Crew Stadium and Development Proposal Headed to Commission

 

https://www.columbusunderground.com/crew-stadium-and-development-proposal-headed-to-commission-bw1

 

20 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

Crew Stadium and Development Proposal Headed to Commission

 

https://www.columbusunderground.com/crew-stadium-and-development-proposal-headed-to-commission-bw1

 

I'm interested in that "stadium access plan" at the bottom right at the intersection of Nationwide and the railroad tracks.  I wonder how it will be improved.  Also, is there any chance we get some sort of other access over/under the tracks so that there can be some development in that awkward triangle between the tracks?

4 minutes ago, TH3BUDDHA said:

Also, is there any chance we get some sort of other access over/under the tracks so that there can be some development in that awkward triangle between the tracks?

 

I could certainly see the possibility of a pedestrian bridge being added over the top of the tracks. A few of those already exist around the city. It seems that it would be something that everyone involved would want to make happen.

I know in one of the initial renderings they showed an expansion of the bike path off Spring St. across from the Boat House Parking lot.  I'm assuming any chance a bike/pedestrian bridge is connected there across the river from where Nationwide Blvd. ends probably won't happen?  It seems unfortunate that whole site won't be able to connect to Spring/Dublin Rd to the west across the river.  It would help pre/post game traffic flow a lot to have multiple points of exit.

 

I also know a lot of fans are hyped because they will get to enjoy a Blue Jackets / Clippers like game day atmosphere and have bars that are "close."  It's 3/4 of a mile to the nearest bar not named Betty's.

1 minute ago, DarkandStormy said:

I know in one of the initial renderings they showed an expansion of the bike path off Spring St. across from the Boat House Parking lot.  I'm assuming any chance a bike/pedestrian bridge is connected there across the river from where Nationwide Blvd. ends probably won't happen?  It seems unfortunate that whole site won't be able to connect to Spring/Dublin Rd to the west across the river.  It would help pre/post game traffic flow a lot to have multiple points of exit.

 

I also know a lot of fans are hyped because they will get to enjoy a Blue Jackets / Clippers like game day atmosphere and have bars that are "close."  It's 3/4 of a mile to the nearest bar not named Betty's.

Yea, but I would imagine that the Confluence Village development will include a bar or two right next to the stadium.

10 minutes ago, DarkandStormy said:

I know in one of the initial renderings they showed an expansion of the bike path off Spring St. across from the Boat House Parking lot.  I'm assuming any chance a bike/pedestrian bridge is connected there across the river from where Nationwide Blvd. ends probably won't happen?  It seems unfortunate that whole site won't be able to connect to Spring/Dublin Rd to the west across the river.  It would help pre/post game traffic flow a lot to have multiple points of exit.

 

As far as I'm aware, they will be building a pedestrian/bike bridge across the Olentangy to connect the end of Nationwide Blvd to the Olentangy Trail. 

13 minutes ago, DarkandStormy said:

I know in one of the initial renderings they showed an expansion of the bike path off Spring St. across from the Boat House Parking lot.  I'm assuming any chance a bike/pedestrian bridge is connected there across the river from where Nationwide Blvd. ends probably won't happen?  It seems unfortunate that whole site won't be able to connect to Spring/Dublin Rd to the west across the river.  It would help pre/post game traffic flow a lot to have multiple points of exit.

 

I also know a lot of fans are hyped because they will get to enjoy a Blue Jackets / Clippers like game day atmosphere and have bars that are "close."  It's 3/4 of a mile to the nearest bar not named Betty's.

Also, why do you say that the pedestrian bridge won't happen? In this image, in the bottom left, you can see "Proposed City of Columbus Pedestrian Bridge" extending at the end of Nationwide.

 

Edited August 22, 20195 yr by TH3BUDDHA

3 minutes ago, TH3BUDDHA said:

Also, why do you say that the pedestrian bridge won't happen? In this image, in the bottom left, you can see "Proposed City of Columbus Pedestrian Bridge" extending at the end of Nationwide.

 

 

Yep, it looks like it's happening.

