Luvcbus

Anyone else notice that you can travel south on S. Front St from downtown all the way into the Brewery District now? (Once they closed the freeway exit to Front St, it enabled them to allow southbound traffic on S. Front to continue over the freeway and into the Brewery District)

Upper Arlington hones in on path connections to Quarry Trails Park "Upper Arlington officials are eyeing two shared-use paths that would provide pedestrian and cycling connections to Quarry Trails Metro Park in Columbus. Over the past three years, city officials have been exploring strategies for providing access to the 226-acre park being developed in phases northeast of Trabue and Dublin roads and west of the Scioto River and Upper Arlington. Now it appears they've settled on two projects that would yield 10-foot-wide shared-use paths on Lane Avenue and Riverside Drive. The proposals call for a concrete path to be built on the north side of Lane Avenue from its intersection with Asbury Drive to Riverside Drive. The Lane-Asbury intersection would be realigned to eliminate a continuous right-turn lane and a decorative timber guardrail would be installed between the road and the path. The second path would be built along Riverside Drive from its intersection with Lane to Trabue Road. The path would continue on Trabue, connecting to the Trabue Road bridge, a project that's being constructed by the Franklin County Engineer's Office." https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/communities/upper-arlington/2022/10/14/upper-arlington-hones-in-on-path-connections-to-quarry-trails-park/69558149007/

This is probably accurate for now, but I would venture to guess that as time passes and people hear "Carmenton" used more and more, it will slowly become part of the local terminology.

They did say this: "Since opening in 2012, our Columbus property has experienced tremendous growth, and the addition of a hotel at the property will create a true regional destination." Hopefully they realize, If they're really interested in trying to create a "true regional destination", they will probably need to add more than just 180 hotel rooms.

I've read a few times that Honda was considering three or four other sites in Ohio before ultimately choosing this site near Jeffersonville. If anyone comes across what the other locations were that were under consideration, if you could please pass them along, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm very curious where the other sites under consideration were located.

Proposed Trail Would Provide New South Side Connections, Including to New Metro Park "Metro Parks has applied for funding to build a bike and pedestrian bridge over Route 104 on the South Side. The project is part of a new proposed trail that would run from Scioto Audubon Metro Park all the way to I-270, connecting several destinations along the way and providing a much more direct connection to downtown than the Scioto Trail does now. Metro Parks is requesting $7.6 million for the 1,450-foot-long bridge, which would cover about 80% of the cost of the project. The application for the funding was submitted to MORPC’s Attributable Funds Committee, which is responsible for distributing about $126 million in federal transportation funding this year. That’s a significant increase in funding from the last time the funds were handed out – in 2020, MORPC had about $68 million to distribute – thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that was passed by congress last year. Metro Parks has also applied for funding for a new trail connection at Highbanks Park – a new bridge would connect the River Bluff Area on the west side of the Olentangy River to the main park on the east side. Although that is near the northern terminus of the Olentangy Trail, residents of the Mount Air community continue to oppose extending the trail through their neighborhood to connect up with the Highbanks trail network. Other projects vying for the MORPC-Attributable Funding: new shared use paths along several Columbus roads, including Route 161, Cassady Avenue, Brown Road, McNaughten Road, Sullivant Avenue, and Dublin Road near the Quarry Trails Metro Park, as well as two significant extensions of the Big Walnut Trail." https://columbusunderground.com/proposed-trail-would-provide-new-south-side-connections-including-to-new-metro-park-bw1/

A little more from The Dispatch: "The automaker also plans to spend $700 million to retool three of its Ohio plants to make electric vehicles and provide components for them. The new plant, part of a joint venture with South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution, will employ 2,200 workers. The three plants where the $700 million will be invested − the Marysville Auto Plant, the East Liberty Auto Plant and the Anna Engine Plant − will add 327 workers. The company said Tuesday that the plant will be built in the Mid-West Mega Commerce Center, east of Interstate 71 and near U.S. Route 35, near Jeffersonville, about 40 miles southwest of Columbus and 70 miles northeast of Cincinnati. The state expects to make "targeted investments" to improve roadways in the area, said Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jack Marchbanks. Workers in Anna, Ohio, will make the battery case that will be combined with the battery modules from the battery plant on a line at Marysville. The complete battery unit will be installed in electric vehicles by workers in Marysville and East Liberty, Ohio." https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2022/10/11/honda-to-build-battery-plant-in-fayette-county-ohio-electric-vehicle-hub/69548391007/

You originally did post in the Hilltop thread but it was moved to the Westland thread because this is considered Westland 😉

