All of that sounds plausible including your "conspiracy theory". There was a time when Wirt Road was more important. Years before the 4-lane section of SR 317 opened, SR 665 continued from US 23 into Groveport on much of what is today SR 317. Starting from the north, 665 ran down Hamilton Road becoming College Street when it entered town. Then it hung a right onto Wirt Road which becomes Rohr Road out of town. Then it hung a left onto Pontious Road before going right onto Hayes Road through a now fenced-in part of Rickenbacker. It met present-day 317 at its big curve toward US 23. The current 317 from this area all the way to Bixby Road did not exist in any form.

We've got a few non-Wert's Grove/Rarey's Port-related things that have popped up:

 

-325 Main St. just sold. Normally a house on a 3/4 acre lot selling wouldn't be a big deal but the property was marketed as a redevelopment opportunity and the realtor took out an ad in the Groveport Messenger stating it sold. Normally you don't see money spent on a "sold" ad for that type of SFH property.

 

-A lot of spaces on Main St. that were just offices or part-time "catch them while they're in" retail have vacated. The city says they're making an effort to fill those spaces. The city was successful in finding tenants for the unfinished Wert's Grove/Rarey's Port buildings (couldn't make it through the post without mentioning those, I tried) so that's a good thing but it would be even better if the single-story buildings could be redeveloped by someone if the tenants don't come...

 

-The hot rod shop at the corner of Wirt Rd. and Main is in talks of some kind of remodeling/redevelopment with the owners of Little Italy involved. Possibly the city too. This is a bigger space than it looks from Main (used to be Taylor Chevrolet before they moved to Lancaster) and has the city-owned former comic shop and old veterinarian lots next to it.

 

I'm not expecting the city to do all the work here -- they're putting up two buildings at the same time and the only reason they have enough money to build structures intended to be leased to the private sector is due to the warehouse money.

Edited November 29, 20213 yr by GCrites80s

I think this will be a much better place to live in 5 years. I drove through Canal Winchester at night for the first time in a while and between Canal scoring a Local Cantina, a taproom and a few other key businesses it was strange to see all that activity at night at a place that wasn't just Shade. Obviously there's also Brewdog but that's not in the CBD. It almost seemed like a mini-Grandview for a second -- a good place to be a young person. There's no reason Groveport can't be like that too and not just have the one Harley bar. I'm not Young-young anymore but am young enough to not really be interested in Groveport's sole nightlife which is a Harley bar (now a Yamaha-Honda-Kawasaki bar would be sweet).

Edited November 29, 20213 yr by GCrites80s

Great write-up @GCrites80s!

 

I'm so happy 325 Main Street finally sold. The fence the previous owners put up is hideous and it annoys me every time I drive by. It will be interesting to see what happens at that property. 

 

There's so much untapped potential for restaurants and shops along Main Street between College and Front. Hopefully the two ongoing developments will help spur some activity in the coming years. 

 

I think Groveport's future is very bright. I'm a young-ish person with a young family living in Groveport, and the number of other families similar to ours who have moved into town in the past 2-3 years is pretty crazy. It's one of the last "affordable" yet safe and comfortable places in the metro area, so it's perfect for first time homebuyers with young families. It also has some good historical housing stock, so it's great for people looking for older houses with plenty of character as opposed to cookie-cutter suburban neighborhoods. On our street alone, I know of 6 couples in the 25-30 age range (a few with kids and a few who intend to have kids soon) who have moved in since 2017. It's a great sign for the future of the city. 

 

 

More mixed-use development potentially coming to Groveport! 

 

https://www.columbusmessenger.com/more-development-coming-to-groveports-main-street.html

 

Groveport City Council is considering legislation to amend the zoning for the 1.19 acre property located at 325 Main St. from urban residential to select commercial planned.

In paperwork filed with the city, the property’s owners, Aaron and Katherine Carroll, are proposing to construct two, two story mixed use commercial buildings in two phases with business space on the first floor and residential space on the second floor. Phase 1 would be one 5,200 square foot building and be expected to be completed in 24 months. Phase 2 would be a 5,800 square foot building and also include demolishing the existing more than century old, approximately 1,100 square foot, single family residence on the site. There is no projected completion schedule yet for Phase 2.

 

 

17 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

More mixed-use development potentially coming to Groveport! 

 

https://www.columbusmessenger.com/more-development-coming-to-groveports-main-street.html

 

Groveport City Council is considering legislation to amend the zoning for the 1.19 acre property located at 325 Main St. from urban residential to select commercial planned.