9 minutes ago, TH3BUDDHA said:

Also, why do you say that the pedestrian bridge won't happen? In this image, in the bottom left, you can see "Proposed City of Columbus Pedestrian Bridge" extending at the end of Nationwide.

 

 

Because it's cut off and I have bad eyes lol

11 minutes ago, DarkandStormy said:

 

Because it's cut off and I have bad eyes lol

To be fair, it's really blurry in my image.  If you go right to the CU article and zoom in, it's pretty clear.

Edited August 22, 20195 yr by TH3BUDDHA

 

I know a lot of people wanted the old Columbus Maintenance building saved but this is actually a pretty solid site plan, specifically turning the stadium to alight with the street grid. I think if they look into blending the arena district architecture with a bit more of a "warehouse" or industrial style, this area could be amazing. Overall I like the density and the fact were finally developing one of the largest dead lots in the city. 

2 minutes ago, DevolsDance said:

I know a lot of people wanted the old Columbus Maintenance building saved but this is actually a pretty solid site plan, specifically turning the stadium to alight with the street grid. I think if they look into blending the arena district architecture with a bit more of a "warehouse" or industrial style, this area could be amazing. Overall I like the density and the fact were finally developing one of the largest dead lots in the city. 

 

I wish the building could have been saved, but I'm so excited about the project overall that it doesn't bother me too much. 

 

I'm excited to see the architecture of the stadium and the surroundings buildings. Apparently the team has a pretty bold stadium design that doesn't look much like anything else in the Arena District which Nationwide is a bit hesitant about. It will be interesting to see if Nationwide budges and let's them do something different. 

New Crew Soccer Stadium and Development Gets First Approval

 

 

The team behind a proposal to build a soccer stadium and mixed-use development at the western end of Nationwide Boulevard is now free to move ahead with the first step in that process.

 

The Downtown Commission gave its approval this morning to tear down several city-owned buildingsthat have stood at 560 W. Nationwide Blvd for decades.

 

Representatives of the Crew SC ownership group – which is made up of the Haslam family, who also own the Cleveland Browns, and the locally-based Edwards family – told the commissioners that those demolitions are necessary to begin the infrastructure work for the entire site.

 

“We’re looking to start moving dirt on the site in September,” said Phil Dangerfield, Vice President of Operations for the Cleveland Browns, who also laid out a timeline for the site’s development that calls for a stadium ground breaking ceremony in October, and for the first Major League Soccer game to be held there in July of 2021.

 

More below:

https://www.columbusunderground.com/new-crew-soccer-stadium-and-development-gets-first-approval-bw1

 

Arena District buildings to come down as Crew stadium deal nears

 

 

The team behind the future home of Columbus Crew SC says it's hoping to start turning dirt on the 28-acre site in September, even as a land deal has not been finalized.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2019/08/27/arena-district-buildings-to-comedown-as-crew.html

The rumors have been swirling for a few weeks now on other boards about the final stadium design.

 

Well, it sounds like its going to be quite a departure from the early concepts we say back in 2018. Most common report is that Nationwide wanted the stadium and surrounding development to match the aesthetics of the Arena District, however it seems NRI may not have won that battle. Amid ever more frequent rumors of a 'bold and iconic' stadium design, during a panel discussion on sports venues we got this last night from Don Garber (MLS Commissioner)...

 

 

It seems we are getting something pretty modern/unique. Im really intrigued and excited to see these renders. Looks like 2020 is going to get even more interesting. 

Also, word is we will have our renders within the next week of so. 

 

 

 

^ Apparently some people have been involved in some 'focus groups' that the Front Office has done with some fans. They say they've seen the renderings and are very impressed. I'm assuming we will see the renderings by the 24th of this month at the latest, because I believe the team will be presenting their plan to the Downtown Commission. Based on rumors, it will not disappoint. 

47 minutes ago, DevolsDance said:

The rumors have been swirling for a few weeks now on other boards about the final stadium design.

