amped91

Hello, tower crane! Rebuild of the Topiary Park apartment building is now full steam ahead.

WMC tower looking like Mordor from Clinton Township.

A little update on the Lovebirds club, via the Dispatch: Work to transform Hudson Street theater to live music club awaits city building permits “In an email, the building's owner, Nick Wolak, said, "We are basically just waiting for the permits from the city." Bubbykins LLC, a company Wolak formed, owns the building. Wolak is also the owner of Evolved Body Art at 2520 Summit St., located close to the old theater. Bobby Miller, who lives nearby, wants to convert the building in the University District's SoHud neighborhood into a club called Lovebirds that he would run as owner/operator. "We’re close to getting our building permits," Miller said this week. He also received conditional approval from Columbus Public Health to offer food service, according to a March 1 letter. "We have all our contractors lined up. We're just waiting (for permits), sitting at the starting line. It's been a pretty crazy roller coaster the last year or so," said Miller, who used to book acts at the Ace of Cups on North High Street.” https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/2022/03/04/owner-former-hudson-street-theater-still-working-toward-music-club/9341070002/?utm_source=dispatch-Daily Briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_briefing&utm_term=list_article_thumb&utm_content=OHIO-COLUMBUS-NLETTER65

^I wonder if the OhioHealth primary and urgent care facility is still planned to be part of Gravity? I haven’t seen much mention of it recently, but I was thinking it was supposed to be around 100 employees. Granted, that’s no where close to 11,000. Like I said in the other thread on the topic, I don’t think all three phases of Gravity and the Idea Foundry combined could bring that many jobs.

Pharma packaging startup for hospitals building $50M Columbus-area plant, adding 300 jobs “A startup that compounds custom pharmaceuticals and prepackages them for hospitals plans to open a $50 million facility just west of Columbus and add 300 jobs. One Columbus, the regional economic development group, also helped find the site: A warehouse at 255 Phillipi in Franklin Township. It's been vacant since Express Scripts shut its warehouse there in 2018. Franklin County Commissioners on Tuesday approved a 50% property tax abatement on newly added value for 10 years. The property is within a broader west side Community Reinvestment Area the county created a year ago to bring back manufacturing in the area, where commercial developments have fallen into disrepair, Emanuel Torres, assistant economic development director, told commissioners in the recorded meeting. The county deal calls for adding 150 jobs over the first three years. Walker and Bagan said it could grow to double that.” https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/inno/stories/news/2022/03/03/staq-pharma-denver-expand-columbus-area.html

I just saw that. Very odd…

I hope they still plan to start those projects. Apparently you have to show that you don’t actually need the credits in order to win them 🤷🏼‍♂️ The disappointment aside, I am glad that the Linden project is one of the recipients. I think that one truly does have the opportunity to be transformational for that site and area.

That has to be an extra zero added to both figures by mistake, right? Even with all three phases of Gravity and Idea combined, I don’t think those numbers are realistic.

This news is, honestly, really disappointing. The CMM campus shouldn’t have even been considered. Someone was definitely lobbying hard for this credit. The Peninsula developers are on the record as saying the Phase Two tower was dependent on the TMUD credit, so we’ll see what they say now. I really hope this doesn’t push the NMT back again as well.

The only reason I didn’t list that one is because we haven’t heard much about it, so it doesn’t seem really shovel ready. But it’s in a good location, and they have plenty of land to work with. So I’m excited to see what ends up going in there.

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2021/12/08/transformational-mixed-use-tax-credit.html Here’s the list from CBF; I’m not sure if it’s behind a paywall, though. Looks like a total of 16 projects in Central Ohio, including some in Delaware and Newark. I think my top three most likely recipients from the list are: 1. North Market Tower 2. Scioto Peninsula 2.0 3. Gravity 2.0 What are your all’s thoughts?

Former Mission Coffee location on Price Ave in the SN is getting a new tenant:

This is some welcome news to me. I always enjoyed Caribou when they had their Polaris Pkwy location. Caribou Coffee coming back to Columbus with Crawford Hoying, Mariola Restaurants “Caribou Coffee expects to come back to the Columbus market later this year. Wooster-based Mike Mariola Restaurants, which owns The Rail in Dublin as well as two other dining concepts, and Dublin-based developers Crawford Hoying are teaming up to franchise the coffee brand’s comeback in Central Ohio. Minneapolis-based Caribou Coffee declined to share any specific locations at this point. The group is seeking sites throughout Ohio. Columbus, Delaware, Marysville and Wooster are among its specific interests.” https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/03/02/caribou-coffee-coming-back-to-columbus-with-crawfo.html

Should these Far South stories go in the South Side thread or this random dev thread? Anyway, this looks like a pretty cool idea, based on the Dispatch’s article: Entertainment complex with restaurant, kayaks, canoes, distillery, proposed for South High “The former owners of the Rambling House music venue and bar are looking to build an entertainment and recreation complex across South High Street from the South Drive-In. The complex, called Rambling House South, would include a kayak and canoe launch on the 19-acre site, which overlooks a pond and the Scioto River. A plan submitted to the city calls for three buildings, ranging from 2,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet, that would sit far off South High Street and overlook the 3-acre pond. The couple is asking that the property be rezoned from residential and commercial to limited manufacturing. The Columbus Development Commission is scheduled to hear that request on March 10. In a memo, the city's planning staff noted that it "generally supports the proposal," while requesting more information on the project.“ https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2022/03/02/rambling-house-south-entertainment-complex-planned-south-side/6976634001/?itm_source=premium_bundle&itm_medium=onsite

Cbus shout out during the SOTU address tonight! I love that with the Intel plant, and everything else that is to come, Columbus will become more and more a major player on the national stage.