In paperwork filed with the city, the property’s owners, Aaron and Katherine Carroll, are proposing to construct two, two story mixed use commercial buildings in two phases with business space on the first floor and residential space on the second floor. Phase 1 would be one 5,200 square foot building and be expected to be completed in 24 months. Phase 2 would be a 5,800 square foot building and also include demolishing the existing more than century old, approximately 1,100 square foot, single family residence on the site. There is no projected completion schedule yet for Phase 2.

 

 

This is for the house that put up the hideous fence and had a strange grow operation going on in the backyard? For three years I lived two houses over. Wish all this stuff going on had been there before I moved two years ago!

13 minutes ago, aderwent said:

This is for the house that put up the hideous fence and had a strange grow operation going on in the backyard? For three years I lived two houses over. Wish all this stuff going on had been there before I moved two years ago!

 

Yep, that's the one. It's a shame this would result in a 100+ year old house being demolished, but the house is...not very nice. And that fence is hideous. I'm surprised the city allowed it, considering some of the things they write people up for. 

I was poking around satellite view. It appears the south side was updated sometime late last summer. Here are the new mixed-use buildings under construction:

 

10 minutes ago, aderwent said:

I was poking around satellite view. It appears the south side was updated sometime late last summer. Here are the new mixed-use buildings under construction:

 

I noticed this the other day. I pulled up google maps to look at some directions from my house in Groveport and noticed some yard updates I did last summer were now visible. Hopefully the entire city gets updated imagery and we get some updates 3D imagery as well. 

Looks like Little Italy will be occupying the retail space in the Wert's Grove building.

 

https://www.columbusmessenger.com/little-italy-to-move-into-new-werts-grove-building.html

 

According to the article, Little Italy has outgrown the building they've been in for decades and will be moving into the Wert's Grove building at Main and Front once it is completed. Different tenants were initially announced for this building, but leases were never signed and the deals apparently fell through. Little Italy hopes to have the interior fully built and move in by September of this year.

 

The owners of Little Italy will be retaining ownership of their current building and are looking to lease it out. They are currently in talks with a local couple who want to open a coffee house/bakery, but a lease has not yet been signed. 

Aw, just as they fixed the rear exit of the old one so that you couldn't accidentally faceplant while leaving. It was like that ever since I was a little kid playing Smash TV while waiting on my pizza.

So this shifts everything around. Little Italy doesn't move into the old hot rod shop and instead goes into Wert's Grove, the candy store is a no-go, the burger and chicken place's plans don't change, the idea of bakery/coffee that was proposed for one of the new buildings takes over the current Little Italy (probably at a much lower rent than an all-new space in the new buildings would be). Or is the burger and chicken place out too?

 

Oh and only the medical practices are going into 325 Main with the rest of the mixed use on hold.

19 minutes ago, GCrites80s said:

So this shifts everything around. Little Italy doesn't move into the old hot rod shop and instead goes into Wert's Grove, the candy store is a no-go, the burger and chicken place's plans don't change, the idea of bakery/coffee that was proposed for one of the new buildings takes over the current Little Italy (probably at a much lower rent than an all-new space in the new buildings would be). Or is the burger and chicken place out too?

 

Oh and only the medical practices are going into 325 Main with the rest of the mixed use on hold.

 

Little Italy is apparently going to occupy the entire first floor of Wert's Grove, so the burger/chicken place and coffee/bakery place are out. I think the coffee shop being discussed for the current Little Italy location is different than what was originally supposed to occupy Wert's Grove.

 

I don't think Little Italy was ever planning to move to the hot rod building. They had purchased that along with the owners of the vet clinic and were working on figuring out plans for that site. 

 

I believe you are correct with respect to 325 Main.

 

 

The hot rod building would have been a bit of a strange layout for pizza.

The much-derided-on-UO fence has come down at 325 Main and some yard trees have been removed. I imagine the house is next.

^The house is not next. Phase 1 can be built without demoing the house.

How about that huge wooden fence that went up at College and Naomi Ct.? They'd better be putting in a waterpark

On 9/4/2022 at 11:19 AM, GCrites80s said:

How about that huge wooden fence that went up at College and Naomi Ct.? They'd better be putting in a waterpark

I don’t blame them at all for putting up that fence. The young couple that lives there have two dogs and I’m guessing they probably plan to have some kids fairly soon.  I would not want my kids and dogs out in that yard without a fence knowing how busy College is and how fast people tend drive. 
 

