cityscapes

This project is now under construction there was significant activity on site today. The site plan was approved 3/6/19 thus releasing the building permit which was approved on 2/12/19.

Millennial Tower was approved in January: https://www.columbus.gov/uploadedFiles/Columbus/Departments/Development/Boards_and_Commissions/Downtown_Commission/Meetings/2018/DtCommResults 1-18 Jan 23.pdf The developer has not submitted anything else to the city since this approval. If they were going to build it anytime soon they would have to submit a site plan for site plan review and confirm the zoning and building plan sets match the Downtown Commission design approval, a separate plan for the street improvements to meet the downtown streetscaping design standards, and a foundation and building permit for the structure and likely other associated permits. They'd also need to combine parcels with Franklin County and get a certified address. None of that has been submitted and all of that review takes a significant amount of time.

Not being defensive I just disagree with the large city boundaries being a hinderance on zoning in Columbus. I am also an urban planner and work with zoning codes / design guidelines etc daily and have done significant research on different codes across the county. A lot of the zoning in Columbus is from the 1920's which makes it difficult to review present day development under a code that doesn't take into account the type of development we see today. When the City of Dublin started planning for Bridge Park they adopted new code to facilitate that development rather than keep the existing code for that site when it was a strip mall. When Jeffery Park in Columbus was developed, that area kept the same manufacturing zoning district that it was in as a mining site or whatever it was long before I moved here. The developers had to get variances to make the development happen, but the city could have been more proactive in setting the tone for the redevelopment of that area. It's still zoned manufacturing today and is not afforded any code required distance separation protection from other adjacent manufacturing zoned sites because the code requires separation by zone and not use. There are many cities in the country that have large boundaries that have been proactive and updated their codes to improve development standards and allow for different types of projects to proceed by right. Denver and Indianapolis come to mind as two large jurisdictions that have managed to do it. Why is it okay for Columbus to stay stagnant and force so many projects through the long variance process (adding cost and an element of uncertainty) just to move forward? Seattle and Columbus are very different cities, however, a mixed use commercial corridor in Seattle and Columbus aren't that different. Where they differ is that City of Seattle has a more modern code that accounts for the type of development they are seeing today whereas Columbus has chosen to use a one size fits all outdated code that doesn't work across the board. To point out a crazy problem in the Columbus Zoning Code the following situation is possible under the current code: You could in theory replace the entire block fronting High Street with the Joseph Hotel with Semi-Truck parking without needing a variance from the code because that's allowed by right. Alternatively, if you wanted to build a 6 story infill building on a surface lot in the Short North such as the 1079 N High (Yoga On High Project) you need a variance to reduce the default setback from 25 to 0 to make the building suit the actual urban form of the area. Sorry for the long zoning rant but I don't think most people in the city including city council realize how poorly the current zoning code is serving the city especially right now during a period of unprecedented growth.

The large size of Columbus is not a disadvantage, the codes could be updated to allow the type of development that would be appropriate for these corridors however city staff and city council takes zero initiative to make comprehensive changes to the code that would benefit the city. So many cities that have large jurisdictional boundaries have modern, well written zoning codes that allow for the type of development we want and need. Most people don't realize how bad and outdated the Columbus Zoning Code is. It's all online if you want to take a look: https://library.municode.com/oh/columbus/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT33ZOCO Here's Seattles to compare ours to one that is well done: https://library.municode.com/wa/seattle/codes/municipal_code?nodeId=TIT23LAUSCO Municode has the ordinance dates showing when each code section was updated and you can see that Columbus lags behind most large cities with the frequency and scope of code updates. Back on topic.... this one floor retail development in Clintonville is pretty disappointing. It's a charming neighborhood but the residents are very much on their high horse trying to preserve a neighborhood that is mostly Sears Catalog looking homes with a typical brick streetcar suburban retail spine running through it. It's not that unique to be so anti-development. This is exactly the type of location that would be appropriate for a 4 story building with retail on the bottom and apartments above with minimal to no parking.

You're a city resident and and it's a public hearing. Anyone interested should go and speak. People need to actively participate in these meetings for them to work properly and get insight on how all of this works.

I feel the same way it feels like new projects have completely dried up. There are a lot of substantial developments that are approved and haven't started construction yet, but you'd think there would be a steady stream of new projects being announced but there isn't. I'm kind of concerned but I hope it's just a seasonal slowdown.

I think the church is ugly. If it was architecturally significant I'd be more concerned about the demolition, but it's nothing special. The new building design makes an attempt to preserve some of the design language and stained glass of the church but this doesn't translate well to an apartment building. Since they're going to tear down the church anyway, I'd rather see them look to the future of the neighborhood and come up with something that will work well with Gravity and the other new buildings in the area.

