DevolsDance

Yep, this is also my guess for why the project is slated for 10 stories. McPherson Commons is 8 stories and Parks Edge II is 12 stories so, if you're trying to create some transition between the two than 10 seems like a natural choice. It seems NRI may have felt more favorable towards completing a "vision" than anything with this project. I'm pretty confident these will sell fast (if not before construction is complete) and then maybe they can focus efforts on their lot at Long, Marconi, and Spring to give us something big and bold.

Sigh, honestly this is what we all expected but it's such a missed opportunity. In the end this is another 60+ residents downtown and it is realistically great infill but I really wanted something big. Unfortunate.

Stumbled across this beaut online the other day and looks like it hasn't been posted here yet. Nationwide Tower - 1977, Union Station Terminal in the foreground and The Ohio Penn in the background.

That CU photo update was a mess altogether, this paired with the Harrison West project they included that has been stalled for years. CU has fallen apart.

Looks like Jeffrey Park is ready to get things rolling on their mid-rise. They are on the agenda to present a the designs for the 11-story structure along I-670 for conceptual review at the November IVC meeting. According to the meeting notes they are planning a - 7-story garage topped with 4 floors of office (11 floors total) - Wrapping the garage in 5 floors of residential - First floor will contain Restaurant space, a leasing office, and an elevator lobby with reception. Based on their existing garage at the Jeffrey I think the garage, although 7 floors, may actually match the height of the 5-story residential portion making the structure really about 9 stories tall but we shall see. I am also curious to see if they completely wrap the garage in residential or if it will only be in 3 sides, leaving the freeway facing side exposed. https://www.columbus.gov/Templates/Detail.aspx?id=2147509299

I know Wood Co's owns the site an ultimately they have talked about it being in their line of lots to redevelop. I believe being a small company they can really only take on so much on at once and currently they seem kind of packed with Lincoln Street, Parkside on Pearl, and North Market Tower... Oh yeah, and getting the freaking cornice pieces for the Brunner Building! Anyway, I could actually see them ultimately picking up the IBEW site from Kaufman and going big in this spot but it is probably a few years down the line if I had to guess.

I'd say maybe the GV residents deserved being condemned over their reaction to a quality development next to a freeway on a surface lot and a 1970s stucco office building. The GV project architects specifically jumped through hoops and designed sections of the hotel to blend into the historic architecture, thats quite different than what is happening here. The project being discussed here is a developer who wanted to go tall but preserve the history and is now saying "eff it" and razing old buildings with character to build out the plot to the max allowed because they are sick of dealing with the commission. Yep, totally the same.

Nobody wants to admit it, but this is going become a much more common occurrence if every development proposal continues to be met with the density and height battles at every single neighborhood commission meetings in high growth areas and corridors. The reality is that this project (and many others) hit a road block and at a certain point developers are pretty much losing money. Once a project hits a block like what happened here they have to either commit to financial losses and continue to push at meetings against (outdated) height and density restrictions, they proceed like this by saying screw it and just building what is allowed (usually cutting costs by removing pieces like historic preservation and good urbanism), or they walk away from the project all together. This could have been avoided by the UAIRB focusing on architectural quality/materials and less on how they feel about the short north pushing north or their traffic concerns. The commissions in this city are an amazing asset that so many boom cities lack, but if their power to decide on density, parking, and height isn't reigned in, situations like this are going to become much more common. I'm officially dubbing this a spite project.

The early designs I had seen were in the 15-22 story range. I was not the biggest fan of the tower design, but it was "iconic" for sure. I know they wanted to push this to later phases and focus on the renovations/rehab of the existing structure first, then base the addition sizing and height on demand and financing once they reach that point. I believe they were looking an 7-10 year timeline for all phases.

Paywalled article regarding new details emerging with the Hoster Brewing Redevelopment in the Brewery District https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2019/10/30/exclusive-new-details-revealed-for-next-phase-of.html?iana=hpmvp_colum_news_headline General breakdown - The project will take place over four phases - Phase I interior work has already begun on the 477 building converting 120,000 sq/ft to office, retail, event space, 140 room boutique hotel, and a rooftop bar/restaurant. - Phase II will bring 101,000 sq/ft of mixed-use space broken down into 30,000 sq/ft of office, 28 loft apartments, 31,000 sq/ft of co-working space, and 5,400 sq/ft of retail. - Phase III will include the construction of a 66,000-100,000 sq/ft building to house office and condos. - Phase IV will include structured parking with office and apartments above. Additionally, - A $2.45M Tax Credit application has been filed for Phase II, the western block of Hoster Brewing structures (Located behind 477 S Front). - Total development cost still remains undisclosed. - The development sits within a 1-mile radius of 15,000 residents with an average income over $82,000. - I-70 carries 122,000 passengers past the development daily and High St carries 19,000 passengers past daily. - The project sits within a historic district also making it eligible for neighborhood reinvestment tax credits down the line. I am curious to see how this project progresses along, I think it will be huge for the area. Overall the design of the addition is the only thing I don't love, but I have seen some renders/concepts indicating we just may see some height in future portions of the project. Let's hope the market stays strong and warrants it.

