DTCL11

Perhaps. IPD doesn't have any Indigos in their portfolio so it would be their first. I stay in hotels as much as 200+ nights a year including a few Indigos and they're great. Although all the Indigos I have stayed in were entirely converted suburban hotels. I haven't stayed in any new build Indigos. Again, I'm not knocking brand per se. I stay in quite a few Hamptons, good, bad, and ugly, and there are amazing Holiday Inns out there too. For me, it really comes down the portfolio of IPD. And it doesn't look great. Their portfolio appears to be entirely suburban. I hope this is their attempt to do something different but my hopes are not high. At best I think we end up with a hotel that may front High Street but still has too much surface parking, too many curb cuts, and we will be lucky if it has any public amenities such as a restaurant, bar, coffee shop etc. I think the location and community deserve more than a single use, car focused development and maybe, just maybe, IPD wants to use this location as their segway into more urban designs and properties. Like I said, I'll pray to any entity out there for a good development, especially if it helps bring more, but I don't love the initial signs. They paid a pretty penny for that lot so here's hoping that it will force them to invest more into a better development for a better ROI. Borror more than tripled their investment by doing nothing for 5 years lol. Edit: I wonder if anyone detailed the University Review Board and Clintonville Commission split to them... If not, they could be in for more than they expected lol Eight Stories south of the creek with 2 or 3 levels of parking deck north of it sounds good to me.

Looks like the Patrick J's site JUST sold. The company is Stark Capital Ventures, LLC. Does not appear related to Stark Enterprises out of Cleveland (re NuCLEus). I followed the rabbit hole and I hope 2+2 does not equal 4. The Stark Ventures LLC is new with the sale. The business mailing address is the Holiday Inn on Olentangy River Road. That property belongs to JAP GURU LLC. The business mailing address for the Holiday Inn Property is a Hampton Inn on S Hamilton Road owned by Columbus Hotel Investment Group LLC out of Georgia, whose address belongs to IPD Hospitality. https://www.ipdhospitality.com/ IPD Hospitality specializes in management, construction, and design of the following hotel brands: Hampton Inn, Sleep Inn, Holiday Inn, Super 8, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, and Best Westerns. So folks, looks like the intersection of Arcadia and High may be the home of Columbus's next premier budget hotel. For the love of god, I hope this is wrong and maybe they want to venture into something else, but if the tea leaves are accurate, I just... can't.... I'll be praying to all that is holy that maybe it is something better than that. Perhaps I'm being a bit dramatic... maybe they'll make it a nice hotel like the Hampton Inn Convention Center? maybe....? Dont get me wrong, there are nice examples of these hotels, I'm just not expecting it at this location from the IPD group based on their portfolio. I'm not seeing much in the way of great urban hotel design.

The Old Urban Outfitters is getting a Walgreens Makeover. Interesting they would choose this space and not a new build with ample parking [side eye to CVS] https://columbusunderground.com/university-district-new-walgreens-unique-renovation-discussed-by-board-bw1/

Some information for the old Trolley Barns in Old North... houses. There was a zoning change notice on the lawn last month so I was thinking they were going to change it to commercial from residential but i didnt get around to looking it up. I had really hoped they would be something that contributes more to the neighborhood but I'm still glad to see them saved. I think that if the Borror property had come to fruition, the calculations may have been different. The whole intersection at Arcadia and High is begging for change. There's a part about campus Walgreens as well. https://columbusunderground.com/university-district-new-walgreens-unique-renovation-discussed-by-board-bw1/

It was a sharp proposal in 2016 except for the fact that it tore down the entire block. The corner isn't worth anything but an argument could be made for the main building. The commission took the obvious issues of height (which was only 13 ft above the guideline that were adopted later), parking, and 'it looks sharp paying homage to the library. I wish it did the same for the rest of the neighborhood'. In today's building market, I think something like this would get much less pushback other than the historic preservation. https://columbusunderground.com/eight-story-hotel-proposed-for-university-district/