 

Well, it sounds like its going to be quite a departure from the early concepts we say back in 2018. Most common report is that Nationwide wanted the stadium and surrounding development to match the aesthetics of the Arena District, however it seems NRI may not have won that battle. Amid ever more frequent rumors of a 'bold and iconic' stadium design, during a panel discussion on sports venues we got this last night from Don Garber (MLS Commissioner)...

 

 

It seems we are getting something pretty modern/unique. Im really intrigued and excited to see these renders. Looks like 2020 is going to get even more interesting. 

Also, word is we will have our renders within the next week of so. 

 

 

 

 

If Nationwide had its way, everything in the city would be the same monotone brick and 5-6 stories.  It's why I don't hold out much hope for any of the current sites they own Downtown and Franklinton.  They have zero architectural vision anymore.

5 minutes ago, jonoh81 said:

 

If Nationwide had its way, everything in the city would be the same monotone brick and 5-6 stories.  It's why I don't hold out much hope for any of the current sites they own Downtown and Franklinton.  They have zero architectural vision anymore.

 

Every once in a while they surprise us.

 

 

26 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

 

Every once in a while they surprise us.

 

 

 

Even those I thought were disappointing considering the location.  No mixed use, no ground floor retail/restaurant space, too short for the location.  They're not bad as far as design goes, but yeah, it's a small win.

Just now, jonoh81 said:

 

Even those I thought were disappointing considering the location.  No mixed use, no ground floor retail/restaurant space, too short for the location.  They're not bad as far as design goes, but yeah, it's a small win.

 

Spring Street is not very conducive of ground floor retail/restaurant space. Anything there likely would have struggled. 

6 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

 

Spring Street is not very conducive of ground floor retail/restaurant space. Anything there likely would have struggled. 

 

Eh, yeah, I could see and argument for throwing some office in there to boost the hight and daytime activity but retail/restaurant would have been a tough sell. Overall design and quality of Parks Edge is great imo, they're very PNW feeling. I am a huge fan and would love 20 more scattered around downtown. 

 

3 minutes ago, DevolsDance said:

 

Eh, yeah, I could see and argument for throwing some office in there to boost the hight and daytime activity but retail/restaurant would have been a tough sell. Overall design and quality of Parks Edge is great imo, they're very PNW feeling. I am a huge fan and would love 20 more scattered around downtown. 

 

 

Sure, they could have added a bit of office space, but I think they wanted them to have the "exclusive" feel given how expensive the condos are. 

 

I agree on the design. They look good and are a nice change from what NRI almost always does. They provide a small sliver of hope for NRI breaking the mold on other projects in the future.

On 8/27/2019 at 3:08 PM, ColDayMan said:

New Crew Soccer Stadium and Development Gets First Approval

 

 

The team behind a proposal to build a soccer stadium and mixed-use development at the western end of Nationwide Boulevard is now free to move ahead with the first step in that process.

 

The Downtown Commission gave its approval this morning to tear down several city-owned buildingsthat have stood at 560 W. Nationwide Blvd for decades.

 

Representatives of the Crew SC ownership group – which is made up of the Haslam family, who also own the Cleveland Browns, and the locally-based Edwards family – told the commissioners that those demolitions are necessary to begin the infrastructure work for the entire site.

 

“We’re looking to start moving dirt on the site in September,” said Phil Dangerfield, Vice President of Operations for the Cleveland Browns, who also laid out a timeline for the site’s development that calls for a stadium ground breaking ceremony in October, and for the first Major League Soccer game to be held there in July of 2021.

 

More below:

https://www.columbusunderground.com/new-crew-soccer-stadium-and-development-gets-first-approval-bw1

 

Are they going to eventually do something with the open area north of the stadium and south of the tracks? I thought that was supposed to be built up according to some of the earliest news. Would it be out of the question to wish for a tower on a parking pedestal(to bring it up/views/reduce sounds/etc? Also I hope they redevelop that area east of the light building and south of Nationwide-that would be prime territory for office/residential.

 

Wasn't this supposed to be over 800 residential units and is now only about half that? 

 

Also really psyched about a unique stadium design. 

 

Sorry if this has been asked..been off of here for a while.

