Toddguy

I posted this news item about that church from a special Franklinton-oriented issue of Business First they had last year. Haven't seen any updates since. Great. I see demolition in it's future. :(

^^ This looks great.

If it is the reason, maybe we should give them the abatement just for helping to get rid of Buckingham lol. Also I bet they would not have wanted to go very vertical given their plan for the Franklinton site if they were the deal that fell through.

This looks great. Does anyone know what will happen to that empty church on the corner of McDowell and State (in the left/center of pic)? I hope it does not get torn down.

The tax abatement thing is a bit of an Amazon effect I think. They say they have phase one planned by 2021 and phase two planned for as close as a year later, but no location or rendering for that phase?-seems odd to me. Also 1000 surface lot spaces!!! Yikes! I suppose they will get what they want. Better than them leaving for Nashville or some other location. *sigh*

"Precourt is a liar and a scumbag. Why anyone would want to do business with him is beyond me." This. This is what should be going through the minds of the Austin City Council. Why go with this lying bastard on anything-especially his horrible hypocritical proposal? He is lying, untrustable, and will screw over Austin just as easily as he is trying to screw over Columbus. This is not a good look at all for MLS.

And they were approved this time around! Trolley barn, auto dealership awarded historic tax credits to aid renovation "Two long-vacant East Side properties, including the former Columbus trolley barn complex, received state financing approval Wednesday that will allow the properties to be renovated. The state awarded Historic Preservation Tax Credits to the two projects: • The Columbus Electric Trolley Barns, 1600 E. Oak Street. Developer Brad DeHays, with Connect Realty, plans to convert the crumbling complex into a food market, brewpub, barbecue restaurant and offices. The $20 million project, which received $2 million in tax credits, also calls for building 103 apartments immediately south of the trolley barn buildings. • The McClure Nesbitt Motor Co., 1503-1507 E. Main Street. Columbus Compact Corp., a nonprofit East Side developer, plans to convert the former auto dealership into a theater, art gallery, music studio and event space topped by 11 second-floor apartments. The $2 million project received $250,000 in tax credits." http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180620/trolley-barn-auto-dealership-awarded-historic-tax-credits-to-aid-renovation 103 apartments is great in that area.

I certainly think that having a Pride that is especially for POC is a good thing, however, I do not agree that POC have to "pick a Pride". People can participate in both without besmirching the image of either. "pick a Pride" is exactly what the Gay community does not need-more divisiveness. JMHO. *Also while I can understand the concerns of POC with the police presence in the mainstream Pride parade and events, I think that they also need to understand the history of the police involvement in the parade and festivities. I can remember marching in the 80's and at times the protesters were very hateful, aggressive, and outnumbered the participants, and the police presence was a needed and necessary thing and we were glad to have it. There is a history there that also needs to be understood. Also you cannot have an event involving 500,000 people (especially in these times) without a large police presence. I do hope that there can be some reaching towards one another and some accommodations can be made to assist everyone involved. I also hope the alternative parade at Mayme Moore Park was a success today.

I really like this, and hope they can continue adding things like this, art, etc to the main part of the convention center along High. Good start at least if anything.

Akron, Cincinnati, and Columbus managed to avoid the list. But some of those...really? Atlanta, Salt Lake City. etc. on that list with 550 plus cities 'better' than them? LOL.

Damn. It is amazing how much heat burning houses can generate. The house across the street from me recently burned, and the heat alone damaged the neighboring place and even caught the trees on fire. The trees are all browned out halfway up now. Even the neighbors shrubs were ruined. Very odd this happens on the same street as the explosion and so soon after though.

Yeah, the saving grace for 80 on the Commons is that the only really good side is the side that will always be exposed the most-the Commons side. And do you think that they will ever get the Greyhound station to move? Filling in that and the lot directly south of it would help immensely. I know it serves a need, but increasingly Greyhound is a blight. Couldn't it work on the perimeter somewhere?

The craziest thing about this is the expansion of downtown across the river. There are still 3-6 flat lots or underused properties along High Street that need infilled as well. Not even counting the vast parking lots along and east of 4th. Tons of room for development in downtown! I actually like that they are viewing the Scioto Peninsula as part of downtown and distinct from East Franklinton. Some good height and density will help visually establish that it is a part of downtown, and also help to show that the river and the parklands beside the river are not beside downtown Cbus, but within it-a part of it. And we are lucky in a way that we have those spaces available so we can fill in as needed. Just look at how the two big Neighborhood launch apartment buildings along with the planned eight story building across the street and the rest of that development are in the processing of completing the destruction of the infamous parking crater than existed there. I see those lots (and the vacant land on the Scioto Peninsula and in East Franklinton) as opportunities. If the population keeps expanding as it has been, then it is just a question of when and not if. I would rather wait a bit and get the right development as downtown builds more into a real diverse neighborhood as opposed to a highrise 9-5 office park-and it is on it's way. Trying to be optimistic here. * I really wonder what is going on with that lot on the northwest side of the Main and High intersection. I know that Schiff was fighting to buy that Main Bar...have not heard anything about that. Also some of the lots on High are kind of spoken for as in the hotel proposed for East High where the Elm alley is, and for an expansion on the lot North of the Atlas building. Of course we just need to see action taken. There really isn't that much on High that is not developed, being developed, or without plans for development. Tons of room is tons of room for opportunities! Let's just hope that the city and developers see it that way too and make the best of it. I wonder what is going on with that 11 story building on the Swan Cleaners space?...have not heard anything about that either.

