jebleprls22

Impressed they're going with all-underground parking.

A very ambitious timeline, but with all of the excitement around it I'm sure they can start to make it all happen. I LOVE the fact that the 2 levels of parking they're planning in the tower are being outfitted for eventual conversion to office space -- a notion sorely lacking in most other developments. Stand-alone garages are the best for urban development because they can be taken down/repurposed individually. When new towers are proposed with 5-8 story podiums of parking, if not properly designed those could become entirely useless in the future when downtown parking is less of a premium (NYC is going through this process now of decommissioning parking structures and trying to redesign them into office space). Love how forward-thinking they're being.

Here are some images via the architect: http://www.ma-architects.com/portfolio/big-lots-corporate-campus There is no plan, but I am glad they are constructing a parking garage instead of contributing to the astounding sea of parking shown in the master plan. I will say it again and forever more, that plan is atrocious. The fact that they are showing so much parking with office complexes, in 2017, is against everything that planning and architecture professions are advocating for around the country and the world. It's pathetic that is what they are showing as their plan. I can only hope, like this Big Lots HQ, that they continue to apply the principles of New Urbanism to each individual parcel as they go and maybe we'll come out on the other end with something better than an 80's strip mall and office park.

The second Chipotle will be great to relieve the mile-long lines that plague the other one, and the same could be said for Starbucks... But this will also mark the third Starbucks along the campus stretch of High, which seems excessive. I like the addition of the CorePower which is a healthy-eating option and not a huge national chain yet. But with all of these storefronts getting eaten up by national chains so rapidly there are going to be so few spots left for the local businesses and demolished campus haunts to return, which is really unfortunate (but also completely as expected)

Pablo, you're awesome! Thanks for the great pics. I wonder if every project in the area is getting some sort of a deal with OSU to contribute their soil for the Cannon Drive project? Between the COSI parking garage and this massive hole, there's a considerable amount of dirt.

Does anyone have recent photos?

So somehow this architecture got more eclectic... Trying to mix up the more traditional side with modern glass accents. It's getting a little "everything but the kitchen sink" but I love that they have stuck by their scale and stayed true to the eclectic personality and mix of the Short North, even off of High Street. I just hope whatever fills up the corner parcel next door can match this development.