cityscapes

Zoning doesn’t regulate taxes.

Be careful don’t give the developer any ideas since this is in the downtown district that commission would probably approve a lasagna building.

Everyone on this forum complains when they rubber stamp things without demanding better design and then the one time anyone on the commission tries to give feedback that might improve a project it’s a problem. Please pick one. 😂

The ground floor plan posted on a previous page shows ground floor retail on the southern portion of the ground floor. There’s beef with the elevator shaft which is also valid, but may have had building code requirements that necessitated that, then everything to the north of the shaft was parking and circulation which based on the plans and renderings are likely going to be visible at ground level as a pedestrian on High.

The ground floor space facing arguably the most important street in the city doesn’t necessarily need to be retail to be an appropriate design for the context. They could have used spandrel glass on that portion or used it as an amenity space for the building like the leasing office, gym, or mail room. Anything is better than visible parking fronting that location even if it’s structured and not surface parking. The problem here is that the commission never actually scrutinizes these projects to the level that they should be. Sometimes I wonder if they look at the downtown design guidelines at all.

I don’t like how the building at Belle & Broad looks nearly identical to the one that it’s next to minus the color of the brick. This area should be architecturally diverse. The tower and the pins building look fine (from most angles).

Off topic but before I moved away from Columbus I looked at the units at 80 on the commons and they were great but the balconies jutting out made you feel like you were being made to walk the plank and weren’t pleasant to be on. I looked at 250 S High after and I didn’t like the units but the recessed balconies were much nicer than being all exposed like in the other building. Either way any new buildings like this downtown would be great but I’d hope for better massing than 80 on the commons and better architecture than the Edwards project. Why wouldn’t a local developer want to hire a local arch firm and put their money back into the local community instead of sending business to Denver? If you’re going to go so far might as well use a good firm.

the back will mostly be blocked by those trees across the alley so I don’t think it’s a big problem but I do take issue with the small surface parking lot at the corner of Oak & Kenton. That doesn’t seem appropriate.

It's been 2 years since I've left Columbus and I can barely recognize 5th with all the new development.

I like the design of the office and residential portions of the project but I don't get the plaza area, I see some seating but there's nothing on the ground floor of those buildings or inviting landscaping that that would activate the space or make it desirable. Also, the name for that street is Dickenson in keeping with the author theme in the area (streets to the north are Auden, Neruda etc) but it's Dickinson. Wish someone would have caught that spelling error because now it's permanent.

I like the building but it boggles my mind that the city let them build the new curb cuts on third and then new streetscape matching everything else on high only to then let them leave the janky old curb in between the the curb cut and new high street streetscape. They could have easily rebuilt it to current standards and planted some much needed street trees.

Yeah it complements Budget’s corporate branding well.

It's a very nice looking building and the massing is especially thoughtful. I think there needs to be more work on the fine details to make it appropriate for the area. You don't see upper floor metal panels like that anywhere in GV / Schumacher Place. It would be nice if they kept the rhythm and fenestration patterns in line with historic mixed use buildings in the area and incorporated a cornice while keeping the modern material palette for a look that blends traditional elements for a look that isn't too contemporary or faux-historic.

It was me but since I don't live in Columbus anymore I'd like to pass the baton of holding the city responsible for what they approve to someone else.

That doesn't match the approved plans, I checked everything I could access on the city's website and there's parking lot screening shown at the 4th street sidewalk line to screen the spaces directly adjacent to the street. Just like the projects downtown since no one inspects for these types of issues they get missed...

It does look great but if you take away the cool paint job this is a really basic EFIS building with no architectural details. I'm amazed the paint job alone can make it look praise worthy but it works.

You're right it was. That building is turning out so nice. I can't wait to see it with the sidewalks and street trees installed. Good to see an out of state developer come in and build a great looking building that looks exactly like what they originally proposed. It's not that hard.

The mess of telephone and electricity wires have always looked third world to me. If you streetview Dhaka or Lagos they're everywhere. Singapore and Switzerland not so much. In the US most new neighborhoods have all the infrastructure underground because its cheaper to do it at construction. Undergrounding of utilities in an already built up area is very expensive but because of aesthetics and clearing the sidewalk for amenities it's often worth it in the prime locations of a city where you want to put your best face forward to residents and visitors. In my opinion 4th is getting to the point where they need to be put underground. The streetscape doesn't need to be as nice as High Street or downtown but a cohesive look with more street trees, benches, lighting, etc would be helpful to string all the new development together. There's another building back there that appears to be being restored but also that area is the driveway access from the apartment buildings parking to the street.

Not in love with those changes. The white version and the black cage top design were more dynamic. The multicolor facade looks like it’s trying too hard to be trendy. I’d want to know a lot more about this materials too. The “townhomes” lining the parking deck look like they got one floor taller. They keep missing the bottom of the balconies being unfinished. If they added something to conceal the wooden structure the building would look a lot better. It’s small details like this that staff and commissions seem to keep missing in reviewing these buildings but I guess it doesn’t matter to me since I don’t live in Columbus anymore and I’ll never see this finished but the city should still be pushing for better.

Can we start calling this building The View of Laundry Vents?

I think the billboards look trashy and it's annoying they keep ignoring their own regulations because the downtown standards clearly don't allow them. When there are so many new parking decks being built that actually look cool I don't get why they can't do something inventive in Columbus aside from the Convention Center Garage along 670. They should be wrapping them in something cool like the ones above and not whatever.

Given how poorly so many (Luxe Belle, Uncommon, The Wellington) of the new projects under their purview have turned out and how little they've done to shape the look and feel of those buildings for the better I'm not expecting it to be addressed. It sure as hell feels like it, they tried to preserve some of what was there and do an interesting building and after getting some push back it's like they've proposed something that says here's what your sh*tty code requires / allows are you happy now?

The pedestrian experience on SE corner of the building is just awful. Weather protection at entrances would have made the ground floor seem more fleshed out and maybe if they included some street trees in the renders it would have helped but this is just brutal looking.

I overall like the look of Jeffery Park but I want to see some more detailed renderings of the taller building. It looks kind of weird and not very attractive the more I stare at it. I'm also all for adding architectural diversity but this sticks out in the development in a bad way. With some minor tweaks it could look like less of a goth art deco hospital.