Leveque Tower has a giant parking garage as its neighbor.

I was browsing through the library's image archives and came across a bunch of renderings of buildings that were never built around Columbus. Some of these are fairly well known, but others I had never seen before. Centre Place office building - $50 million 27-story office building on S High St between Rich St and Main St. - 1987 https://cdm16802.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/dispatch/id/34132/rec/310 75 N High St. - proposed 24-story office building at the corner of N High St and Gay St. - 1989 https://cdm16802.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/dispatch/id/34247/rec/77 Riverbend Place - proposed 10-story office/condominium building that was to be built on the parking garage of LeVeque Tower - 1987 https://cdm16802.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/dispatch/id/34039/rec/106 Gay & High - 13 story building at the NW corner of Gay & High - 1980 https://cdm16802.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/dispatch/id/36011/rec/20 Number One North High - Proposed tower at Broad and High - 1969 https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/dispatch/id/22131/rec/2 Original Nationwide Plaza conceptual plan - 1973 https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/p16802coll7/id/10708/rec/1699 Proposed City National Bank Tower - Location unknown - 1913 https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/23152/rec/1286 Architectural rendering of the proposed Civic Center for Columbus - 1961 https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/p16802coll7/id/24078/rec/995 Capitol Tower - 42 story office tower on S Third St - 1990 https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/dispatch/id/38072/rec/779 Statehouse Square South - Conceptual plans for the area south of the Statehouse which would have demo'd the Ohio Theater - 1986 https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/memory/id/52556/rec/157 Rendering of Franklinton neighborhood - circa 1950s-1960s https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/memory/id/52572/rec/35 Vision for Franklinton (fairly closes matches what has recently been built) which includes a museum and a park atop an underground parking garage - 1988 https://cdm16802.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/dispatch/id/27011/rec/16

Yea I get that. My point was 4 months just for demolition seems lengthy.

Why aren't you super optimistic? They were just granted their TMUD funds what, a month ago, and are already moving forward with demo and utility work. I mean sure, projects can always stall out, but they have been pretty consistently moving in a positive direction on this thing ever since it was first announced.

That seems like an extensive amount of prep work. Regardless, it's good to see they are jumping right into this thing. Can't wait for vertical construction next year!

Yes, that's what the project description says in the screenshot I posted above.