I agree. I think it was unfortunate that they named it Dorrian Green-especially since there is a Dorrian Commons already. I really don't get the naming these parks after people-unless they contributed money for it or something. We have a Franklin Commons and a Columbus Commons along with the Dorian Commons, I don't see why they didn't just go with Scioto Commons or Scioto Green or something similar. Well, he's trending lately Also Dorrian Green sounds too much like Dorian Gray! lol *ink and Arcade Fiyah have now cursed the Scioto Peninsula development and if we do get another HighPointe they should be blamed and tarred and feathered. ;)

^^ Glad that Buckingham is out. That is a really nice pic of downtown and the park as well. The Vets Memorial looks good and like it belongs and fits in with COSI too. There is a lot in this picture that Columbus got right. 'Dorian Green' park/putting the parking underground, the Memorial and it's park, the Scioto Greenway and narrowing of the river-all things that the city did very well. Sometimes Cbus can really get it right. * I think they might as well get started and not really wait for Amazon to be honest and realistic.

I agree. I think it was unfortunate that they named it Dorrian Green-especially since there is a Dorrian Commons already. I really don't get the naming these parks after people-unless they contributed money for it or something. We have a Franklin Commons and a Columbus Commons along with the Dorian Commons, I don't see why they didn't just go with Scioto Commons or Scioto Green or something similar. It also does not look nearly as wide as I expected it to look. It looks more narrow and intimate than I expected. Now we just need the other side of Belle to be lined with 20 story buildings to make it all 'pop' .

I wish the Grove City development was denser but hey we are a region that is experiencing fast growth with something of a housing shortage so we need everything that we can get-including stuff from the suburbs so build away.

UPS adding 600 jobs to the westside on Trabue road. http://www.dispatch.com/business/20180530/ups-to-add-600-jobs-in-central-ohio

So you guys are telling me the 2 main neighborhoods making up the Short North... are not in the Short North? K. There are these signs all over the area. I could only find a picture of this one, but I know they exist in Italian Village also. I also think that even Harrison West and The Circles also have signs like this that say "Short North" on them. Again, the High Street corridor may be thought of as the heart of the Short North, and it is, but that's not all of it. It was originally the entire area just north of Downtown south of 5th, several blocks on either side of High. Italian Village is the east side of High, Victorian Village on the west side. Why do you guys think that both neighborhoods have development commissions that have a direct say in development along High Street? Even the Short North Block Watch includes 6 different areas- High Street, Vic Village, Italian Village, The Circles, Harrison West and Dennison Place. Yea, others have addressed this already but parts of Victorian Village and Italian Village are in the Short North, which was an informal term originally used disparagingly to refer to the stretch of High Street just north of downtown. Go to Google Maps and type in all three and it'll show you the boundaries. But you're right that many people use the term to refer to different things. That's why I stated that neighborhood boundaries are semi-arbitrary anyway. Back in 1983 they were calling the part of the Short North south of Buttles "SoButt". It didn't stick. It did not stick- Fortunately. ;)

Around 70% tends to end up in Columbus itself, so my guess is that the city grew between 15K-17K 2016-2017, putting the population between 875,000-877,000. However, because previous-year estimates have been adjusted upward for Columbus, I could easily see the city hitting 880,000 come the May estimate for July 1, 2017. If so, the city is probably edging closer to 900,000 at this point in 2018. At that rate, 1 million would be hit around 2025. Just want to point out how accurate this was. Yes it was very accurate to less than 1,000. Given the location of Columbus, to gain over 15,000 people in one year is amazing growth. If that growth continues (and the estimates are correct) then Columbus will be at 915,000 or more by the 2020 census.

It is how they deal with the parking that is my main complaint. The buildings are ok I guess, and even the layout. The way they deal with and place the parking is problematic for me. One six story garage for the parking would allow for space for another building or more greenspace. No reason for a two story garage and a surface parking lot here. But it is by far not the most important part of downtown so meh basically.

To me the amazing thing about Nashville is that the data shows it really isn't actually growing much at all. The most recent estimate released today has it up a paltry 0.42% y-o-y or around 2,800 people - and that's even less impressive considering they have a consolidated city-county government. Columbus was up 1.8% or 15,500, with all of Franklin County up 22,000. So what is it that's driving the national narrative and development boom that says Nashville is growing like crazy? I'm not sure where you saw that statistic. The metro area has grown by about 30,000 each year since 2015. 9,000 hotel rooms have been built in Davidson County since 2010 and 2,000 rooms are under construction as we speak in downtown Nashville. On some weekends, the cheapest hotel room in DT Nashville is over $500. There is a lot of construction in Columbus but what's going on in Nashville is crazy. It's not just the hotels and residential towers downtown, it's all of the tear-downs and infill in the neighborhoods. I was very surprised too, for just the reasons you mentioned. But look for yourself - 2016 estimate was 664,762 and a year later 2017 is now 667,560 https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/PEP/2017/PEPANNRSIP.US12A Edit: Maybe it's a problem with the estimates, and will be revised upward (I see the 2016 number is 4,000 more now than what was initially released last year), but still. I was also surprised to see that Davidson county is roughly the same size in sq miles as Franklin, but with half the population Interestingly Austin also looks to have slowed in its growth considerably during the last year according to the latest numbers Maybe they are undercounting combined with much of the growth being so sprawly that it is occurring outside the city limits. A number of Austin suburbs posted big gains. The metros also grew greatly, so the growth is happening there somewhere.

Yeah that is true.

That was fast! I am pretty sure that has to be it. It is the right address and they have the entire parcel (about a quarter mile depth and about half a mile along 40) fenced off with orange tape stuff and all kinds of earth moving equipment tearing it all up from one end to the other. I was surprised myself.

The more I look at it the more it looks like a lost opportunity and more like a small suburban office park somewhere in the far north of Dallas. And to think this and 600 Goodale are actually within the downtown district boundaries and this is all we get? smh,