The guy who lives there owns his own fencing company and put the whole thing up himself. He’s a really nice guy and is from the upper peninsula so he has quite an interesting accent. He also put the fence up for the young couple that bought the house next to them. 
 

It’s great to see so many young couples moving to Groveport. Off the top of my head, I can think of 15 couples around the age of 30 (many with young kids) who have moved to Groveport in the last few years, just in the area north of Main between Front and West streets. 
 

 

I like how there aren't many crappy neighbors here. Some towns are full of them!

32 minutes ago, GCrites80s said:

I like how there aren't many crappy neighbors here. Some towns are full of them!

Unfortunately I have one of the few bad neighbors in the area lol, but yea there’s a lot of good people here. 

 

Not technically Groveport but I'm never sure where we should put Rickenbacker content?

 

The Rickenbacker Pkwy extension past Heartland Ct is now open.

 

This opens up hundreds of more acres in the Rickenbacker Global Logistics Park

 

 

 

 

 

Rickenbacker content goes in the dedicated Rickenbacker thread:

 

 

In the within the city limits news (rather than the Rickenbacker JEDD, which Groveport is a member of), both Delaney's Diner and the new Little Italy are now open!

On 2/8/2023 at 8:15 PM, GCrites80s said:

In the within the city limits news (rather than the Rickenbacker JEDD, which Groveport is a member of), both Delaney's Diner and the new Little Italy are now open!

 

Both are open and both were packed all weekend. It was great to see! Hopefully they can both find sustained success and that success will convince more businesses to give Groveport a try. I really do feel there is more than enough to demand to sustain a small coffee shop and another dining option on Main Street, so hopefully we'll see that happen in the near future.

The diner smells good too. Haven't been in yet. Hopefully that coffee shop that was planned for the old Little Italy space goes through. 

13 minutes ago, GCrites80s said:

The diner smells good too. Haven't been in yet. Hopefully that coffee shop that was planned for the old Little Italy space goes through. 

 

I believe Little Italy's old spot (which they still own and will be leasing out) is supposed to be some type of a hot dog centered restaurant like Dirty Frank's. I'll be interested to see how well that does if it does indeed happen. I think the building at the SE corner of Main & College (diagonal from the new Little Italy) would be a great spot for a coffee shop. It's currently for rent, and the realtor who owns it (he uses the eastern half of the building for his office) posted on Facebook a while ago asking what the vacant half should be used for. Most commenters said a coffee shop or bakery, so hopefully he's currently looking for someone to make that happen. 

I heard the hot dog shop mentioned while we were at Delaney's on Sunday. No idea who yet, but I could see how something like a Dirty Frank's could be a decent fit for a spot like that. Delaney's actually has a pretty good view, being across from the old elementary and looking right at the "tall" part of Main. Was great to see it so packed, and hope they're able to maintain that kind of energy going forward. Just nice to see some life and community outside of the occasional festival or parade.

Haven't been to the new Little Italy's yet, but it looks amazing from the outside. Maybe we'll stop in this weekend and check it out.

Kinda disappointed that the medical offices across from the Certified are going to be a single story, because the facade is being built to a story-and-a-half, maybe two, and it looks nice. Would have been cool to see it go a little taller.

Sign is up for the hot dog place in the old Little Italy. Weird to get two all new restaurants in one year since Groveport was averaging one a decade! 2000s Dough Boyz, 2010s Flyer's Pizza. I suppose the golf course restaurant counts. I'm not counting the Wendy's.

1 hour ago, GCrites80s said:

Sign is up for the hot dog place in the old Little Italy. Weird to get two all new restaurants in one year since Groveport was averaging one a decade! 2000s Dough Boyz, 2010s Flyer's Pizza. I suppose the golf course restaurant counts. I'm not counting the Wendy's.

It will be interesting to see how the hot dog place does. Sounds like an interesting concept for the area. 
 

We are planning to head down to the new Little Italy tomorrow. It looks like a really nice space and it’s always packed which has been great to see. We did walk down last week and get some ice cream. It’s nothing fancy but it’s better than Dairy Queen and should be quite popular this summer. 

I think Los Mariachis was in the 2010s as well. Also the former Grecian Corner. Oh yeah, and Possum Holler was in that tiny gray building for a bit.

I'm interested in Holler Dogs, even if I don't love the name. They were talking about having breakfast items on the menu as well as daily specials, so it sounds more like a diner than a hot dog concept at this point.

