DTCL11

I want the river cows back 🥲

The thing is, there is ample land here. Seems silly to wait for TMUD to potentially go bigger on this specific piece of land that was under construction when this project could have been done and they can just make the hundreds of adjacent acres they own bigger. What's the logic in waiting 2-3 years to add a floor or two when it could be done collecting rent, and you just add floors to adjacent buildings. It's not in a particularly special spot that demands a showpiece either. This isn't a scenario of being land locked like a North Market et al where changes can significantly impact the overall impact. It is what it is. The more I think about it, I think that the lack of housing over the last 20 years is what sank this project over the last 2 years. When most of your portfolio is commercial, that took a much bigger hit. That's why we see companies like Wood or Kaufman keep trucking forward. Because they have a more diverse portfolio and the essential nature of housing is what kept them moving forward compared to more discretionary retail and office space. (Not that rents weren't being paid) Generally I am pretty hard on Easton, but as I've been thinking about it in terms of resiliency, the groups that have large stakes in Easton aren't as diverse and more susceptible to the impact of discretionary spending and office leasing. Now, how much longer I'm willing to give revised grace to them may be more limited as retail continues to rebound and retailers post record profits and consumer spending... I'll wait to see what TMUD may impact. But if there isn't much movement after that, I'm going to go back to being a grump about Easton's lack of focus on residential lol.

They kept one of the plaster walls with detail! That makes me so happy and it looks great.

^^ that building has 5 million times more window coverage than the OSU towers 😅 Face-lifts with something as easy as cladding would go a long way. But you'd be looking at significant investment to modernize it anyway beyond that. The window situation on the towers rivals the downtown jail. It probably wouldn't be a stretch to estimate that for every 10 SF of window, there's 100 sf of masonry exterior. The other unfortunate bit would be for those who value a bit of height or romanticize OSU having its own skyline, replacement would almost certainly exclude another tower and result in the demolition of both towers as I cant imagine there is any reasonable Adaptive re-use. The right people might have it in their mind to replace the two towers with a showpiece tower but the practicalilty of that is minimal. Though, I agree, I can't imagine the funding wouldn't be there if they committed to it. There is certainly space for a sleek tower, or even 2 matching towers on any of the lots adjacent or the grass south of the band field. (In effect, shifting the towers). Then again, going through all that vs the cost of a full gut. The most reasonable expectation would be an expansion of the Northern Residential district along Lane. Of course that means taking away tailgating lots I previously mentioned above lol... and making some final decision on St John's arena. Honestly, I'd prefer to let them go if that meant an expansion of the residential district on Lane. For reference. The previous expansion for the Lane and High district was 3200 beds. Close to 50% more capacity than the towers hold. It might suck for walking to class but it's still better than some other major campuses. I imagine that the breaking point for keeping them will come sooner than later. Especially with the announcement of Framework 3.0 and it's reported focus on student housing and student life. And unless they plan on more significant health and research updates, a residential plan or tower isn't going to come close to what they outlined for the Framework 2.0. *whispers* build that tower

In other Hilltop news, looks like Roosevelt is teasing a new location at W Broad and N Wayne. Update. It's apparently part of a larger project called the Hilltop Bank Block. As much as I like exposed brick, and i fully appreciate the cost savings, I'm a little sad they didn't keep the plaster walls with molded plaster arches. Even if it was for one wall. The ceiling looked unsalveagable but the walls looked decent from their pictures.

Ok, Varuca.... 😜

I agree that it's good that the Hubbard grille stays untouched. My one 'fantasy' request would be a rooftop amenity for Hubbard. The new building could offer the right space for a stairwell and short elevator to access it. The street names are an interesting touch.