It's hard to take pictures of images printed on mesh especially in direct sunlight but I was over by the Gravity 2.0 site and it's fenced off with construction equipment and the renders have changed drastically for the tall building and low rise as you can see from my pictures. I don't know about the other buildings. I'm sure we will see more as the project continues to move forward. They haven't submitted for permits yet so I'm sure they're just doing work to clear the site and maybe some soil testing. Either way I'm glad to see this move forward and the new designs appear to be much better. Edit: Just noticed the gravity website shows the redesigned buildings. This is by far the coolest project in the entire state right now. While on the website if you check the floor plans for the existing Gravity building, as cool as that building is the shape caused some really weird floor plans for the apartments. I don't know if I'd want to live in some of the weird triangular / trapezoidal units. https://gravityproject.com/commerce/

I don't see the appeal of living in that area at all but at least there's more green space than a lot of other subdivisions that have been built in the past decade.

Taken today.

Disappointing that this large piece of land at a prominent intersection is going to be a one story strip mall. I think the Clintonville Area Commission and residents are so NIMBY that developers are scared to deviate from code and request variances to build a nice mixed use development because they'll shoot it down. What needs to happen is better code to allow more types of development with less parking by right so that they don't have to get held up in the variance process.

Why do you think it was never going to happen and not necessary?

Townhaus should be done pretty soon. It's looking good, the brick looks weird in my picture only because it's wet. In person this looks better.

RED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Morgan phase one is finishing up. The demo is on going for The Gemma across the street. The duplex or townhouse to the south of the apartment building is being framed out right now. I don't know if it's the weather but these look very cheap in person. I think a light beige brick instead of the stucco would have gone a long way. Also if the city would make people screen the damn ground mounted AC units...

If there aren't desirable restaurants and shops what exactly do you think is going to attract the people? If the store fronts sit vacant for awhile I think that's okay, once the density is there the shops will get leased.

I 100% agree with this statement. Many of the buildings aren't dense enough or contain blank facades and inactive ground floor uses that don't do anything that would create a desirable place for pedestrians or add to street vitality. The city I moved here from would have required roof decks on all of them and would have likely required either bay windows or balconies during design review to reinforce the connections to the river and none of the ground floors would have been approvable either. The LC buildings don't even have windows that open. The ground floor of this building is extremely bad design: https://goo.gl/maps/CkNcvGHXvWv and does nothing to make Riversouth an interesting place to be as a pedestrian. Building on the grass lot even if it's a government use would help further tie in a completely build out connection between the burgeoning node of activity on 4th and Main and Riversouth. Having more workers might encourage future infill in the area to contain more ground floor retail, although if the downtown commission was actually reviewing these projects thoroughly they'd be mandating better design. I wish a large out of state developer would come into Columbus and show local developers how a proper urban infill project can be done. I'd be so happy if Mill Creek, Gerding Edlen, or Trammel Crow would develop here, it would be a huge improvement over what Borror and Wagenbrenner are building.

It's a term meant to describe the level of affordability of the housing units. It's a fairly common term. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforce_housing

I'm amazed how this section of Hubbard Park Place manages to convincingly look like an old warehouse building. We need five of these on the surface lots around 4th & Spring downtown. Ground floor expansion of the graduate hotel project is fully underway. Soulless Vancouver ? should be fully complete on the exterior soon. They're moving very quickly. Another one that seemingly went up overnight. The residential portion behind it is at foundation level right now. Been waiting months for the Brunner Building to finish the stonework sections separating the first two floors from the residential portion. Surprised the final color for that windowless portion of the wall is going to be that bright white. The closer this project gets to completion the less I like it. Something about the design is a little bit off. The glass is too reflective and the weird roof deck covered patio messes with the proportions. Oh well.

Budd Dairy is finally underway. Progress on the apartment building the north has slowed down significantly. No photo but the dry cleaners site at 1st and 4th is fenced off. I'm guessing that will move forward when it warms up.

This one went up so fast.

Some Jeffery Park updates: The condo building is finishing up. One bedrooms are listed for sale on Zillow for $280,000. I personally wouldn't pay that for a one bedroom in a wood construction building in Columbus when you can buy an entire house for that in this area. None of the new builds seem to be of high quality construction. Townhomes. More townhomes. The modern ones that were selling for around $900,000 look good from a distance but the workmanship from up close is terrible. The exposed plywood is ridiculous on a property this expensive. The newer ones on the left seem to have used better quality materials but we will see when they're done. The apartment project along 4th is topped out...not that it takes long to build a 3 story building. Site prep for more of the townhomes.

I'm personally very confident it is cancelled or on hold long term.

It's actually more common to have a preliminary review first rather than starting with the architectural or historic review boards. The preliminary review meetings get the applicant comments from zoning, storm water, public utilities, transportation, fire, parks & rec, etc that usually end up impacting the design of the site. It's better to start there and then refine the project as close to final form possible using the comments and then going before the various commissions for their design approval.

Did some research... the project will take up all the parcels bound by Clark Pl, King Ave, N High, and N Wall except for the strip of row homes along Clark Pl.