Toddguy

I actually like "Fifth by Northwest". It reminds me of the Hitchcock movie North by Northwest. And it is better than Tri-Village....generic and we already have too many "villages" JMHO. *I also thought "Tri-Village" was farther west and was Grandview, Marble Cliff, and Upper Arlington?

I will admit this is looking better than I thought it would.

That plaza is capped on two sides by large blank windowless walls and big blank windowless walls on either side of it on High as well. It is uninspiring and lacks any real creativity IMO even if it is an improvement. They could do much better than just "nice" or better than before, or worst of all, "it's ok-at least for Columbus. That mass of the convention center wall is a blank canvas waiting for something. Windows(even fake ones), art, murals, anything depicting the history of the city or what was once there (going along with the design reflecting the tracks), living green walls or planters embedded in some of those blocks, etc. Anything to break up the spaces more and humanize it a bit. If they did the artwork/etc right, that alone could possibly (a stretch here I will admit) make it a showpiece and something to be admired even. An endless parade of pastel trapezoids just does not cut it for me. It could be better than that-even if the streetscape along it has improved a bit. I've always liked the building and I do think the streetscape upgrades help enliven the street. My understanding is that punching windows into the walls would interfere with some of the functionality of the meeting rooms and back of house operations. I do agree that the overall design is inward focused and attention to the street would have helped. FWIW, this portion of the convention center came online in the early 1990's, not the 1980's. Well it screams 1980's with those pastel colors. And the design competition in which this architect won, was in...1989. As in nineteen EIGHTY nine lol. ;) But I understand it is a building of the times, and ok they may not be able to punch out real windows. And yes they have progressed-especially with the streetscaping. But the building is designed to have setbacks and protrusions (as in how some of those blocks protrude a bit from the facade) and they could put "fake" windows or "something" in those spaces, and everything else like artwork attached to the buildings, living walls, etc. etc. is doable. The building could say "Columbus' in a good way and not in such a banal and dated way, while still respecting the building's nod to what was there before. Really, can you imagine the Amazon people seeing this stuck in the eighties/designed in the eighties building and snickering? Wondering if they should have brought their unconstructed linen jackets and had grown mullets? lol. (as if we really have a chance and would look at this while strolling High lol). The city can do better. than. this. I stand by it. The city can do better, especially with landmark buildings (and even though I know convention centers and parking garages are the cancers of urban architecture) and unfortunately it is a long and prominent and banal outdated looking building on our main street-and one that the city can actually do something about unlike some of the corporate concrete megalithic things nearby. *and I don't care about the horrors of other cities and their cancers I care about this city and this long behemoth on our main street in our downtown.

It was the late ‘80s. If you read articles from the time, developers were breathless about suburban sprawl and doom and gloom about Downtown. Building an ugly suburban mall on High was their big idea for helping the urban core. Different times for sure. It absolutely looks like the eighties also. And not in a good way-it looks so dated that if you put out some potted palm trees along it I might expect to see Tubbs and Crockett saunter on by.

That plaza is capped on two sides by large blank windowless walls and big blank windowless walls on either side of it on High as well. It is uninspiring and lacks any real creativity IMO even if it is an improvement. They could do much better than just "nice" or better than before, or worst of all, "it's ok-at least for Columbus. That mass of the convention center wall is a blank canvas waiting for something. Windows(even fake ones), art, murals, anything depicting the history of the city or what was once there (going along with the design reflecting the tracks), living green walls or planters embedded in some of those blocks, etc. Anything to break up the spaces more and humanize it a bit. If they did the artwork/etc right, that alone could possibly (a stretch here I will admit) make it a showpiece and something to be admired even. An endless parade of pastel trapezoids just does not cut it for me. It could be better than that-even if the streetscape along it has improved a bit.

I like the church well enough, but I will admit I DESPISE it's location, boring and bland front landscaping, and surface lot. As soon as it went in I thought it was just out of place. And while not religious myself, I love many churches simply because of the architecture and they need to be preserved and reused if possible. Neighborhood launch did an excellent job of this.

