amped91

From earlier this week: Works [sic] moves ahead on new Victorian Village grocery store “Work has begun on the new Lucky's Market store in Victorian Village, a key part of the redevelopment of the Thurber Village center at Neil and Buttles avenues. The 21,000-square-foot Lucky's will bring a grocery store back to the center, which for years housed a Giant Eagle. A steel frame is up for the Lucky's store, which is expected to open in the summer of 2024, offering fresh produce, meat and deli departments, hot made-to-order sandwiches and prepared foods to-go, beer and wine, and "an extensive variety of healthy living products including vitamins, supplements, and body care," according to the Bedford, Ohio-based chain. As work proceeds on Lucky's, the CVS store is close to opening and work is well underway on the apartment portion of the project.“ https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2023/07/05/work-moves-forward-on-major-victorian-village-development/70379108007/

Developer acquires land, finalizes buyout agreements with tenants at Upper Arlington's Golden Bear Shopping Center “The main building at Upper Arlington's Golden Bear Shopping Center is set for demolition after the developer closed on the land and finalized buyout agreements with the remaining tenants. Arcadia Development, which is redeveloping the property into a mixed-use complex with residential and commercial space, officially acquired the site for $5.12 million late last week, Managing Partner Scott Patton told me. At the same time, he said, agreements have been reached with three tenants that were not on month-to-month leases. Patton said the land closing and buyout agreements were important milestones for the project, which will head into the demolition phase after the remaining tenants move out during the last week of August. Patton said demolition will begin in the first week of September. Patton said demolition of the main shopping center building, as well as site improvements, will continue through the fall. Arcadia will begin vertical construction around Nov. 1. It has hired Hilliard-based Equity Construction Solutions as the general contractor for the construction portion of the project. Grove City-based Loewendick Demolition Contractors is handling the demo work.“ https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2023/07/07/golden-bear-shopping-center-upper-arlington.html

Glad to see the former Dry Mill space has already landed a new tenant: Taco concept taking over former home of Columbus “sober bar” “A Columbus taco restaurant is moving from State House to former sober bar. According to owner Zachary Martin, House Taco–a taco concept that open its first brick and mortar location inside the Ohio State House in late 2021–will relocate to the former home of The Dry Mill. Serving as the city’s only alcohol-free bar during its tenure, The Dry Mill was located at 79 S. 4th St. before it announced its closure late last year. House Taco’s last day at the Ohio Statehouse will be Aug. 30, and the concept will move into the 4th Street space on Sept. 4. The new location will roll out in “phases,” with House Taco opening on Sept. 4, serving breakfast and lunch offerings as it does at its current location. The next phase, which will go into effect in October, will see the spot add a dinner menu, although Martin the concept will be tweaked to best utilize its new location.“ https://614now.com/2023/food-drink/taco-concept-taking-over-former-home-of-columbus-sober-bar

NRI teases…no plans for the Franklinton property. “As Grandview Yard inches toward completion, and some of the final sites in the Arena District under construction, NRI could be headed to Franklinton next, but Ellis does not appear to be in any hurry to speculate on where that next project could go. The company purchased the former Byers Chevrolet site in 2014, along with additional parcels of land afterward, but has not yet made formal announcements on a master plan. “I think there’s a lot of great activity, and we’ve supported Brett Kaufman as he’s assembled ground by selling them a few parcels,” stated Ellis. “It’s all good for the area, and ultimately, we’ll do something there, but we’re still sort of watching and waiting.”’ https://columbusunderground.com/grandview-yard-named-largest-leed-neighborhood-development-site-in-us-we1/

Looks like it’s probably just this :/

It looked pretty nice having both it and the Leveque lit up for the holiday :)

From last week: Amazon Web Services eyes 'several' new data center campuses as part of $7.8B investment in Central Ohio “Amazon Web Services is planning to build multiple data center campuses as part of its $7.8 billion investment in Central Ohio, a company executive told Columbus Business First. Shannon Kellogg, vice president of public policy for AWS, said the cloud computing firm, which is a subsidiary of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), is determining where these data centers will go up. "When you look at the scale of investment, it's going to require a number of additional campuses," Kellogg said. "I don't have a specific number, but when you're talking about nearly $8 billion of additional investment, you're talking about several new locations." Kellogg said he expects Amazon will continue to invest in AWS cloud computing infrastructure and operations for the foreseeable future.“ https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2023/06/30/aws-data-center-campuses-central-ohio.html

A few more details from the prelim site plan: - the existing apartment building will remain - four stories for the new build - 15 new apartments - 1240 sqft of retail

This caught my attention: ”’We intend to save as many (buildings) as we can, and then rebuild the fabric of this neighborhood around them," Wathen said in an email. Max Hartings, a development associate with Equity, said the developer hopes to give the South of Main neighborhood a "downtown" with this project. Equity got involved with the site in 2020 and was not involved in the earlier project. They plan to start work on the building in early 2024.“ https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2023/06/29/historic-tax-credits.html I wonder how much property Equity owns around this site? I’m really excited to see this get rehabbed and hopefully more of Main St get rebuilt.