Fingers crossed for some good news tomorrow!

“Earlier this month, the City of Columbus announced that four artists were being tapped to create new public art installations on the Starling Garage, which is currently under construction at the site of The Peninsula development. Those four artists include local muralists Adam Hernandez, Nick Stull and Lucie Shearer, along with architecture and design firm Studio KCA. The public art was commissioned by the city of Columbus with a budget of $250,000 through the Columbus Art Commission. A total of 81 applications were submitted for the project. Three of the works will take the form of murals while the installation from Studio KCA is a sculpture of bird figures called “Gather and Flow” that will illuminate with LED lighting at night. Installation of the public artwork will take place this spring ahead of the garage opening in June.” https://columbusunderground.com/public-art-commissioned-for-scioto-peninsula-parking-garage-we1/?fbclid=IwAR1i5wnyBZQNhlhIMLUbDczsEbrIzr3FVVJTmLKrlsZCrm8AhIr4Sl6YKIs

Some more details coming forward on the Riverfront project, via CBF: “Columbus-based RiverWest Partners is preparing to breathe new life into the former Delaware Company Manufacturing building. A $35 million development called The Mill on Flax would include 180 residential units, 3,000 square feet of residential amenity space and 5,000 square feet of commercial space at the site, principals Brian Suiter and Tom Vetter told Columbus Business First. The 159-year-old building will serve as the centerpiece of the 4.6-acre development. The building sits at 1 Flax St., east of downtown Delaware. Suiter and Vetter said their effort would help kickstart development in the area as part of the city’s proposed Riverfront District. Riverwest has been working closely with the city on the project, but has not formally submitted any applications as Suiter said the team is still working through the entitlement process. The firm has applied for a $3.6 million transformational mixed-use development tax credit from the state.“ https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/02/28/riverwest-partners-plans-the-mill-on-flax-delaware.html

Owner of Alley Burger wants to leave food, cultural legacy in Columbus “Mike Onyejekwe doesn’t want only to leave his stamp on the local burger market. He wants to leave a legacy in Columbus culture. Onyejekwe is the owner of Alley Burger, a new joint Downtown at 26 N. High St., although the storefront faces Lynn Alley. Alley Burger uses prized wagyu beef, the expensive, heavily marbled Asian meat that’s buttery and almost melt-in-your-mouth tender. “It’s worth it,” he said. “It’s giving people what they want. We’re not selling a burger – we’re selling an experience.’” https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2022/02/28/columbus-burger-restaurant-alley-burger/6900027001/

That’s the only thing I can think of—they applied for TMUD funding, so perhaps they’re waiting to see if they get approval before deciding if they’re going to stay course or grow it.

At this point, I’m just waiting to hear Kaufman has bought the old Byers property from NRI to build Gravity 4. Kaufman buys Idea Foundry, folds it into Gravity “Idea Foundry founder Alex Bandar and his team will continue running the Idea Foundry. Gravity’s residential, office and retail tenants will now have access to the facility. Together, the Idea Foundry and Gravity teams are exploring a buildout of the Idea Foundry's rooftop, basement and parking lot; a maker-in-residence or entrepreneur-in-residence program that would allow someone to live at Gravity while launching a new idea or concept at the Idea Foundry; and potential pop-up retail spaces or marketplaces for budding artists and makers at Gravity. The Columbus Fashion Alliance, a fashion incubator and The Idea Foundry’s largest tenant, is already working closely with the Gravity team on a partnership that could include retail pop-ups. Gravity is also looking for locally and nationally operated music venues, food concepts and beverage concepts to add to the makerspace facility.” https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/02/28/idea-foundry.html

I get why it was paused at the beginning of Covid lockdowns, but now I really don’t understand why this hasn’t been touched for two years. There’s certainly a demand for housing, and this is really the perfect area for Intel housing. Anyway, here’s a post from their Facebook page showing their Station steps and front sign lit up in support for Ukraine.

Tower crane base now in place for the 13-story Edwards tower! I believe this will now bring us up to four tower cranes in the city limits already in the new year? (Counting this, Astor Park, and the two High Street projects near the UD.)

The Dispatch’s feature on developers incorporating public art into their projects made mention of the Oak and 18th project—now called Triumph Apartments—which should be breaking ground soon: Developers use artwork on Columbus area projects to add appeal, connect with neighborhoods “When the Greater Columbus Arts Council put out a request for proposal for artwork to grace a new 122-apartment development planned to be built at South 18th and Oak streets, artist Roger Williams was very interested. Williams' studio is less than a block away from the site. So the Olde Towne East artist has a vested interest in the project, and hopes his work — a 7-foot by-35-foot mural — is chosen by the developer for the 18th Street side of the building. When developer Metropolitan Holdings submitted its request for proposal for artwork for its Triumph Apartments project at South 18th and Oak, it said it wanted the proposed art to "address underrepresented groups of the community and neighborhood. The proposed mural could be an opportunity to artistically show the neighborhood’s roots and connection to African American art in Columbus, particularly the Near East.’” https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2022/02/27/public-art-murals-more-columbus-buildings-developers-see-value/6702992001/ Also discussed are Metro Holdings’ other Near East Side project (the Ogden) and the Scioto Peninsula garage.