"PENN Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN) announced today that it intends to build a new hotel at Hollywood Columbus. PENN is planning to construct a new hotel at Hollywood Columbus. The project, with an estimated budget of approximately $100 million, is expected to include 180 rooms and new food and beverage offerings. The hotel will be attached to the existing property and will add approximately 100 permanent new jobs, along with hundreds of temporary construction jobs. Construction of the new property is expected to begin in late 2023, subject to regulatory approval." https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article122983.html

Ran across this earlier this morning. Most of us have probably heard the majority of the stuff in this article before, but I always find it interesting to hear how others around the state view the Intel project. This was in The Repository out of Canton... "Intel Corp. has begun construction in New Albany of what could become the company's largest manufacturing site in the world. Even though it's a two-hour drive, businesses in Stark County can expect to see benefits from the $20 billion project outside Columbus. That's because it will be comparable to building a city, said Allen Thompson. "There's going to be a lot of different opportunities this investment creates." The initial phase calls for two semiconductor plants in New Albany. It is expected to reach six, and possibly eight production facilities. Businesses around the state also will have an opportunity to work with Intel, Thompson said. The corporation is spending money with more minority-owned businesses, and working with a diverse set of contractors and subcontractors, he said. As Intel builds, it's anticipated that other companies — suppliers and vendors, as well as hotels and restaurants — will be building nearby. "We're about to build a city," Thompson said. The facility in New Albany is Intel's first new pure manufacturing facility that Intel has built in 40 years." https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/2022/10/07/intel-facility-can-mean-additional-business-for-stark-county-companies/69540026007/

This was posted over on r/Columbus. They said they have started the "archeology phase".

^ I guess I'm kind of confused about what these announcements in NY have to do with New Albany, Central Ohio, the State of Ohio or Intel?

There was an article out in 614NOW today confirming what I said a couple weeks ago, but with a sliver of new news... Apparently, the first Central Ohio location (in front of the Menards on Hilliard-Rome Rd) will open this coming spring. https://614now.com/2022/food-drink/heres-where-the-first-bojangles-in-columbus-will-be-located-and-when-it-plans-to-open?mc_cid=458095960e&mc_eid=f1126fae9b

A recent interview with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger was recently published in The Verge... Here's some of what he had to say about the Central Ohio project: "There is such a pent-up enthusiasm for Ohio as the silicon heartland for exactly that reason. It’s not just about what I’m going to build there. It’s going to be big. We are going to manufacture for lots of companies, and I am excited about it. It draws all of these other technology companies because we are building the water, the electricity, the roads, and the tech pipeline in those areas." "It takes about four years for one of these factories to come online. Our objective right now is to be online and start producing by 2026. My bigger objective isn’t just that I build the first two modules — which was what I did groundbreaking for a couple of weeks ago — but that as this entire movement and our Foundry Services build that I then go build modules three, four, five, and six over time. That is the vision that we have laid out. Yes, building is underway, and we are pretty excited to get it in place." The entire lengthy interview can be found here: https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/4/23385652/pat-gelsinger-intel-chips-act-ohio-manufacturing-chip-shortage

I know someone who lives near Marengo... It's because they have exactly zero other things to do than try to rile people up on the internet.

Exactly why I don't have Facebook or Twitter accounts! Lol

$15M gift from Austin E. Knowlton Foundation to help transform Ohio State engineering campus "The gift will support construction of the second and final phase of BMEC, located on the corner of Woodruff Avenue and College Road. BMEC’s first phase, named Mars G. Fontana Laboratories, was completed in the summer of 2020. Bringing together the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, Fontana Labs showcases teaching and research happening in the heart of Ohio State’s Columbus campus, while inspiring life-saving, unprecedented advances in the rapidly growing field of biomaterials. Referred to as “The Gateway to Engineering,” the second phase of BMEC will reinvent how Ohio State inspires and educates future Buckeye engineers. By the summer of 2025, students and faculty will begin moving into the modernized facility, completing the most significant capital investments in teaching, learning and discovery in the College of Engineering’s history. The $90 million Gateway to Engineering project, funded by state and university investment in addition to philanthropy, includes the demolition of 68-year-old Watts Hall prior to the construction of a new facility that will attach to a renovated structure, formerly known as MacQuigg Laboratories. In total, this second phase of BMEC will be a 136,000-square-foot facility featuring modern, efficient spaces for 21st-century teaching and research. Combined with Fontana Labs, the entire BMEC footprint will be 260,000 square feet." https://news.osu.edu/15m-gift-from-austin-e-knowlton-foundation-to-help-transform-ohio-state-engineering-campus/

Where exactly are these being proposed? I see Trabue Road, but do you know where at on Trabue?