To be fair to CU, that’s the date that was used in the state release, so the other news outlets used it too. Still should’ve been caught, though. A little more from CBF: ”As currently planned, the cafe would terrace down to Civic Center Drive and help activate the street level there. It would be accessed via both Front Street and Civic Center Drive. DeHays said construction will likely start at the beginning of 2024. "This is going to make the Columbus skyline better. Right now this is a dark spot in the skyline, but soon it's going to be lived in and lit up," he said.” https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2023/06/29/historic-tax-credits.html I wonder if they will be allowed to add some unique lighting or something? I’m all for more colors in the skyline.

I know the corner is still planned to be the Parisian cafe…it’ll be interesting to see what goes into the new build. I’d like to see something other than a restaurant, but my money is on a restaurant lol

“Greater” Hilltop 😆

I’m still gonna hope for 15 lol

Yeah I think that’s when the neighboring OSC building was built. 1933 I mean.

KCG Development plans $63 million affordable housing project in Columbus' Hilltop neighborhood “Indianapolis developer KCG Development is planning an affordable housing project in southwest Columbus. The $63 million development would bring 264 units of affordable housing to the Greater Hilltop area. The new community, called Retreat at Scioto Creek, will be located at 4646 Hall Road. All of the one-to-four bedroom units will be at or below 60% of the area median income. The units will measure between 700 square feet and 1,400 square feet, with monthly rent ranging from $960 to $1,417. Because it is an affordable housing project, KCG is eligible to receive a 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credit from the state and has received funding through Franklin County's Magnet Fund Program. The Franklin County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution authorizing a $1.35 million affordable housing development agreement for the project at a meeting this week.” https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2023/06/29/retreat-at-scioto-creek-southwest-columbus.html

Sounds like we could still be waiting awhile… Former downtown Greyhound site could become extension of Columbus Commons before its redeveloped “Pullin said redeveloping the property depends on the outcome of the multimodal study the city of Columbus is doing and how LinkUs shakes out in the months ahead. These efforts are being developed in coordination with the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation's downtown strategic plan, Pullin said. COTA and the CDDC also are working on an interim use for the property because of its proximity to Columbus Commons. Amy Taylor, president of the CDDC, said interim uses will likely complement or be an extension of what's already happening at the Columbus Commons. At the same time, COTA is still working with the Federal Transit Administration to see what is allowed on the site. COTA tentatively plans to redevelop the old station into an interchange between buses, bikes, scooter and other transportation modes. The hub could even become a major BRT station. The city wants the transportation hub – however details shake out – to be topped with a mixed-use development, perhaps with retail and apartments.” https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2023/06/29/greyhound-follow-up.html

Ha I was just thinking about if this project was going to move forward, since I was by the building today. Glad to see another office to residential conversion, bringing 100 more units online. Downtown Building, Former Car Dealership Both Land Historic Tax Credits “Two local developments were awarded Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits today. The larger of the two projects is the redevelopment of 145 S. Front St., the former state office building which was bought by the Columbus Partnership in 2021. The nonprofit business group is now partnering with local developer Connect Realty to transform the building into a mixed-use development featuring 100 apartments, two floors of office space and a ground-floor restaurant. The building, which has been empty since 2006, was built in 1933 and is one of two similar-looking buildings that sit on either side of the Ohio Supreme Court. The other building, at 25 S. Front St., is still owned by the State of Ohio.” https://columbusunderground.com/downtown-building-former-car-dealership-both-land-historic-tax-credits-bw1/

City begins work on plan to redevelop, energize Eastland Mall area “On Monday, Columbus City Council approved an $849,600 contract with the Columbus landscape architectural and urban design company MKSK to develop a comprehensive plan for the mall and surrounding land, a process that could take up to 18 months. Andrew Overbeck, principal with MKSK, said his company will be listening a lot when talking with community leaders and residents about what they'd like to see. Community conversations will start in the fall. "We’re going to do a lot of one-on-one, do a lot of group conversations," Overbeck said. "This is not a mall plan. This is a community plan." Part of the work that will be done includes a market study, Overbeck said. He said a goal is making the area what he calls a "15-minute neighborhood," an urban planning concept where jobs, groceries, retail, health care, schools, and other necessities are all within a 15-minute walk of each other.“ https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2023/06/29/what-would-you-like-to-see-in-eastland-mall-area-city-starts-planning/70356305007/

Okay, one more crane pic from me. This one from the riverfront:

Work is close to wrapping on the first two SFHs at the MCW redev: And work has started on the next two: And work slowly continues on the MF building. Some concrete was being poured today.

It’s kinda hard to see since the road was closed off, but work has started on this infill project on Rich/Walnut. And a shot from Rich of the progress on TP Crossing:

Interesting… Surprised this wouldn’t go in by the Makeready hotel at the Peninsula…and put Chef Dalton’s Cove here, once it inevitably moves from Delaware lol Either way, I think this would be the only seafood centered restaurant downtown?

From Meyers IG story:

According to preliminary BLS data, the Columbus MSA again achieved record high labor force participation and non-farm payroll in May, while unemployment ticked up slightly from April’s record low of 2.8%. https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/oh_columbus_msa.htm

Hmm…one of the planning docs says it’s for Hank’s Seafood Restaurant, which apparently is tied to Makeready.