Honestly, OSU needs to have a 2030 vision for the Shoe in general. There is plenty of potential to give the stadium an external face-lift, dynamic lighting, redevelop the parking lots to accommodate more park type space that can accommodate pre-game activities. Dedicated staging space (for media etc), stage space, bathrooms, etc etc. Leave the St John arena area to the private tailgate area or the parking lot across the river. At some point, it would be nice to put experience and aestetic over certain dollars but I get it. ---------- As for Lane and High. I prefer the addition to the northern half. I think if done correctly, it could be a great mix of new and old that I personally love rather than the new next to the old without any interaction. It also helps step it down to reduce the drastic nature of the juxtapositions. Certainly my feelings will depend on the final design and material, but the massing is fine for me. I hope there is some more attention paid to the actual corner. The squared off 'divit' isn't great and I'd rather have a rounded corner. It might be kind of interesting to mic it up with a concave corner. But again, it could be a byproduct of the massing rendering more than anything else at this point. Next up.... BW3s.... lets do it. Let's give High and Lane the treatment it deserves and show North Broadway and High what it's missing out on 😅 As an Old North resident, I'm so excited. An actual YIMBY.

In general, we need more of that on the north side. It is an undervalued assett to have those places off fhe beaten path as we focud so much on high traffic areas. So many old corner shops buried in neighborhoods have been turned into first floor residential or office/storage space. It would be a great iniative if the city and/or commission started to push to bring that back

THISSSSSSS. THIS IS THE WAY!!! I'm in love with this (pending tweaks) but this is the exact massing many if us thought it should be. Go big. Preserve more. They can live harmoniously. In order to facilitate preservation. Commissions have to be willing to let developers go more vertical in places like this. Let's see if the commission can be progressive enough. And if not, take it to the city and let them override the commission. I have not been so excited by a project proposal in a while.

I'm going to be a debbie downer here and say that any idea that this is going to add to any positive contribution to a mass transit plan is an honestly misguided hope. Central Ohio's best, and most reasonable hope to start regional transit is barely alive (CMH to convention center). Another relatively easy sell isnt even on the radar for leaders it seems. (Delaware to Columbus. Ample growth. Ample space. Attractive downtowns. Enormous right away along 23. But nah... lets go for limited access freeway and an outerbelt). All these corridors make so much sense, and have for many years, but it's just nearly impossible. Comparisons have been made to the research triangle. The research triangle has failed multiple times for mass transit due to resident opposition. MARTA has failed to expand due to resident opposition. DC Metro can't expand into the further suburbs due to resident opposition. Charlotte charges ahead with an actual plan but loses at the polls to connect the suburbs. Austin passed theirs 21 years after their first attempt and its limited to 2 lines within the city. Pheonix fended off defeat but their system is limited to the boundaries of a city and Not suburban connections. As long as transit, in particular regional transit is subject to votes in any way, it's not going to happen in Central Ohio beyond the confines of the county, if that. I've accepted that I might be in my 70s to ever see Columbus have a truly functional regional transit system if ever in my lifetime. (I'm in my 30s). I just don't see it happening. It would take the cities and state making it happen without any public input, vote, or ability to petition and sue. Given the makeup of the statehouse, it wouldn't take much for a band of state legislators to ban such a project. Dallas (DART) is arguably the most successful regional transit system of modern times. Where others have largely failed, DART succeeded in connecting other jurisdictions. It is the exception to the rule. As mentioned, even very wealthy and liberal Austin has struggled to get off the ground while Dallas continually succeeded. The infrastructure money from the state and other governments is going to be water, electricity, sewer and little more than a 'one more lane' approach to the NE side of the city. I'll put money on a 3 lane 161 sooner than later, additional expansions of Mink, additional streets (beautifully suburban boulevards), ramps, and thats about it. Little if any will be put toward a regional transit plan. Newark is a great candidate for benefiting the most hut it will take leaders in Newark to drive that. Ohio has alot of potential in the 3rd tier cities that has yet to be truly tapped. I agree that if done correctly, Newark could see a lions share of the urban focused benefits. New Albany is, at best, a likely location to see some sort of increased density. Easton, certainly could withstand it so maybe this will turn the tide there and push for the big growth. Sure, we will see more things along the lines of Pullman Way, quarry trails, and Evan's Farms, but that's probably about it for the traditional suburb/exurbs. I wouldn't put money on seeing anyone outside of easton go for a bridge park style development. They would be smart to, but I still think it would be a hard sell for those communities. Regarding Pataskala: They just unveiled their new zoning where one third of the township is 'conservation suburban' permitting 1 unit per 2 acres and another one third is 'conservation rural' at 1 unit for every 10 acres. Their purpose is this is to be a farm-ag community with small farms and be a central part of a growing farmers market industry so I don't oppose their vision, but this is a huge chunk of area nearby that's automatically excluded from increased density as well. I'm not sure the remaining zoning is going to be enough to drive better cohesive density beyond typical exurban development. This is great for Central Ohio. Without a doubt. Will it be impactful beyond adding a little oomph to a handful of suburb and exurb developments in terms of regional development? Consider me skeptical on any big impacts to better promote a better urban experience for the region. Central Ohio grows as little as 18k to as much as 40k+ in a year. I don't see a scenario where a few thousand jobs and offshoots drastically changes that. Or greatly contributes to development beyond the NE suburbs. Its not out of the realm of feasibility that a fair bit if not most of the jobs will go to current central Ohio residents without the need to relocate. While there will certainly be demand for certain jobs that require specific technological education, there's still alot of jobs at a microchip plant that only require a high school diploma or other degrees that a region of 2 million could easily support. The number of Intel and supplier employees clamoring for urban Columbus living probably isn't going to lead directly to any boom that we would often support and promote. Sure. Some developers around town will use the right buzz words to prop up a narrative, but unless this draws in significant employers with an urban presence, it's overall impact and contributions to a thriving urban living scenario and push for transit will be limited if it just leads to further expansion of suburban office parks. Let's hope that it does draw more companies because that's the biggest hope Columbus has to a bigger, better, more transit oriented boom. But again, it's going to take massive vision and cooperation and funds for anything serious and linking multiple jurisdictions is going to be the most significant uphill battle.