As much and I hate to say it, I think NRI is still skittish from North Bank Tower. North bank was a pretty bold step out of the box for NRI specifically; they like their high-end low risk developments that promise a pretty quick return and that usually means the 3-5 story red brick format. In 2007 when NRI decided to go big for the first time the recession hit, it took NRI almost 8 years to sell all 100 units and I think that really scared them off. While I don't think it's a sound logic based on how quick Parks Edge sold, I think it's the reason we won't see another true tower from them unless someone else enters the market and shows them up.

That was my guess too, it doesn't appear anywhere on their website or on any land lease sites so they are likely casting a line to see what they catch. Sometimes developers will do this to gauge of area interest as well as a kicking off point for large site development like this. It is a lot easier to assemble a site plan and design if you have a "keystone" piece as opposed to just looking at a blank slate and trying to build something marketable. What is unfortunate about this strategy though is the development scale and form will be almost completely dependent on whoever reaches out to them and commits.

Morning everyone, hoping to kick off everyones morning well with this bit of news... Soil sampling is happening at the Market! Enjoy.

Photo update below, looks like they have framed out the fourth floor and are headed up.

https://www.columbusnavigator.com/creeping-suburbia-the-downtown-mediocrity-beat-goes-on/

Ha, well maybe if they weren't building such a trash project they wouldn't be subject to such scrutiny. Honestly, thank you! More developers need called out for the bs they pull in this city, they throw up half-baked projects or cheap out in the end and just expect us to be happy with what we get. The Crawford Hoying project is the perfect example of a bait-and-switch, and one the commission should have NEVER allowed. Now, regarding the article (guessing it was either Columbus Navigator or your blog), can you please spill what Crawford Hoying said? For what they did to us, we absolutely would love to hear about their temper tantrum after calling out their crap. Many thanks.

Beat me to it @Pablo! THE MOAR CRANE PORN THE BETTA! Photo update below on 230 E Long St. A little more crane action for the Schottenstein development on 3rd.

Chase is in a skyscraper mood right now it seems with them looking at building a supertall in NYC. *crosses fingers*

Parking minimums have no place in Columbus or any city for that matter. So many cities are ditching them and here we are, stopping projects because of them... Heck, Cincinnati even recently removed them in the basin neighborhoods. I just don't get Columbus' sudden pivot to target developers for traffic and parking snarls while being the ones who have ignored transit and infrastructure for decades.

Business First just posted and update on this project and it's not necessarily a good one. Based on the article it looks like the city and Rogue are deadlocked in a battle of parking , Rogue is saying that if a solution cannot be be found they are considering building the arena either in another location or even city, specifically naming Austin TX. Yep... that city again. Details are that per city zoning, the arena will require 1,234 parking spaces to gain approval and Rogue is citing that based on the site it is not logistically possible. Rogue has proposed building an off-site parking structure/lot and shuttling attendees to the arena. The city is saying the plan is insufficient and lacking details, they need are asking for parking studies, traffic plans, shuttle plans, a pedestrian study to understand how "large volumes" of pedestrian traffic would impact the "already busy" intersection of Cleveland and 5th Ave, and ride share drop-off points. Additionally Rogue has asked for a setback variance from the required 60' down to 23' for the facility. Overall it seems Traffic Management and the Zoning board said with current plans they do not support the requested variances without further information. I find it a rather curious circumstance that we are seeing more and more issues that all source back the cities inability to diversity transit and take infrastructure issue seriously but blaming the developers, and even more curious that Rogue has chosen Austin to name as the city in the battle here... I feel like I'm having DejaVu. Full article is linked below (paywalled). https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2019/10/25/exclusive-rogue-fitness-considering-austin-for.html?iana=hpmvp_colum_news_headline

It'll likely be a Museum of Natural History or an Aquarium. I know the zoo ballot measure failed but they never removed it from their long term plans I've been told. Additionally I have seen and heard many times over that a Natural History Museum has been desired and that there is money behind it. who knows, maybe we get both. I would bet money thought that one of the two will happen and in that location.

Looks like CDDC and associated developers will be going in front of the Downtown Commission tomorrow, the parties will present Phase I for conceptual review and request a Certificate of Appropriateness to demo the single story building at 322 W. State Street. The building currently serves as COSI Grounds and Maintenance, the demo will clear way for the hotel piece of the development. Once the demo is complete, the peninsula will practically be a blank canvas for development to begin. https://www.columbus.gov/development/public-meetings/Columbus-Downtown-Commission/

It's my understanding Kaufman sold off 80 on the Commons and 250 High, I have been told they are trying to shore up capital. I'm curious if this means something big is on the horizon.

I agree completely, it's a balancing act on many levels and I think the fact that the area has grown as much as it has is a testament to the (cheesy) "Live, Work, Play" thing. So many of those apartments are filled with Nationwide employees who walk to work, the grocery, gym, etc... to avoid the "commuter life". We can't ignore roads all together, no, that's honestly unrealistic, but we can use these situations as talking points for transit, density, and walkable community proof of concept.

I really never even noticed this until your comment a few months back @Zyrokai and now I cannot not notice it. I have to admit, it's maddening. I have been unable to come up with any logical reason as to why the city is not using the standard but instead doing the bare minimum. How can Columbus tout pedestrian safety and walkability but not even correctly paint crosswalks to safety standards. I really do not understand. Does anyone actually know what can be done about this? Like a media source or inquiry to actually get an answer and maybe a solution?