4 minutes ago, Toddguy said:

Are they going to eventually do something with the open area north of the stadium and south of the tracks? I thought that was supposed to be built up according to some of the earliest news. Would it be out of the question to wish for a tower on a parking pedestal(to bring it up/views/reduce sounds/etc? Also I hope they redevelop that area east of the light building and south of Nationwide-that would be prime territory for office/residential.

 

Wasn't this supposed to be over 800 residential units and is now only about half that? 

 

Also really psyched about a unique stadium design. 

 

Sorry if this has been asked..been off of here for a while.

 

From the article: "A timeline for the build-out of the mixed-use development that will occupy the western portion of the site is still up in the air, according to Dangerfield."

 

According the rendering, it looks like this is just "Phase 1" for the mixed-use portion. It also seems that they are planning to expand north given the depiction of the road extending in that direction.

8 hours ago, jonoh81 said:

 

If Nationwide had its way, everything in the city would be the same monotone brick and 5-6 stories.  It's why I don't hold out much hope for any of the current sites they own Downtown and Franklinton.  They have zero architectural vision anymore.

 

Eh, they're an insurance company. You have to expect a certain level of restraint and conservativeness with a company who's job is to manage risk. But at least you get quality and assurance they can actually follow through. 

8 hours ago, cbussoccer said:

 

Spring Street is not very conducive of ground floor retail/restaurant space. Anything there likely would have struggled. 

 

There is the riverfront and parks right across the street, and there is nothing saying that the intersection there couldn't have been pedestrianized further.  You also have to consider longer term. When the Scioto Peninsula is built out, there will likely be some kind of bridge in this area connecting the two.  All those people will have the option to cross the river into the AD, so restaurants lining the riverfront make sense.

Edited September 12, 20195 yr by jonoh81

8 minutes ago, 17thState said:

 

Eh, they're an insurance company. You have to expect a certain level of restraint and conservativeness with a company who's job is to manage risk. But at least you get quality and assurance they can actually follow through. 

 

And the fact that they were the first to do it, several other cities have studied the success of the Arena District and Easton to model in their cities.  To me that's a great thing and something we can be proud of in Central Ohio. @jonoh81

10 minutes ago, jonoh81 said:

 

There is the riverfront and parks right across the street, and there is nothing saying that the intersection there couldn't have been pedestrianized further.  You also have to consider longer term. When the Scioto Peninsula is built out, there will likely be some kind of bridge in this area connecting the two.  All those people will have the option to cross the river into the AD, so restaurants lining the riverfront make sense.

 

Who’s to say some of that ground floor space can’t be converted in the future if need be? It seems it would be pretty simple to add a couple restaurant spaces if they want to. 

1 hour ago, wpcc88 said:

 

And the fact that they were the first to do it, several other cities have studied the success of the Arena District and Easton to model in their cities.  To me that's a great thing and something we can be proud of in Central Ohio. @jonoh81

 

I don't think it's the architecture that cities were copying, but rather the layout, mixed-use characteristics and revitalization of a formerly declined urban neighborhood.  You can find brick boxes literally everywhere.  There is nothing unique about the architecture in the AD.  And anyway, I wasn't criticizing the entire neighborhood, I'm criticizing Nationwide for not branching out architecturally or with height.  And before anyone tells me they're just an insurance company... no.  They're not.  They've been in the development game for decades, and since they are, I have no different expectations for them than I would Borror or anyone else.

Edited September 12, 20195 yr by jonoh81

1 hour ago, cbussoccer said:

 

Who’s to say some of that ground floor space can’t be converted in the future if need be? It seems it would be pretty simple to add a couple restaurant spaces if they want to. 

 

It may technically be possible, but I'm not sure any of that space was really meant to be converted at some future point, and I doubt they would with such a new build. 

Anything's possible, but of course there had to be an annoying setback like everything has to have a front yard or something. "Make sure that there's space to trap some rageout dogs in chain-link fencing so they can lunge at pedestrians and bark their heads off"

Another thing to keep in mind is that since there is green space across the street it is going to be a detriment to any "retail" spaces until another building with "retail" opens across the street. Good urbanism requires storefronts on both sides of a street just like an enclosed mall.

