WalkerEvans

<b>KDB to Replace GameWorks at Easton</b> By Walker | July 2, 2010 <img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/archives/kitchen-den-bar.jpg"> A new entertainment and dining concept called KDB (short for “Kitchen Den and Bar”) will be replacing the recently closed GameWorks space at Easton Town Center. The new 37,000 venue is slated to open on August 5th. The format will remain virtually the same as GameWorks with a 150-seat dining area, 25,000 square feet of interactive games and prize machines, and a sports bar area that contains pool tables, darts, tvs and more. READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/kdb-to-replace-gameworks-at-easton

A bit out of date, but worth noting... Bexley Monk closed last weekend after 26 years in business: <a href="http://www.columbusunderground.com/bexleys-monk-is-closing-on-saturday-june-26th">Bexley’s Monk is Closing on Saturday June 26th</a>

I'm curious how many employees will be riding the bus to work on a regular basis. They do get their passes for free, so that's a plus, but I have to imagine that some of them will opt to pay for private parking spots in a nearby lot or garage.

I think we're in agreement on that. I was disagreeing with your statement that Casinos work best in upscale areas. There are plenty of rural casinos that seem to do fine.

<b>Spinelli’s Deli Adding Second Location Downtown</b> By Walker | June 18, 2010 <img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/archives/spinellisdeli.jpg"> This September, Spinelli’s Deli will be adding a second location at 50 North High Street in the old Otero’s spot near the corner of Gay & High Streets. The new location will offer breakfast, lunch, take-home dinner and a new online ordering system. “It has been my dream to have a Downtown deli since the day we opened our Neil Avenue location more than 10 years ago,” said Joe Spinelli, President of Spinelli’s Deli. “We worked hard in Victorian Village to become known as a community-oriented neighborhood deli and plan to do the same thing Downtown.” READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/spinellis-deli-adding-second-location-downtown

There are plenty of casinos built in rural areas. Casinos are destinations, and people who want to visit them will seek them out no matter where they are located.

Kinda like this? http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,205.0/msg,184174.html ;)

Both the Arts Impact Middle School and Fort Hayes High School are both great schools within the Columbus City Schools district, and essentially a heartbeat outside of Downtown, Short North & Italian Village. Scrap the nightclub district idea and keep adding educational components over here. How about some family-style housing to compliment the schools? ;)

<b>Via Vecchia Winery Relocates to Brewery District</b> By Walker | June 2, 2010 <img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/archives/viavecchia1.jpg"> Via Vecchia Winery was founded in a Powell basement in 2005 by three guys with a passion for wine making. Five years later, the business is moving into a much larger facility located at 485 South Front Street in the heart of the Brewery District. The new building will serve as a production facility, a weekend wine bar, a retail shop and a rentable special event location. “We’re keeping the speakers and lighting systems for entertainment, bands, poetry readings, weddings, corporate events and whatever else we want to do,” said co-founder Michael Elmer. READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/via-vecchia-winery-relocates-to-brewery-district

<b>GCAC Presents: Volunteers Behind the Arts Festival</b> By Jami Goldstein | June 3, 2010 <img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/archives/artsfest-volunteer1.jpg"> Volunteers are the power behind the Columbus Arts Festival. Literally. And the Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) couldn’t do the Festival without them. More than 200 volunteers working nearly 300 shifts are the people who make the Columbus Arts Festival happen. They are the breath and life of the Festival. Sure, we have two staff members that work year round to deal with the paperwork and the artist jury and the food vendors, etc., etc. And they are great, and dedicated and work really hard. But we absolutely COULD NOT do this festival without our volunteers. Some of them work year round to make this event happen - yes, with no pay - only for the enjoyment of pulling off a well-executed event. READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/gcac-presents-volunteers-behind-the-arts-festival

<b>Columbus Mega Summer Weekend 2010 - Vol. 3</b> Welcome Weekend! If you are looking to try out a new place, check out Mouton and Little Palace. They both opened their doors on June 1. Go to Wild Goose Creative on Thursday evening to hear some stories about Columbus at their Speak Easy event. Friday evening, Circus is having a benefit for Alix Reese. The Short North Yard Sale and Gallery Hop will be happening in the Short North on Saturday.... READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-mega-summer-weekend-2010-vol-3

100 years of "random development news"... ;) <b>Elford Celebrates 100 Years of Building Columbus</b> By Walker | May 27, 2010 11:45am <img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/archives/elford-1.jpg"> Local construction company Elford, Inc was founded in Columbus in 1910, which means they are celebrating their 100th Anniversary this year. To commemorate the occasion, the company has put together a historic book containing photos, stories and images of their various projects from the past century. We recently sat down with Jim Smith, President of Elford, to discuss the past, present and future of their company and our city. READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/elford-celebrates-100-years-of-building-columbus

We did one more interview last week (with City Councilmember Andrew Ginther) on the 2010 Downtown Plan: <A href="http://www.columbusunderground.com/2010-downtown-strategic-plan-unveiled-tonight">2010 Downtown Strategic Plan Unveiled Tonight</a>

