CMHOhio

Is it me, or does this look really similar to the 13-story building Edwards is building on East Broad St.? I really like the overall massing of the proposed building and its height on the block. I actually don't mind the parking decks so much as they are meant to serve the entire Madisons/White-Haines project. Hoping for a speedy approval and construction process (and for Harmony Tower a few blocks up to make similar progress towards becoming a reality!).

I was in town this week and was able to absorb the rapid changes happening on and next to the peninsula. It's really exciting to see and this photo really captures it well. Hoping the momentum only continues, and it looks like it will.

I always hoped AEP would construct a sister building to their corporate offices across the street - something that would contrast well with the brutalist structure and interact with that area of Marconi Blvd. Maybe CDDC could put the idea in the heads of the powers that be over at AEP.

^Hilton 2.0 is definitely making itself known bit by bit. Great photo - it looks like it's from the AEP building. For some reason I like that perspective of 1 Nationwide. Not a fan of the parking garage district, but I guess it's better than surface lots.

Stumbled across these pics from a trip back to Columbus from August 2019. Thought they might be appreciated here. First 3 are on approach into CMH and the last 3 are from the Hocking Hills.

A really nice addition is coming to Bridge Park in the form of a 6-story structure on the northwest edge of the development. The retirement residences will be part of the Friendship Village retirement center, which already has a massive development down the road on 33. More on the proposal from the Dispatch: Friendship Village to build Bridge Park retirement center JIM WEIKER | The Columbus Dispatch 28 minutes ago Friendship Village plans to build a $40 million retirement community in Dublin's Bridge Park. The development, called The Bailey at Bridge Park, will be built between Dale Drive and Mooney Street immediately east of Bridge Park's commercial strip. The Bailey will include 88 apartments in a six-story building (five stories of residences over one floor of parking). Construction is expected to begin in the spring with a targeted opening in the fall of 2023. https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2021/07/13/bridge-park-add-friendship-village-retirement-apartments/7949438002/

Ima just leave this here: 150 Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2021-2022 U.S. News analyzed the 150 most populous metro areas to find the best places to live. To make the top of the list, a place had to have good value, be a desirable place to live, have a strong job market and a high quality of life. https://realestate.usnews.com/places/rankings/best-places-to-live

That makes the second locally-based insurance company to bought in the last month: Safe Auto was recently acquired by Allstate, which plans to consolidate it with their National General branch. It's still too early to tell what this will mean for the local employment bases. The best case scenario is both parent companies decide to keep the existing facilities and grow them as regional hubs or the headquarters for their subsidiaries. If JobsOhio were smart, they would be pursuing both, especially with State Auto's downtown employment base in the balance. Central Ohio still remains well-represented in the insurance industry with Encova, Grange, and juggernaut Nationwide as well as rapidly-expanding upstarts like Root.

Same here! The resemblance is uncanny.

I actually really like this piece. It's a nice bit of "immersive art" as one will be able to pose in the pocket and around the frame. It should provide some interesting interaction with the skyline for photos as well. I like the significance of it representing Franklinton being a "stone's throw away" from Columbus on the other side of the river. This along with the Makers Monument in the Short North is really adding to the public art scene in a meaningful way. This is so very true. The kissing sculpture is in such an odd location, it kind of just blends in with the surrounding scenery. The deer sculptures are the best! I love seeing people posing with them and taking pictures of them.

The problem for this particular corridor seems to be more thru-traffic consisting of trucks and those going beyond Delaware. As much as I would love to see a multi-modal solution for it in the form of light or commuter rail to Delaware and either inter-city bus or rail north to Marion, Findlay, BG, and Toledo, the former would be hard-pressed to consider public transit and the latter likely doesn't have enough demand to make a service commercially viable. It's a tough problem for sure; one that ODOT is not qualified to handle, in my opinion.

^Interesting that funding is coming from Toledo. It makes sense, though, as the corridor comprises the most direct route between the two cities. I'm somewhat surprised that the article didn't resurrect talk of bring I-73 through Ohio from Portsmouth to Toledo, which would have included this corridor in the plan. That being said, 23 is no longer a viable highway option for that proposed interstate in my opinion. Regarding the article, I think diverting traffic to 33 is too far of a stretch. Rather, an upgraded 36 or new highway straddling 36 to I-71 would probably be better option as far as access is concerned. The 36-37 corridor is already shaping up to be a second north outerbelt, much to my chagrin. But 71 from I-270 to 36 is already a nightmare at times. Is the option to funnel even more traffic to I-71 really sustainable in the long term? And really there is no viable way to make 23 from Delaware to I-270 into a more limited-access highway. It doesn't matter how many overpasses, interchanges, tunnels, ramps, drawbridges, traffic circles, or other magic pavement devices ODOT can concoct to throw at 23 to make it what they want it to be: a 6-lane highway plowing through the area from point A to point B with no regard to the neighborhood and the people in them and their connectivity to their environment. The other problem is the majority of the people in this area wouldn't be caught dead riding public transit, so a multi-modal option is probably DOA anyway. Really quite the conundrum for the northern 'burbs.