^^ They would not have to do a lot. There are few underutilized small green spaces where they could install art or sculpture, stick a food truck, etc. They could also cut out some actual windows if/where possible and could actually utilize some art on certain spaces along the convention center wall as well. Just some small things that help break up the monotony and make that side of the street a little more "friendly". Hell stick a small water feature in one of the crannies that is now just landscaping. They could put more than just landscaping or pavement in them. Small quirky things are what give a place a sense of charm IMO and it would not hurt if they put a few in. Downtown in general could use more of this. Using little left over odd spaces this way helps to give a place a sense of "place"(or keep a sense of place) just like saving facades, etc. **The addition of the hotel will indeed fill the southermost one of these little "crannies" or nooks or setbacks.

Don't count out the 400 foot Market Tower literally about a football field away. But I agree, the design needs tweaked, but I'm sure this is a super early preliminary drawing of what will come. People always complain about the design of the GCCC without knowing the context or reason it looks like it does. This is literally where Union Station and all the rail lines came into our city, and although funky and we tore down our history, at least we are paying homage to what it represents. With more vertical structures coming around this convoluted roofline of the convention center, I wonder if it would be cool to add some lines of "neon" or some modern lighting along the curvy lines representing the old rail roads to make the roof "pop" from above. With all the roof top restaurants and bars going in around this, it would be sort of a neat feature. Just a funky thought haha Having been born and raised here and being able to remember before they built the original Ohio Center (and having both parents still around at 89 and 84 years old) I know all about what was there lol. I don't mind the funky weird design that represents the tracks, I don't like how it does not engage the street-they did not incorporate any streetside retail or anything-it is an inward-focused design that for all intents and purposes might as well just be a blank concrete wall. I wish there was a way they could open it up a few places or stick some little retail stuff in it that faces outward to the street as well as inward. I never saw the interior of the Union Station itself (the actual station set way back from High, not just the arcade fronting High) but my mother says it was pretty nice inside despite not looking like much from any exterior photos I have seen of it. And yes the Market Tower will be great for this area. That, this, and yes a tower on the Goodale plot! Make it happen Cbus tall building Gods!!! We also need the stuff on Park Street (the hotel where they are saving the facades) and they need to do something with those lots further back as well as something like a mini-park on that bit that overhangs the freeway. If it can support vehicles it can also support trees in large planters,etc.

One would think they would do more to tie it in visually with the original part since it is just an extension basically of the same hotel. It is just an extension of the existing hotel and will be connected under High, right? I don't really care for this (very initial I realize) rendering. I would think the Hilton would want some continuity to visually say "we own this big ass space on both sides of the street" and all. *Now what we need after this is an apartment/condo/mixed tower just as tall on that sliver of Goodale between the High cap and the garage. That new garage planned for next to the Drury Inn should clear up some parking spaces for it, huh? :)

So given this thread is about Ohio population trends, I know that the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission has the Columbus metro area growing bu around a million by 2050... so what about Cleveland and Cincinnati and their planning agencies...what do they project?

Not the right area of town for a 10+ floor tower, think about it. "With grand view's of State Route 315" Infill is fine in this area. I was thinking of what appears to be the senior tower on the far west side of the plan. Add more floors and units-probably don't need to add much more parking. And at levels above the garage, the view would be more than a freeway (downtown to the south, OSU campus to the north), just like the Thurber Village buildings don't just have views of 670. *or maybe that is the hotel...

^^ Nearly 600 units and retail and parkland? Bring it!!!! My only regret is that they don't have a significant tower of say ten or twelve floors as a part of it.

I have not seen this in person yet. How is it..really? It does not look that great...or at least not what I expected(something like the 12 story building on High next to the huge garage. Is it at least acceptable? It looks darker than what I expected. What is the look or 'feel' of the building and the materials especially? I am kind of glad this did not go to 17 floors actually. I hate to say I actually prefer the 70's glass box right next to it.