*yawn* They really talked themselves up... for this? Still leaving parking lot exposure for 1/3 of their property on Neil... 100% suburban single stories.... yikessssssss

The new CU format is nice. Hopefully they step up their game on content again to go with the new facade. Looks like they gave up on comments though? I mean, I gave up on the comments there years ago too lol.

"A spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) which includes the Ohio Tax Credit Authority that is deciding which projects will win Transformational Mixed Use Development (TMUD) tax credits, informed NEOtrans that their original goal of announcing the winners in January isn’t going to happen. A more definitive, revised goal was not available either. “The awards will be announced in the coming months,” said ODOD Public Information Officer Megan Nagy. “I don’t have a more updated timeline than that, but I can update you when I have more details.”" ----- HOW... gonna need more time to grease gears? Didn't realize how many would apply? Or how arbitrary picking winners would be? And then to have no estimated timeline whatsoever? Cluster.

You'd think that maybe Campus Partners could swing some sort of funding from the University for environmental remediation. If the university can swing spending millions on physical security in adjacent neighborhoods, they should be able to fund environmental remediation for safety and development. Of course, that also excludes the fact that you'd think Campus Partners would have the funds to remediate on its own. Seems a bit counterintuitive to significantly overpay for a site in the interest of building a neighborhood up for value and safety only to let it sit. At least tear it down and turn it into temporary greenspace like 4th and 5th were for years on end.

I still thinking about the jackwad that said 'worthington is modeled after a new England town and they don't have big buildings'... 1. Very little around this site says 'new england'. Downtown... *maybe*... 2. Plenty of new england towns have larger developments near the town center. Such a poor argument

There's probably some funny things with all those outlots and leases. While mostly owned by the same entity, my guess is Canes and McDonald's are going to have some hefty costs associated with, and I use this term with a grain of salt, arbitrarily forcing them to give up those buildings and locations. That canes alone is INSANE when it comes to business. The others were fine giving them up so I'd be curious to see if in fact Canes and McDonald's are what prevented it. The good news it there's plenty of space and time so a future phase or phases can easily be added.