Our visit to the new Little Italy's was great. Nice location and it's both busy and visible, which is something I'm very happy to see in Groveport. Anything that makes our main street feel a little more alive is a huge win in my book. The only thing I didn't love was the ice cream. It was good, no question about that, but their price point feels a little too high. We got a double of handmade gelato at the Findlay Market in Cincinnati two weeks ago for less than a single scoop from LI, and LI is just using prepacked Hershey's or something similar.

Oh I don't remember Grecian Corner. Where was it?

 

Possum Holler was definitely open in the '80s.

Edited May 1, 20232 yr by GCrites80s

I think I have the name right. Grecian Corner was a pretty good little gyro shop tucked into the Kroger center next to Subway and Great Wall. I think they closed shortly before the pandemic.

Didn't know Possum Holler had been around that long. I know they have a shop out in Obetz, but I remember them having a second location in Groveport for what couldn't have been more than six months in the grey block building next to the Huntington.

They might have closed in the '90s then came back for an encore. Same building. 

 

The new roundabout at London-Groveport Rd and Rohr Rd near Rickenbacker is open

 

 

 

I'll brag that I was one of the first people through it haha. I drove past at 7 and it was closed. By 8:30 I saw a truck full of signs driving by and knew it had to be open then.

1 hour ago, GCrites said:

I'll brag that I was one of the first people through it haha. I drove past at 7 and it was closed. By 8:30 I saw a truck full of signs driving by and knew it had to be open then.

 

It's quite the improvement compared to the intersection that was there before!

 

Yeah it sucked once it started getting busy in the early 2010s. Like a lot of the traffic in the Rickenbacker vicinity, you never had to think about it but now you do. I'm still not used to it. I'm late to tons of stuff.

23 hours ago, GCrites said:

I'll brag that I was one of the first people through it haha. I drove past at 7 and it was closed. By 8:30 I saw a truck full of signs driving by and knew it had to be open then.

Congratulations! Nobody can ever take that from you. 

On 11/4/2023 at 12:49 PM, TIm said:

Congratulations! Nobody can ever take that from you. 

Well...

 

Maybe the guy who went out to drive through it before they'd finished taking down all the signs. So me. But other than that, no, nobody.

Also, vaguely related, it sucks so, so much that we got the roundabout on 317, but now have to deal with a stupid light at Rohr and Pontius about 1000 feet away. Not too thrilled about the Pontius rework, or the deceptive "road closed" signage on both ends of Braun, a road which is definitively NOT closed either. Shady.

Edited November 7, 20231 yr by Zordon Shumway

The Groveport people already know this, but Groveport is finally going to realign the Wirt Rd & Main St intersection. Instead of coming in at a crazy angle, they're going to demolish the old hot rod shop and align it with Front St. Also they mentioned in here that the old KidSpace building is coming down as part of the initiative and will find a new home above Delaney's Diner.

Also in one other bit of news that's too hyperlocal even for The Messenger, the number of Groveport people on here is going down by 2 --- we're selling our home and moving downtown by Grant/Franklin University in the next couple weeks. Seems like a good time, what with the traffic increases that are sure to happen when the Anduril plant starts moving in earnest.

https://www.columbusmessenger.com/the-face-of-groveports-downtown-is-going-to-change.html

I'm probably going to move back into the city in a few years too. This is a little too boring. I won't need to be in Lancaster or Ashville during the workday anymore.

Man, all my Groveport people are leaving me. SHAME ON YOU!

 

 

Groveport is a nice little community with a ton of growth potential, but I never really found a community here. If you're not part of a church there just isn't much going on --- no hobby shops, no gaming groups, Columbus Motor Speedway is gone.  The airshow is nice, but that's only once a year, and probably not long-term. I guess there's pickleball now but while I'm interested in learning, it feels like those cliques have already kinda developed as well.

I'm not here to bag on Groveport, my family has lived here in some form or another since at least the 40s and I even started out at Groveport Elementary before we moved to Lancaster. But man, if you happen to poke your head into any of the local Facebook groups, there's some small-town brain rot that makes me concerned for their future prospects. I thought about getting involved in city government but ultimately decided that I'd rather be in a spot where the neighborhood development discussion is about whether the new 11-story building going up two blocks over is going to block our view, and not what brand the new ice cream shop is going to carry (if the darn thing ever opens in the first place!)

19 hours ago, Zordon Shumway said:

Groveport is a nice little community with a ton of growth potential, but I never really found a community here. If you're not part of a church there just isn't much going on --- no hobby shops, no gaming groups, Columbus Motor Speedway is gone.  The airshow is nice, but that's only once a year, and probably not long-term. I guess there's pickleball now but while I'm interested in learning, it feels like those cliques have already kinda developed as well.