14 hours ago, 17thState said:

Eh, they're an insurance company. You have to expect a certain level of restraint and conservativeness with a company who's job is to manage risk. But at least you get quality and assurance they can actually follow through. 

 

NRI - Nationwide Realty Investments - is not an insurance company.  It does fall within the umbrella of the larger insurance company (Nationwide Mutual, I believe).  It was mostly created so they could reap tax credits related to restoring historic property sites and building low income housing.  If they make a profit from NRI itself then that's a bonus.

 

There's nothing about it that says they need to build the same 5-6 story brick structures.  They could change it up and it would still serve the same purpose.

33 minutes ago, DarkandStormy said:

 

NRI - Nationwide Realty Investments - is not an insurance company.  It does fall within the umbrella of the larger insurance company (Nationwide Mutual, I believe).  It was mostly created so they could reap tax credits related to restoring historic property sites and building low income housing.  If they make a profit from NRI itself then that's a bonus.

 

You may be confusing Nationwide Realty and Nationwide Children's. 

 

Nationwide Children's has a real estate arm, Healthy Homes that focuses on low income housing and tax credits on the south side surrounding the hospital. They have no affiliation with Nationwide Mutual or NRI other than the fact that the sponsorship gives the name.  

 

Nationwide Realty Investments NRI is an arm of Nationwide Mutual focused solely on increasing the diversity of the company's economic portfolio and profits. NRI only does market rate and high end large scale developments for profit (Grandview Yard, Arena District) To my knowledge, NRI has not done any low income housing across its multistate portfolio. Only large scale developments.  NRI does treat their developments much like an insurance company with conservative approaches. This is why I'm not particularly hopeful they bring anything groundbreaking to Franklinton or any of the acres upon acres of land they just sit on with no future plan. NRI won't sell either (except in this case) and they hold up potential development by holding so much unused land. Imagine it NRI sold a handful of plots downtown of in franklinton to a big city developer who is forced maximize their investment rather than have the knowledge that they own so much land that they cant keep up on. 

Edited September 12, 20195 yr by DTCL11

10 minutes ago, DTCL11 said:

 

You may be confusing Nationwide Realty and Nationwide Children's. 

 

Nationwide Children's has a real estate arm, Healthy Homes that focuses on low income housing and tax credits on the south side surrounding the hospital. They have no affiliation with Nationwide Mutual or NRI other than the fact that the sponsorship gives the name.  

 

Nationwide Realty Investments NRI is an arm of Nationwide Mutual focused solely on increasing the diversity of the company's economic portfolio and profits. NRI only does market rate and high end large scale developments for profit (Grandview Yard, Arena District) To my knowledge, NRI has not done any low income housing across its multistate portfolio. Only large scale developments.  NRI does treat their developments much like an insurance company with conservative approaches. This is why I'm not particularly hopeful they bring anything groundbreaking to Franklinton or any of the acres upon acres of land they just sit on with no future plan. NRI won't sell either (except in this case) and they hold up potential development by holding so much unused land. Imagine it NRI sold a handful of plots downtown of in franklinton to a big city developer who is forced maximize their investment rather than have the knowledge that they own so much land that they cant keep up on. 

Didn't Nationwide sell the AEP property to them to build their HQ? Was there some kind of relationship there a la Orange Barrel Media and Cover My Meds?

24 minutes ago, aderwent said:

Didn't Nationwide sell the AEP property to them to build their HQ? Was there some kind of relationship there a la Orange Barrel Media and Cover My Meds?

 

If you're referring to the AEP tower, that was before NRI and Nationwide using realty as a profit model through developments and apartment complex. Any other land swaps are usually part of a much larger deal nowadays. 