Not to be a Debbie downer, but I think convincing CSX and Norfolk Southern will still be the catch. They have quickly shot down any such idea in the past and unless the federal government pulls out some eminent domain leverage or has some special upper hand, I still think it's going to be alot harder to convince them than Mr. Brown projects. Study upon study for regional transit hasn't convinced them to give up any land or right of way to my knowledge. A North South line along 71 is a no brainer but they have shot those ideas down too. And I'm not sure many people realize just how heavily those tracks are utilized on a daily basis. It's not just a couple trains a day. It can be multiple large trains an hour and while Amtrak *should* barely be a blip on the radar with as little service as it will get, CSX and NS may still be reluctant. Unless there is a way to start rerouting the freight rail lines around the city instead of through it, it's likely going to be a long battle. Perhaps he does have something in his back pocket but leaders have projected these ideas before and there's been no movement. I'd also echo the idea of a hub. As cool as an amtrak station at the convention center sounds, and as ridiculously easy for me to use it would be, part of me wants a better mutimodal hub that doesn't require as much piecemealing. But without a whole of system approach and a boat load of money to implement it, we will have to take what we can get I suppose.

I'm going to watch carefully. The last significant investment like this I can think of was Foxconn in Wisconson. $10 billion in investment. 10,000 jobs. Etc etc etc. For similar manufacturing. After years of delays, they ended up with less than $1 billion in investment and less than 1,500 jobs. Not to mention (as pointed out above) the other shortlists that have disappointed. I really wouldn't read too much into this speculation in conjuction with any transit related projects. It's going to be a thing that may or may not happen regardless of whether other things may or may not happen and probably won't contribute to whether or not other things may or may not happen. 😉

Perfect spot for 15 stories on the corner 😀

Another Gem... like... she almost got to a decent point with complaining about airbnbs displacing full time residents... know what might help reduce the demand for airbnbs? A hotel on Livingston. Know what adds residents who are displaced by airbnbs... apartments...

And like clockwork.... From NextDoor.... which is naturally the place to coordinate opposition to development. Edit: not only is the no new neighbors defense appalling, he clearly doesn't understand where his morning and evening sun come from. Hint: unless he lives directly north of this building... in a street... his sun won't be obstructed. Maybe he lives in the commercial building to the west? Lol

For me, the others seem to be in more open spaces as well. This seems like a tight space for such a large sculpture. I think when the idea was floated for somenthing like this over the 670 cap by Goodale, that was a great location with high visibility. I don't believe this location lends itself to a full appreciation or general observation of the piece. Otherwise I have no complaints. Especially since it's privately funded. Let them spend the money and if it becomes a plastic bag trap or it too cumbersome to take down and put up every year, oh well. It was their money. I don't necessarily have those concerns since other installations don't seem to highlight those issues.

What time? If you're in River South, the vantage point could make this fire a likely observation. It broke out around 10.30p.

I'm not usually one for comparison on these forums but it is interesting timing. I'm walking around University of Minnesota this week and they have this beauty at what would be the equivalent of High or Lane. University across the street. Historic 3 story buildings nearby etc etc. I took this last night thinking 'I'd love for this to have been at Lane and High or part of the new plaza' I like the project as proposed so no complaints there. But I can't help but think that Lane is the perfect opportunity for some true upward momentum. Or even Olentangy. And for me, it's less about height and truly maximizing density in this Corridor. I live in UD. I Love That it's the most densely populated part of the city. I'm patiently waiting for it to get even more densely populated and have a bigger city feel. I think Franklinton will become our closest thing to a 'mid-town' but I hope that the UD will keep pushing forward to maintain its place in terms of density.