This site might have a bit of an issue. I can find where there were major environmental concerns in 1994 but can't find where it was ever remediate or awarded a brownfield grant as alluded to. The owner is still the Handwell Co. and they don't seem to have a price. Just make in offer according to the listing I saw. "Since the site at 304 W. Mound St. was rejected for the [EPA Superfund] program, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency now must decide what to do with it. It has what one recent Ohio EPA report characterized as "extremely elevated levels" of lead, hexavalent chromium and nickel in the soil. Lead and chromium are considered extremely toxic. Inspectors also have found lead in the ground water, though none has been found leaching into the nearby Scioto River. The property is owned by the Handwell Co. Now vacant, it has housed scrap metal, car battery recycling and metal plating businesses over the past 70 years. Handwell has sued previous owners and tenants of the property, and responsibility for the cleanup is being sorted out in U.S. District Court in Columbus. Handwell officials were not available for comment. The most recent tenant - Gilbert Plating and Bumper Exchange - left in January 1990. The company cleaned up its area, President Irwin Gilbert said. However, he and his company are among those being sued by Handwell. Despite rejecting it for Superfund, the U.S. EPA commissioned a study completed in September that reported the site poses "an imminent and substantial risk of human exposure by direct contact with highly contaminated surface soil." Consultant PRC Environmental Management of Chicago urged the agency to clean up the site as soon as possible. None of the contamination appears to have crossed the property line. It could be the first site in Columbus to take advantage of the state's new "Brownfields" law. That law, pushed through this year by Gov. George V. Voinovich and Attorney General-elect Betty Montgomery, is aimed at making it more attractive to redevelop old, abandoned industrial zones." It may have been taken care of already, but if not, might make it a hard sell.

Leaked rendering from Coon on his proposal to work a deal with Intel rather than sell...

Rudementary Timeline of Columbus Buildings above 200' My random project based on wiki. I couldn't readily find the heights of buildings like Bollinger, 250 S High, Canopy, Joseph etc. I don't believe they break the 200' mark but wanted to double check in case there are a few that do belong on this that aren't. Pre-1960 condensed.

Ah. I thought they vacated. My mistake.

Wonder if we will get an updated name of the tower before long. Not sure I want to keep hearing about the (former) PNC Bank Tower. Fun fact. The architecture firm behind this building is also largely responsible for the Willis (Sears) Tower, Renaisance Center (GM HQ), Hancock Tower, and Burj Khalifa. Edit. And personally, it is among my favorite from the 70s. Among those built in that time period, it seems the least dated to me.

I had hoped CCS would offload the one on Arcadia too. But they rehabbed it instead. There is great potential in these old schools as we've seen. The open Air School on Hudson is amazing. I can only imagine what other neighborhood gems for Old North this school and the one on Arcardia could bring some day. The same for some of the old churches around town as we've seen. Plenty more of those as well.

Additional Information on Rhodes Tower. There were certainly other design concepts that will require some digging to find. There was an RFP process so the state should have them archived somehwere. However the public one we know and love didn't change from its announcement to its completion with the exception of one detail. The reason it was at 42 stories until near completion is during the construction process, they updated the air handling design which resulted in the loss of a floor but didn't change the overall design from a height standpoint or exterior massing. And I received confirmation regarding the helipad playing a part in the design. The helipad was initially a relatively well kept secret (pre-aerial imaging) but is part of the original design partially accounting for the protrusion to the East and North. There are hefty mechanics and lifts for access not commonly found on rooftops. Where as most would require a shed sized structure for mandoor access, Rhodes needed more. And with the helipad, a central access point was not an option. This resulted in the asymmetrical approach. What tower should we dig into next?

I did some digging and put together my findings in the Capital Square thread so as to not take up too much space here. Short Answer: nope. It was always supposed to be that tall and that way.