9 minutes ago, DTCL11 said:

This is why I'm not particularly hopeful they bring anything groundbreaking to Franklinton or any of the acres upon acres of land they just sit on with no future plan. NRI won't sell either (except in this case) and they hold up potential development by holding so much unused land. Imagine it NRI sold a handful of plots downtown of in franklinton to a big city developer who is forced maximize their investment rather than have the knowledge that they own so much land that they cant keep up on. 

 

Half of the land that Gravity 2 is being built on was owned by Nationwide and sold to Kaufman (mentioned in this article). 

6 hours ago, .justin said:

 

Half of the land that Gravity 2 is being built on was owned by Nationwide and sold to Kaufman (mentioned in this article). 

 

Perhaps the point was they hold onto land until they can get maximum return.  Nothing wrong with that, exactly, but it may hold up development of sites longer than otherwise.  And I think that had NRI developed that site themselves, the development would've had a lot more in common architecturally with Franklin Station next door than Gravity.

But all this goes back to something I and others have said many times: The city needs more quality developers.  

Edited September 12, 20195 yr by jonoh81

1 hour ago, jonoh81 said:

But all this goes back to something I and others have said many times: The city needs more quality developers.  

 

This. And start doing more to attract outside developers. Columbus won't see a major upward/rapid/modern expansion until outside developers are forced to maximize small plots of land unlike local developers who have acres and acres of unused land so they feel less pressure to maximize. I think if we start seeing big city firms invest in Columbus we will see a completely different level of development downtown/adjacent. Without that, unless it's a government assured/backed project, we are going to continue to struggle to break out of a mold with the exception of a few projects. 

I just laugh when people complain and act as if similar cities have a ton of outside influence on their development.  Outside of the big 3-4 and cities like Nashville and Austin, it's simply not true.  

 

Cleveland and Cincinnati would kill to have the action going on that Columbus does and yet all anyone does is yes, complain!

2 hours ago, wpcc88 said:

I just laugh when people complain and act as if similar cities have a ton of outside influence on their development.  Outside of the big 3-4 and cities like Nashville and Austin, it's simply not true.  

 

Cleveland and Cincinnati would kill to have the action going on that Columbus does and yet all anyone does is yes, complain!

In some respects, that's the point. If Columbus wants a bigger boom, there needs to be more outside developers in Columbus like in Austin, Nashville, Charlotte, etc. But There are plenty of outside developers in our peer cities. 3 of the 5 largest recent and under construction residential projects in cleveland are managed and funded by New York, Chicago and Houston developers. A major $175 mil project at West Side Market is a Chicago Firm. Many other smaller projects in Cleveland are from outside firms as well. One Charlotte developer has converted 3 large historic building in downtown Cincy into hotels in the last 5 or so years alone. Several of the largest projects in Indy are outside developers from places like Wisconsin and even Cincy. Beyond size and aesthetics, sheer volume of being able to handle so many projects at once is an issue. To say that outside investment is only a sun belt, boom town, thing and our peers aren't seeing it is not accurate. Columbus is in the early stages of attracting outside urban developers and more should be encouraged. 

 

And it's all perspective because there are those like you that would say CLE and Cincy would kill to have what Columbus has and those in CLE and Cincy that laugh at what Columbus boasts. Each has their own merits and very different qualities. I grew up near one and have lived in another for 10 years. There is a very distinct old world vs new world approach to the 3 Cs. I have been to many of our peer cities in the midwest and sun belt, some for several weeks at a time. in the last 2 years and what Columbus has is very good. No doubt. But it can be better. Is what Columbus has better than Cleveland or Cincy? That's hard to quantify as all 3 have a lot going on and going for them.  Laugh away but regardless of that perspective, there is truth to the fact that Columbus should not continue to rely on a handful of local developers if it wants to experience a better, faster, denser, more diverse boom. And I'm not just talking about tall buildings and skylines. Those look nice but it's really about density and the street level experience.

Edited September 13, 20195 yr by DTCL11

There are a few out of town developers here in Columbus and that's a good thing - they will force locals to up their game.

 

The 11 story proposed at King and High - St. Louis developer

The Uncommon at 7th and High - Chicago developer

230 E. Long - Denver developer

7 story proposed at Mound & Grant - Detroit developer

Scioto Peninsula - Some by an Indy developer

 

I'm sure I'm missing a few. 

