jonoh81

There are whole threads over on Reddit about "but muh taxes" regarding this deal.

It's a lot, but considering, it could've been more. I still think the state walks away pretty well with this.

I'm not really sure why they'd need to there.

OMG, please let this happen. Seriously, though, it seems to be an open question whether the new zoning will be standardized across the city, or still leave some areas with stricter codes. I could easily see SP being one of those that doesn't see as much change as say, Linden or Hilltop.

Good article. It really hones in on the point that everyone says they're for development until they think it'll impact them, and how all those small size and unit reductions adds up to a negative citywide and regional impact. It's one of the reasons I also always advocate bigger and denser regardless. Also, Brenda Gischel is a classic and worst kind of NIMBY who, like the rest, talks a good game about "being for development", but then immediately organizes to railroad development into submission using manipulative emotional arguments under the guise of being a responsible neighbor.

This is part of Downtown. With the visibility and location, the whole development could've been more along the style/heights of the Scioto Peninsula. Every developer has a few exceptions to their bread and butter, like LC's High Street buildings when they're generally known for standard suburban apartment complexes, and NRI has not generally been a "go big" developer. I know NRI has said they want to do something different for a few sites, and I hope they do, but I think by now everyone knows my views on sites not reaching their potential. I'm never going to be super happy with low rise Downtown outside of the historic districts along Town.

The irony is that Capitol South was a big proponent of the demolition of quite a few old buildings for City Center and ultimately arguably did very little to turn the tide on surface parking. It's largest product besides the mall was the city's largest parking garage. They were very much a product of their time.

1958 Columbus Riverfront and Downtown panorama... really clear image that shows one of the last years before the interstates. The detail is pretty amazing once you open it up completely. Some things of note: -Flytown is clearly being demolished along Goodale, but this was before the mass demolition of almost everything south of 2nd/east of Neil. -Construction of the first piece of the interstate system on the north side of the Whittier Peninsula doesn't seem to have begun yet. -Downtown had relatively very few surface parking lots compared to just a decade later. -The lack of any real trees or greenery along Downtown streets save for a few pockets. -Most of the 19th and early 20th Century buildings are intact. -Is that a tiny island on the Scioto?

I don't think anyone should get their hopes up regarding NRI's properties. They've consistently been conservative with their projects in terms of scale, height and design. Astor Park itself is arguably pretty conservative given it was basically a blank slate and could've really made a statement, especially with so much visibility from 315/670.

I just don't get tearing down a building just to build basically an exact replica, but with a few different materials and a worse use design. This doesn't look like a new build, it looks like a badly-done renovation. Also, it's Broad Street.... Downtown. It's too small, especially when we're seeing so many taller buildings going up outside the core. It's embarrassing Downtown keeps getting shortchanged like this. I hope they come back with something better.

Really only western and Southwestern Ohio tend to see any significant outbreaks, and even there they aren't especially common. What Columbus gets is normally the leftovers as storms die out heading east. Historically, there have been just a handful of EF3 or equivalent in the entire metro area (and nothing above that), with the vast majority being 1s or 0s. So climatologically speaking, the area isn't all that favored for big tornadic outbreaks. Not to say it can't happen or will never happen, but I'd be more worried about this if it was in Xenia. But as others have said, you can only prepare so much. The risk is never going to be zero.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2022/01/26/columbus-region-unemployment-falls-2-8-december-near-record/9210086002/ Columbus unemployment fell to 2.8%, the lowest in 23 years and near the all-time record lowest. The metro seems to have finally reached a pre-pandemic employment level, and total unemployed is the lowest its been since 2001, despite hundreds of thousands more people living in the area. Some of this is likely due to the number of retirements that occurred during the pandemic, as well as increased self-employment, but overall, some good news.

It really depends on the topic. On development, it can be a cross between CU Facebook comments and City Data.

I want to see 20-40 stories like they talked about. The height limit being raised to 200' suggests at least the former is likely.

I try to fight the good fight over there, but it's a struggle.

Yep. As far as I can tell, LC pretty much gave them what Worthington originally said they wanted for the site, but then steadily backtracked once proposals started coming out. I'm sure NIMBYs were giving them all sorts of hell, but regardless, they're basically trying to pull the rug out from under LC after the fact. That's shady.

That was my interpretation as well. There's no way they will need 1000 acres for just 2 fabs. They're big plants, but not THAT big.

That's a whole lot of words to just say "low density single-family housing with a big park".

Which suggests more development from them beyond even 8 fabs.

It's interesting that they're using 1000 acres for the mega project, but the annexation was 3x that. Who knows what could end up there.

If it opens in 2030, that would be before the original timeline. Was just reading a 2017 Dispatch article that said a new one was "15-18 years" away, putting it sometime around 2032-2035. That would be good news if it's built and opened before then.

Well, originally, they had said they wouldn't be looking into building a new one until 2030 or later, so they definitely had a timeline in mind regardless of planning. It was largely based on projected passenger traffic growth. Before the pandemic, the airport had been setting traffic records, and it was estimated the terminal was going to be outgrown by around 2030 or so. Traffic hasn't nearly recovered yet, but it eventually will, and this news will only accelerate that. So I hope they're dusting off those long-term plans and seeing how fast something could be built. The request for bids may or may not be keeping with that original timeline, depending on how long construction would take. And hopefully, any new terminal will finally include some actual mass transit connections.

Columbus should definitely push up the timeline for building the new terminal. Waiting another 10+ years doesn't make sense anymore.

Okay, but I think it's simplistic to just say that GOP policies did this when dozens of other sites across Republican states didn't win the project. Ultimately, I think on-the-ground conditions, such as OSU and access to education, the relative stability of Ohio's resources and climate, and the very large plot of available land nearby is what ultimately landed this. A Democrat in office would've just as heavily went after this, so I don't think this was about politics.

Do we have any details one what the state is actually offering them in terms of incentives? I imagine they'll be significant. I also wonder if tomorrow's announcement will include whether this project is the $100+ billion "mini city" talked about by the CEO. That part hasn't been confirmed yet.