I'm so glad they're changing the design a bit too. Years ago, shortly after it first opened, I noticed one of the "outer" fountains was always turned off. I asked one of the people working at the fountain why it was always off... She said when they built it, they didn't extend the concrete out far enough on the one side, so the water from the far fountain would splash onto the grass, killing the grass, making it muddy. Their solution was to just keep that part of the fountain off. It was a bit maddening because the fountain was so expensive and so popular yet their solution was to just keep some of it off. Looking at the new renderings from the article, it looks like that issue will be taken care of with the updated design!

This project was already awarded some money through the Brownfield Remediation Program to help clean up the property, so hopefully that makes it more likely to come to fruition. This is how it was described in a recent report about brownfields that were awarded funding: "Developed in the late 1800s for industrial use, this property was occupied by slaughterhouse packaging companies for the next 70 years. In the 1990s through 2010, the property operated as a transfer facility to collect and accumulate construction and demolition debris. The property is currently vacant and contains a significant amount of buried gypsum and waste that will require excavation and disposal prior to redevelopment. The buildings on the site are inhabitable and are slated to be demolished. Cleanup activities include the removal of hazardous materials and remediation efforts on the site. After cleanup, the property will be redeveloped as a mixed-use development including 120,000-square-feet of new commercial and restaurants, 33,000-square-feet of maker space and studios and over 500 units of mixed-income apartments, flats, and townhomes and 50 single-family units." Steelton Holdings LLC (Franklin) Property Name: Fort $2,970,094 for Cleanup/Remediation

Some of this was first mentioned with Rapid 5 Link is here: https://www.rapid5.org/envision (Confluence Park stuff starts on page 138)

That link isn't working for me... Do you have any others?

Ohio approves last piece of Intel's $2B+ incentive puzzle "Ohio has approved the final segment – almost – of more than $2 billion in economic incentives to Intel Corp. in return for thousands of jobs at the largest single private investment in state history. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority on Monday approved credits on payroll taxes over 30 years. The legislature last year created a "megaproject" category that makes the credit possible. However, due to an "administrative error" in the document, the authority plans to vote again next month on a corrected deal, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Development said. The 3.1% credit approved Monday would save about $475 million over the life of the deal, when the state intended a 4% rate for a total savings to Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) of $650 million. As with other jobs credits, the incentive is paid out over time based on the amount of payroll created at the site. Intel would have to create all the 3,000 pledged jobs, maintain operations in the state and meet other terms. The company in a written statement said it expects to exceed that number of high-paying jobs. The jobs incentives don't apply to the estimated 7,000 construction jobs created by the first phase. Intel has said once started, construction on such complexes goes on for decades. For example, the company is still expanding its 40-year-old campus in suburban Phoenix." https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/09/26/ohio-approves-intel-jobs-tax-credit.html

I've heard 200 kicked around some but havn't heard anyone say Intel will bring 300 to 400 suppliers with them to Central Ohio... Let's hope this guy is right! Union believes Intel will have profound impact on pipe fitter, plumber careers "He said the Intel announcement is a game changer and the biggest momentum builder in his lifetime for both Columbus and Central Ohio. “We would talk to people about a career in the building trades where they wanted to be a plumber, electrician, or operating engineer, or mechanical insulator, and a parent or a young person would say, 'Well what does the job outlook look like?'" Hager said. "We can say, 'Well, we're building this hospital, we've got about six months here.' Now we can say we have Intel. Work is good for the next 22 to 25 years,” says Hager. Hager, a lifelong resident of Columbus, said it's not just Intel's $20 billion semiconductor plant creating excitement, it's also the 300 to 400 suppliers that the company will bring to Central Ohio. “It's the Amazon data centers. It's the Facebook expansion. It's Google," said Hager. "It's Microsoft, it's the solar work. It's OSU Medical Center." "Because there's all kinds of work coming to Columbus," Tucker said. "Job security, financial reasons, it's just all around good and you get to be a part of something bigger than yourself." https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2022/09/06/ohio-pipefitters-and-plumbers-

Fischer Homes starts residential construction at $275 million mixed-use development in Hilliard "One of Central Ohio's largest homebuilders is starting construction on new housing at a $275 million mixed-use development. Fischer Homes will offer single-family housing in the new residential development, called Alton Place. Located at the northwest corner of Roberts and Alton Darby Creek roads, the master-planned community will also feature 3 miles of walking and bike paths next to lakes, wetlands and grasslands. The 354-acre residential development is located next to Village Center. That mixed-use development will feature shops, restaurants and other businesses, which will be within walking distance from the single-family homes at Alton Place. Fischer Homes is the fourth-largest homebuilder in Central Ohio, according to research by Columbus Business First. The company delivered 489 homes and started construction on another 549 in 2021. Its gross sales last year stood at $193 million." https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/09/23/fischer-homes-alton-place-hilliard.html