Good! A chip out of the surface lots, and some green space as well with the expansion. And these chips off those massive parking lots adds up, and will lead to them FINALLY constructing some parking structure/s and the residential planned with it. Biggest hole of nothing ness in the whole downtown imo.

Interesting as I haven't heard anything about that. And what do they mean by "through COSI"? It makes it sound like it will be built through the building going from the Scioto to the new park, but that doesn't sound right. That would be quite an undertaking. The east side is 1 story higher than the west side. The connector would need a grand set of stairs, elevator and perhaps escalators. COSI would need to rework the ticket lobby to separate it from the connector. That would be quite an undertaking. The east side is 1 story higher than the west side. The connector would need a grand set of stairs, elevator and perhaps escalators. COSI would need to rework the ticket lobby to separate it from the connector. Apparently they really do mean right through the middle of COSI, "The idea is to create a corridor through the middle of the building that will connect the new park to the west with the riverfront, and the millions in improvements that have been made there. The space, with winter gardens, food and retail, also will add to the traditional COSI experience" And here's a rendering, http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180227/dublin-arena-cosi-corridor-among-projects-in-line-to-get-state-cash I like the idea. It will help to liven up the place and provide a nice link between the parks.

Yea, I just read that in the Biz First article. That's taller than the North Bank Condos and only about 15 feet shorter than the Motorists building. Let's hope it gets built at least at the proposed height. The more I think about it, I wonder how can it be that tall? That is over 18 feet per floor, right? For one retail level, 5 parking levels, and the rest residential? It just does not add up...but I guess they would not release that info if it were not so. It also does not look like it has any really tall mechanical penthouse or any extra structural elements (spires/etc) either? Just odd to me.

I like it, and it is a height and density increase to eight floors. I hope they use good materials for the facade.

At 273 feet this will have a significant impact height wise for that area. Looks good.

The new design looks like generic crap. I like the older design better, including the pocket park/plaza. The older design is at least a bit unique looking-the new design looks like the ugly stuff along Lane across from OSU.

Looks like we'll see another tower crane soon - the tower crane base has been installed for the garage project. I was just wondering about this yesterday. Those pesky tower cranes just can't leave Columbus alone can they? ;) May we be cursed with more and more of them. :)

^^that is a heck of a hole. I am so glad people fought for the buildings and the streetscape. Such a good way to add density. This should be a model for how to do it. There are so many large back lots that are not used at all and are just unused grass or wasteland. So many opportunities for infill including stand alone structures as well as multi-unit buildings.

Requiring affordable housing without financial incentive will significantly slow down development. If I had a pizza shop and sold pizza by the slice for $1.50/slice and the city came in and said that I must sell 20% of my pizza for $.75, I would go sell pizza somewhere else. The only way I would continue to sell pizza there is if I was reimbursed for the money I would lose. Requiring affordable housing without financial incentive will significantly slow down development. If I had a pizza shop and sold pizza by the slice for $1.50/slice and the city came in and said that I must sell 20% of my pizza for $.75, I would go sell pizza somewhere else. The only way I would continue to sell pizza there is if I was reimbursed for the money I would lose. But you can't sell the pizza for $1.50 somewhere else because the location isn't as good. You'll have to sell it for $1 instead. Financial incentives would be a good thing if affordable housing is included in a development-I never suggested otherwise. *I agree it is not that simple and I don't want anything to stifle development downtown also. I think anything will be walking a fine line but the city should try some things to get some more affordable housing worked in. Some things may not work out, and the city needs to be flexible about any requirements and changes to incentives or any additional incentives.

I thought I had remembered something about it not being able to be torn down. But if it does not have any protected status today (or even if it does) the very least they could do is spruce the thing up. It is very prominent and uh...not exactly the belle of the ball and all.

Doesn't that parking garage have some kind of protected status?

I like it too, but just like in landscape design, once you get to three you increase to odd number groupings (3,5,7) so I think maybe TWO new towers would be better lol. Maybe one 20 floors and another at 30 floors to stand out! :)