I figured I'd transition the discussion to this thread from the Hilton thread. I'm willing to definitively state that the Rhodes Tower was suppsed to be 150ft taller and the shape being a result of changes during construction is incorrect. A 'tall tale' if you will. If there was any plan for a taller tower, it would have been discussed or conceptualized before being unveiled and well before it would have impacted the final outcome. I've been digging through Plain Dealer archives and the earliest reference I can find to the tower is June 1970. In the articles, they consistently refer to a 42 Story building on Broad and include a photo of a model that features the same odd shape on the East side of the building from the unveiling of the project. In my digging, I really get an understanding of the deep seeded, ingrained, and at times, vitriolic distaste for Columbus that many Northeast Ohians have. The Plain Dealer consistently and persistently fought the notion that Columbus should deserve such a tower. Every article includes that bias, even being in the news section and not the opinion section. The editorial board makes their position known. And if most households rely on the Plain Dealer for their news in 1970, there's generations of folks with the same bias. It was fascinating. July 1970 - The PD takes issue that the state didn't just buy the LeVeque for a steal only to still 500,000 sf of additional space. August 1970 - details of the ground breaking also confirm 42 stories. The second building referred here would eventually be the Vern Riffe center. Plans for an intended second tower on State and High appear to have been discussed concurrently. August 1970 - 1 new tower at the benefit of Columbus, you've gone too far!. 2 new towers?! Off with their heads! Nov 1973 - the tower gets its first official name. Cincy also want to control the pet population. (Coincidentally shortly after Bob Barker started his run on the Price is Right) June 1974 - the tower begins to open A couple of other interesting tidbits - the last article indicates the tower was the largest granite structure kn the world at the time according to state officials - they planned to stagger shifts to allow state employees to have parking spaces since they didn't have enough - there was a lawsuit involving a Becker & Becker employee who left the company to found his own company and submit a bid for the tower within 15 days of Becker & Beckers bid. The court agreed the employee knew too much before leaving to make it a coincidence There appears to be an article indicating that the Vern Riffe Center office space was reduced by 100,000 SF but I couldn't get access to that article. There also appear to be indication the Ohio History Connection may have original architectural documents related to the Rhodes Tower. FWIW, I've never thought it was terribly odd under the context of there being a helipad on top similar to hospitals. Many older hospitals have that similar protrusion to accommodate access. But that might take further digging as I'm not sure the helipad is original. These were the buildings demolished to make way for the Rhodes Tower. So yeah. ADHD fueled obsession satisfied. Time for sleep.

Yeah. I get it too. At the same time, I still think about places like Italian Village, Early Short North renewal, Franklinton etc. Those same externalities exist and existed. So it worries me less. (We could even go as far to discuss the merits of existing shelter and service locations and the implications, etc) I cant for the life of me find it, but wasn't there something in the news relatively recently about the county services there at Mound and Harmon? Was it that they moved there, or they are looking to sell or build? I can't remember. Ultimately, I think the thing that will hold back this area is it being alot of Township Land. And it is ripe for a community plan. Which isn't much more than the community playing its own version of Sim City like we do, but with more political influence. Franklinton might not be on its trajectory if the community hadn't started expressing desires and drawn up concepts for the future etc. The potential and connectivity is absolutely there. Just needs a little bit of vision, salesmanship, political, and capital power. Thats how it all works anyway. The city has it. Just gotta find the right entity to take up the cause. And that again is where I can see Arshot really taking a chance. Sell your River South Plots. Take this up as your cause. Wood did the same for the Short North. Kaufmann is leading the charge in Franklinton. Edwards on Gay St. Etc. And understand that any process is a decade out or more. But if Arshot is just looking for a quick buck, then here we are.

Our expectations are tempered. I don't think anyone here is *expecting* anything better. It's Arsh*t. The bar is below ground at this point. That doesn't mean that we as a city and region shouldn't take them to task in making it better for the long term. Every massive land development is a risk. Italian Village, Grandview Yard, and Milo-Grogan, Grandview Crossing, and even the Arena District were/are much the same. And those we still lament about missed opportunities. We can look at many of them now and say it wasn't a bad investment but imagine being some of the first people to move into Arena Crossing, or the few buildings that basically stood alone in Jeffrey Park for a decade. 'You wanna live there?!. The railroads. The noise. The warehouses. The crime. You can't walk through IV to the Short North. It's too dangerous, etc' I guess it comes down to whether some are willing to write off the location. I think it has too much potential as an extention of South Hiltop and Franklinton to write off as better than nothing and and give a developer a pass because they've had a bad track record of late. The Pike has potential to be a great transit connection between dense populations and warehouses to the SW. Perhaps not a BRT but a potentially important Corridor. So yeah, Arsh*t will do whatever they want with their money (which was the point of the sarcasm). And many will be glad with whatever they throw up. But I'll still fantasize and push for better. I'll still give benefit of the doubt to pockets of the city that shouldn't be written off. I'll still argue that they have assets and partnerships they could leverage for a better outcome. That's kind of the point of the existence of these forums to begin with.