I'm not here to bag on Groveport, my family has lived here in some form or another since at least the 40s and I even started out at Groveport Elementary before we moved to Lancaster. But man, if you happen to poke your head into any of the local Facebook groups, there's some small-town brain rot that makes me concerned for their future prospects. I thought about getting involved in city government but ultimately decided that I'd rather be in a spot where the neighborhood development discussion is about whether the new 11-story building going up two blocks over is going to block our view, and not what brand the new ice cream shop is going to carry (if the darn thing ever opens in the first place!)

 

Totally understandable. I personal enjoy living in the old part of town with all the unique 100+ year old houses and whatnot. Main Street is attempting to make some improvements which is exciting. But yea if you want socializing it can be difficult. Luckily I'm not huge on that so it doesn't really bother me. 

 

I will say that most community Facebook groups are going to be similar to Groveport's. Maybe not quite as bad, but they are typically going to feature the lost rungs of the local society much more prominently than the "normal" people. 

I actually thought I'd reconnect with people I knew from elementary and middle school but that didn't happen. We moved to another district to a high school that I hated but everyone from there wants to be your best friend still.

When I was a kid Groveport had 2-3 bars so there was a little more variety.

Main Street is actually looking up, the new Little Italy's location and Delaney's are a great addition to the old part of town. Then Super Scoops and the new coffee shop hopefully opening this year will help too. Hope they're able to build on the momentum and keep going.

The old town side is super nice, and is definitely where I'd be looking if I were to ever move back. We're on the other side, behind Kroger, and while Degenhart is actually a pleasant walking distance, Kroger turns out not to be. Being pushed so far back on the edge of a standard commercial strip really makes it less convenient of a walking destination than I'd initially thought. Still nice to have it close and 90% of the time I'm already on the way home from work or something anyway, but it would be nice to have a little better walkability especially for something as important as a grocery.

From seeing the T-shirts I think that Kroger has more customers from Obetz and Ashville in it than Groveport

You know I hadn't thought about it but doing a quick search, it looks like the only actual grocery near Ashville is the IGA, and I was thinking those are pretty limited. Obetz is even worse with just the little market next to DQ, although I will vouch for their deli sandwiches.

Groveport has two Krogers, Walmart, Giant Eagle, and the Aldis all within a 10 minute drive. Pretty good variety all things considered. Still with Kroger was situated at the front of the lot though, but that wasn't really the style at the time. Or the style now. But it *should* be.

2 hours ago, Zordon Shumway said:

Main Street is actually looking up, the new Little Italy's location and Delaney's are a great addition to the old part of town. Then Super Scoops and the new coffee shop hopefully opening this year will help too. Hope they're able to build on the momentum and keep going.

The old town side is super nice, and is definitely where I'd be looking if I were to ever move back. We're on the other side, behind Kroger, and while Degenhart is actually a pleasant walking distance, Kroger turns out not to be. Being pushed so far back on the edge of a standard commercial strip really makes it less convenient of a walking destination than I'd initially thought. Still nice to have it close and 90% of the time I'm already on the way home from work or something anyway, but it would be nice to have a little better walkability especially for something as important as a grocery.

 

It's not the greatest lot to walk through to the Kroger, but it's rarely busy enough to be a hassle. I just wish it connected to the sidewalked neighborhood behind it. I lived on Main across from Flyer's for three years. I regularly walked to Kroger. Usually I'd go back through that neighborhood to Degenhart and back up Lesleh instead of walking down Main.

 

I also regularly walked down to Ace Hardware and the farmer's market, again the back way to Wirt instead of Main.

 

I also walked my dog all over creation around Groveport. Down to the rec center, around and back etc. It's no walker's paradise, but Groveport is definitely walkable. More so now than when I moved four plus years ago.

3 hours ago, Zordon Shumway said:

You know I hadn't thought about it but doing a quick search, it looks like the only actual grocery near Ashville is the IGA, and I was thinking those are pretty limited. Obetz is even worse with just the little market next to DQ, although I will vouch for their deli sandwiches.

Groveport has two Krogers, Walmart, Giant Eagle, and the Aldis all within a 10 minute drive. Pretty good variety all things considered. Still with Kroger was situated at the front of the lot though, but that wasn't really the style at the time. Or the style now. But it *should* be.

 

That was more around the time people wore an onion on their belt