<b>Mouton Opening in the Short North on June 1st</b> By Walker | May 25, 2010 <img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/archives/mouton1.jpg"> The papers are off the windows at 954 North High Street, and Mouton will be opening their doors to the public next Tuesday, June 1st. We spoke with proprietor Yusef Riazi back in November when he first unveiled the concept with us, and despite some delays in opening, says that the result will still be the same. READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/mouton-opening-in-the-short-north-on-june-1st

<b>Southwestern College near deal for 1st Columbus campus</b> Friday, May 14, 2010 Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball A downtown Columbus building that has stood mostly vacant since 2001 could enjoy a renewed life if a New Jersey-based career school moves ahead with plans to move into Central Ohio. Southwestern College intends to lease 22,000 square feet on three floors in the former School Employees Retirement System offices at 45 N. Fourth St. The two-year school wants to begin offering classes toward four associate degrees and four non-degree programs in business, information technology, nursing and health-related fields this fall. READ MORE: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/05/17/story1.html?b=1274068800^3352171

Thanks for the link to the Festival thread on CU. ;) I've always felt that our impressive festival season is one thing that Columbus could stand to be more proud of. Anyway, really impressive turnout for Race for the Cure this past weekend. Always great to see so many show up for a great cause!

<b>First High Street Sharrow Unveiled Today</b> By Walker | May 17, 2010 <img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/archives/sharrow1.jpg"> City officials, state officials and a whole slew of bike riders gathered this morning at the South Campus Gateway to unveil the first “sharrow” street marking that will remind motorists and cyclists to share the roadway along High Street. 188 more of these markings will soon be added to High Street between Morse Road and Nationwide Boulevard as a part of the City’s Bicentennial Bikeways Plan. “We are investing in signage, bike racks and other infrastructure to make Columbus streets safer for cyclists and motorists to share the road,” said Mayor Michael B. Coleman. “Making Columbus a great cycling city is good for our environment and improves our quality of life.” READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/first-bikeways-sharrow-unveiled-today

<b>Park Creek Kitchen Opening in Upper Arlington</b> By Walker | May 17, 2010 <img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/archives/park-creek-kitchen.jpg"> Park Creek Kitchen is the newest addition to the Upper Arlington dining scene, and they’re working on walking the line between being an upscale restaurant and casual eatery. “We’re trying to provide fine dining quality with our service and food” said Chef Jeff Headley, “But we’re not charging fine dining prices and our environment isn’t at all stuffy.” READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/park-creek-kitchen-opening-in-upper-arlington

<b>Rancho Alegre - Opening in Northern Columbus</b> by patient_zero <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/4616446345_38cedfc21f.jpg"> Rancho Alegre should be opening soon on Cleveland Avenue, close to I-270 and across from a long defunct Fudruckers. Purporting to offer Authentic Mexican Food, the restaurant will be nestled in a former TGI Fridays, now vividly repainted in bright colors. READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/rancho-allegre-opening-in-northern-columbus

Personally, I'd rather see NRI buy the land and proceed with the 1000-unit residential neighborhood that Plaza Properties had originally planned for that site. ;)

+1 I'd consider it a huge success. It sounds like the retail rents on the cap are fairly steep, but it's a premium location being situated between the Short North, North Market, Arena District and Convention Center, so any vacancies are turned around pretty quickly. I honestly hope that the success can be replicated for other highway crossings along The Split in Columbus, but steep rents are going to be a tougher sell everywhere else where the location isn't quite as prime.

I would agree with you if what was being planned for Columbus was on par with what is bring proposed for Cincinnati or Cleveland. We've been given no renderings, and the few details we've been given are pretty grim: - The Columbus Casino will have no hotel - The Columbus Casino will be a one story building with attached parking deck - The Columbus Casino will be a part of the "Hollywood Casino" brand Personally, I don't think it will be much of a tourist destination. It sounds like a "West Virginia" style casino (no offense to West Virginia) and not something that will have an impact beyond the four walls of the Casino. It doesn't matter where it's placed... Penn National will make their money. People who visit aren't going to be spending money outside of it anyway, so it really wouldn't add anything to The Arena District Downtown. I'm voting <b>for</b> Issue 2 tomorrow because I still think that the original plan for that Downtown site of 1,000 new housing units is a better use of the land than this specific type of proposed casino. Columbus needs the Downtown housing more than it needs a generic "big box" style Casino.

A less for WHO exactly?

Who aired it? From what I've heard, there's no formal opposition to Issue 2. It's being supported by the City of Columbus, Franklin County, Penn National (the Casino Developer) and both Strickland and Kaisch. Are you use that TV ad was against?

We just finished posting up a really loooooong and indepth interview with Keith Myers & Andrew Overbeck from MSI Design to find out more about these 12 ideas for the Downtown Columbus Plan: Planning Downtown with MSI Design - Part 1 - (Intro and Ideas 1, 2 and 3) http://www.columbusunderground.com/planning-downtown-with-msi-design-part-1 Planning Downtown with MSI Design - Part 2 (Ideas 4 through 9) http://www.columbusunderground.com/planning-downtown-with-msi-design-part-2 Planning Downtown with MSI Design - Part 3 (Ideas 10, 11, 12 and next steps) http://www.columbusunderground.com/planning-downtown-with-msi-design-part-3