Hey, Look, I can play rudimentary Sim City! Lol. But I thought it's a fun concept in my boredom. Build the density and mixed use to the north and west. The eastern and southern can be less dense. And this isn't calling for anything massive. Again, along the lines of a Jeffrey Park meets The Reach. That SE portion would certainly be a quieter place for more townhome style development. Not sure anything along the lines of a Founders Way and Pullman Way would be successful. Orange being something closer to like an amenities building, pavilion, restaurant or something similar. Dark blue being areas of denser mixed used. With the exception of the massing mimicking the old stands, the other boxes are just areas of higher density. Shape doesn't matter as much there. If they could pull some sizeable commercial office tenants, the grandstand building would offer some cool conference room and event space potential. But this is the general idea I have in mind. Certainly parking would be worked in to those buildings and spaces as well. And roads/drive would be altered etc. The middle entrance by the castle could probably be ditched for a side curb cut to the west allowing further extension of the buildings facing Mound etc. (Hear me oh developers. Use your money to see my ideas to fruition or hire me for think tanks) 😜 Side note, did anyone else spot they plan on lining most of the property with a shipping container wall?

FWIW, As just another bit of potential, the site offers some pretty prime skyline views from the ground let alone even a few stories up.

I know folks that live in those developments and love it. Even with them being more of an Island. And as far as I know, they haven't had much trouble leasing them. I also had reservations about them but they have turned out to be worthwhile developments that also help spur more connectivity. I do think The Reach had some missed potential even with the final product turning out better than expected. The reality is, the areas where walking to shopping and dining 'comfortably' is far more limited in this town to begin with. So having to drive or bike from Goodale Island is still better for many than being further out, especially if demand for a place closer to the Short North, etc is so cut throat to begin with. For some reference, the Cooper Stadium site is a little over 47 acres. There's isn't really anything that makes it a difficult location. Especially when you have so much land at your disposal. Whether it is surrounded by cemeteries, other businesses or not. It is big enough to be it's own neighborhood as is. Some other comparatively related developments. - The Reach/600 Goodale. 22 combined Acres (17.5/4.5) Offices. 424 units. Park. Restaurant. - Jeffrey Park. 41 Acres. Offices. 1500 units. Park. Restaurant. - Arena West ('Penn West' everything west of the tracks). 24 Acres. Throw in the Triangle and it's 33 Acres. - Grandview Crossing. 55 acres (with 40 acres of parking lots /s... ish). Office. Park. Over 1300 units. I don't disagree and attraction would have been decent here, but then you have the same issue as the old Crew Stadium and Casino. Islands surrounded by parking and random business. Attractions that had not yielded other appreciable development. Good development has a better chance of leading to more good development. I don't know that a location this close to the urban core should be given a pass or dismissed for what it is. It is still a vast undeveloped area. You're not going to find much more space like this and it needs to be maximized with good urban design in mind for the long term. Perhaps even the idea of Columbus 2050 in mind. A half baked suburban model here shouldn't be ok. How many of the better and more dense neigbhorhoods start out as pretty average industrial zones thay could easily be overlooked? And if you can use it to precipitate more similar development in the Mound/Central interchange, you now have both a gateway and focal area for Willow Creek, South Hilltop, etc. Arterial improvements to Glenwood, Central, Souder Ave and Mound would provide connectivity with the adjoining Neighborhoods and some of our best city assets. Being in Franklin Township, there probably won't be any push for affordability though. But I'm sure Franklin Township might not mind a nice tax revenue bump if this section can become something better. I think it's a bit paradoxical to be ok with mediocre at best development more or less because it's in a bad area of town rather than want to see something better to push for greater growth and access to housing in the core. And for all intents and purposes, this should be prioritized as core development the same way anything in Franklinton or Hilltop would be. The excuse of using the highway as a barrier to demand better is just as much an issue as using the highways to split up the neighbhoods to begin with. Lastly. I think the Paved Public space is leaning toward an amphitheater and trying to save the stands? Tear down the stands. You can pay homage by massing buildings in the footprints of the old stands and a public park in the shape of a field with Stadium seats as benches or something but other than the 'castle' there isn't really anything worth saving if you can pay homage. Removing that part of the plan alone unlocks alot of additional potential. I think many other developers would be thinking bigger with such a blank slate but Arshot is looking to play safe after hedging bets on 2 major projects that did not come to fruition. Perhaps it's a mission to save face. But they would save more of their reputation for me if they either went more ambitious or partnered with someone who can help them go bolder. Edit: Heck. Arshot could sell the River South properties for some hefty coin and turn this pocket into its own version of Jeffrey Park, Grandview Yard, etc. I'm sure there would be a few of those land owners who might think about selling for the right price if Arshot decided to make a bigger move here. For those who didn't see the site plan.