When I was in Columbus in May I was truly struck by just how massive the Founders Park development is. The fact that the hotel portion comes right up to 315 was interesting to see. While not the best laid out project in Columbus, its presence is definitely felt and I feel it should contribute to the overall streetscape along this area of West 5th.

4th St. just keeps getting better and better. Really cool how a second entertainment district is developing parallel to High St. The alternating residential/commercial corridors of Neil, High, Summit, and 4th are really taking the entire urban area north of downtown to campus to a whole new level.

Pretty amazing to think this whole huge parcel sat empty and abandoned for so long and is now a massive residential community that adds so much to the vibrancy of the area. Great photos of the continuing progress!

Whoa, good eye! Totally didn't catch that. I think that'd be a creative way to link the Lennox area with campus/Medical Center. COTA Skylink, anyone?

N4RD.org? Did they think that through? They're a bunch of N4RDs alright...

I watched the match via ESPN. Lots of great coverage of the significance of the openning of the stadium. The best part is that main camera from the press box, when panned right, shows the skyline through the southeast opening. Truly a beautiful, well thought out facility.

Definitely good news overall. The Mirolo Fine Arts building would make fine apartments or condos with the tall ceilings and warehouse windows. Not sure what they could do with Circle Hall other than tear down and rebuild, but it could make sense as-is for any start up business. And if this sale paves the way for the construction of another building on what I would assume is another empty lot, all the better!

Some good news regarding the (former?) Chase Tower: Is Chase Tower now Tuxedo Tower? Bold Penguin adding 160 jobs post-acquisition By Carrie Ghose – Staff reporter, Columbus Business First 10 hours ago Bold Penguin plans to triple its Ohio-based staff as the insuretech grows rapidly under new owner American Family Insurance. The Columbus maker of a software platform for small-business insurance pledged adding 162 new jobs to a base of 78 already in Ohio, according to an incentive announcement. https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2021/06/29/bold-penguin-adding-160-jobs-post-acquisition.html

Columbus Business First take on the proposal: Six-story development with 1,000 apartments proposed for Whittier Peninsula By Bonnie Meibers – Staff reporter , Columbus Business First Jun 29, 2021 Updated 56 minutes ago The Whittier Peninsula could get a new, six-story development with about a thousand apartment units. The Brewery District Commission on Thursday will consider the proposed 850,000-square-foot five-building development at 142 W. Whittier St., according to city documents. https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2021/06/29/142-w-whittier-st.html

Big score for Gravity 2.0 and the neighborhood overall: OhioHealth shares details on Franklinton urgent care By Bonnie Meibers – Staff reporter , Columbus Business First Jun 29, 2021 Updated 18 minutes ago OhioHealth's new primary and urgent care service center will open in Franklinton's Gravity development in early 2023, the system announced today. The facility, set to take about 12,000 square feet of the mixed-use development's second phase, will cost about $2.8 million, OhioHealth said. https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2021/06/29/gravity-project-urgent-care.html

Columbus Business First posted a really good article about the latest update on the proposed lines: Columbus to get first dedicated bus rapid transit line along Olentangy River Road By Carrie Ghose – Staff reporter, Columbus Business First 7 hours ago Design is set to start on Columbus's first true bus rapid transit line, with a dedicated lane, connecting downtown to the northwest side. https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2021/06/29/columbus-bus-rapid-transit-olentangy-river-road.html While generally exciting overall and the first solid proposal to truly enhance mass transit in a holistic way, I'm really hopeful about these 2 blurbs from the article: Planners also are close to choosing the best high-capacity transit mode for the 20-mile east-west stretch of Broad and Main streets. COTA is expected to recommend the transit pick for the east-west corridor in July. Construction can start faster on that straighter and wider route. I'm really hoping that means a rail-based solution is in the running for the East-West corridor. It's understandable that light rail might be a bit too costly of an endeavor for the northwest corridor due to the constraints of Olentangy River Rd. across from Lennox under 315 and on the stretch towards Bethel. But given the lack of those obstacles on West Broad, along with the potential length of the route, will make light rail a viable solution. One that could introduce the greater community to the benefits of rail transit and potentially spur future rail-based transit projects.

I just wrote a very hotly-worded correspondence to the city zoning board at: [email protected] If anyone would like to do the same.

This gets me so riled up. A local small developer wants to reactivate an old structure, of which we have so few, into an establishment that would add to the area, and you deny it because you want parking in a neighborhood that doesn't need it!? And the only other option is a tear-down!? Until Columbus stops thinking this way, it will continue to languish as far as true urban development is concerned.