10tv had some photos of Spaghetti Warehouse in an updated report. It's not terrible. But the location of the collapse being the kitchen will be the biggest hurdle to getting the restaurant up and running again. If it had been anywhere else, probably could have worked around it. Not only is the roof impacted, the kitchen equipment, the exhaust system and possibly HVAC system is gonna take awhile. All that weight on a rotting roof structure, it's extremely fortunate that none of the equipment fell through and seriously hurt someone.

It's seems increasingly likely the wait will longer than we'd probably like. Much like office environments that have made permanent changes to the office work landscape, the business travel landscape is likely going to be a long haul recovery. There won't be a 'bounce back' as much as a long term reassessment and adjustment. There are many companies that have returned to their post pandemic permanent office routine and still aren't prioritizing travel in favor of digital adaptations. Many consultants aren't being called to sites anymore in favor of virtual meetings etc and it's increasingly less related to covid and more to the bottom line. This article highlights the challenges and shows the airlines, and airline consulting firms, are expecting business travel to be pre-pandemic levels in 2024 or beyond. American Airlines is even going as far as planning on how to be profitable without it in the long term. And this was written in the peak of Omicron. So how do airports also adapt to hedge bets less on business travelers and more on leisure travelers? https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-01-30/covid-business-travel-airlines The CRAA minutes seem to indicate we will hear more regarding the RFQs in April/May?

Ah. Like the sands of time, we will waste away discussing the merits of skylines and density... [Insert dead horse gif] So, about the Hilton Tower, looking great with most of the cladding and glass up, eh? 😉

Yes. But my phone didn't correct it either so it's right. It also represents how much respect I have for that God forsaken place.

Yeah... these are suburbs of Portland and Pheonix. Both have alot of companies that explain regional and urban growth. Of course, pehonix is nothing but a giant suburbs to begin with. But Specifically, these suburbs, and neighbors, experienced massive suburban growth. I understand the comments, but tbh, the growth of Chandler and Hillsoboro, doesn't excite me. If anything, it shows that the Intel factory unlocked massive subdivision sprawl. I'd hope that being in 2020, the suburbs could take those lessons and use that growth for smart urban planning and walkable development, and New Albany has a jump start on a less aggressive version of that but I think it speaks more to the fear that it will just increase the need for another outerbelt. One of the biggest ways to hedge that is for cities and private entities to really prioritize density but im not sure they will. If Easton, New Albany, Newark, and even Granville can get ahead of it, then the people moving here will have thoee options and likely choose them. But if they have the option of commuting from an urban area in the city, vs buying or building .25-.5 acres and be closer... they'll take the latter. If we don't see fast and concerted efforts to beat the Intel rush, uninhibited suburban sprawl is the more likely result.

I think the comment was misguided on 2 fronts. 1. It does give an air of dismissiveness to others but I think it was unintentional. Our other big players have been around long enough that if they had any influence on routes, it would have happened already. 2. It does represent how routes are chosen. Airport CEOs have very little say anyway. Ultimately, airlines make the decisions. An airport can do what they can to sway an airline, but if the airline doesn't see it as profitable, it doesn't happen. And in some cases, if an airline sees an encroachment on something they find profitable, then they can take it out on the airport as well. At best, we can hope for more consistent west coast options. This would be a primary gateway to Asia. Columbus will most likely never have a transoceanic flight but if we can get more access to the Western gateways, then we unlock alot of additional travel and access potential for a portion of the travel market we lack more. With dozens of flights daily to LGA, EWR, ATL, JFK, access so Europe is a breeze. But limited flights to LAX, SEA, SFO, etc hamper better access to Asian markets. Along the lines of a company helping dictate what new routes are availavle, Nationwide employs more than Intel promises and there are no directs to their second headquarters in Des Moines Iowa. In fact, NW adapted to the airports and transitioned more assets to Pheonix and away from places like Lynchburg VA and Gainesville FL. Honda has been here for decades and also employs more than Intel will and it hasn't had any major impact on west coast access, the gateway to Asia. This also discounts the fact that Honda, Nationwide, AEP, Huntington, and I'm sure more all have their own pilots and airplanes for high level travel. (Some contractual like netjets, and others like AEP own their own corporate jets) In 2011, United and American Sued O'Hare Airport over the expansion plans becuase they didn't want competitors to be able to get certain routes and didn't want to pay additional fees charges by the airport authority. Eventually, they all negotiated but the airlines dictated the final terms. Granted, it's a major hub so the politics are much more intense there than they would be here but it shows that Airlines get far more say than the Airports in decisions about routes.