 

14 hours ago, wpcc88 said:

I just laugh when people complain and act as if similar cities have a ton of outside influence on their development.  Outside of the big 3-4 and cities like Nashville and Austin, it's simply not true.  

 

Cleveland and Cincinnati would kill to have the action going on that Columbus does and yet all anyone does is yes, complain!

 

The point about having more outside developers is about having a higher likelihood of seeing greater architectural diversity, and developers from other cities may also be more likely to propose greater density, especially if they're more familiar with that type of development.  Columbus has a few really good urban developers, but many are also somewhat middle-of-the-road or more experienced with suburban development.  There are FAR too many projects in urban neighborhoods being proposed as single-use, lower density, monotonous design or just poor quality construction.  I could rattle off a long list of recent projects and proposals fitting one or more of these descriptions.  More competition, IMO, will help with some of these issues.

 

Getting back to the actual topic, it would be disappointing to have a really amazing stadium architecturally, and yet have the rest of Confluence Village look exactly like the rest of the AD.  It's an opportunity to create a unique piece of Downtown, and the last thing I want to see is yet another neighborhood of single-color brick boxes.  Their is nothing inherently wrong about them, it's just that we have plenty already.  Let's do something else.

 

Edited September 13, 20195 yr by jonoh81

^Some of the developers attached to the old power structure of Columbus aren't going to build anything that's really good at retaining and attracting Lefties since they don't want things in town going that far left. One reason we do not have rail transit. Out-of-town developers don't have that on their minds.

On 9/12/2019 at 7:23 PM, wpcc88 said:

I just laugh when people complain and act as if similar cities have a ton of outside influence on their development.  Outside of the big 3-4 and cities like Nashville and Austin, it's simply not true.  

 

Cleveland and Cincinnati would kill to have the action going on that Columbus does and yet all anyone does is yes, complain!

 

Actually, Cleveland has a ton going on right now.  Probably as much or more than Columbus. A lot of the Cleveland action was refurbishing old buildings, but now that we've practically run out of buildings to refurbish, the new build has been rocking for the past year with lots more about to come online and about to break ground.   Feel free to check the Cleveland development thread.  It's free!

Yeah dumping on the other 2Cs is silly considering their projects don't always start with empty lots like ours do -- rather they start with things that were already good urbanism in the past.

I wonder if the surface lots behind 530 and 600 W. Spring St that line the south side of Nationwide Blvd, directly across the street from the stadium site, will eventually become something. The Confluence Village renderings and diagrams and everything show nothing planned. I know that's because its owned land that is the parking for those buildings. It just seems like it creates some dead space along what they will want to be a vibrant little corridor.

 

Perhaps one of those buildings (especially 600 Spring which is like a century old but not that architecturally significant and seemingly underutilized?) could be purchased and developed into a mixed use, parking garage with street front commercial space along Nationwide Blvd. Dress it up with a nice facade so the upper parking levels dont look ugly. Or maybe do this same development idea with the surface lot of 530 spring st while leaving the existing office building intact and then those offices could have reserved parking at the bottom levels of the garage. Then 600 Spring could be bought in its entirety and redeveloped into anything. It might even be wise to spread the "walkability" and pedestrian oriented development all the way up to Spring St itself with an eye for the future when pedestrians may cross over the Scioto River from a booming Franklinton via a future pedestrian bridge.

 

Just dreamin' over here...

And while I'm dreaming....some more random ideas....

 

The Municipal Light Building owners have mentioned the smokestack on their building will eventually serve as a "branding opportunity" for one of their tenants.

 

2019 Dispatch story about Municipal Light Building

 

I say the Crew should offer them something more to have that opportunity for themselves. Put CREW up there in big letters (maybe an old typeface to pay homage to the buildings history/era)...and at night illuminate it yellow!  It would make for a great, highly visible, Crew-centric landmark for the neighborhood.

 

The second phase of redevelopment at the Municipal Light Building will be the newer, mid century looking building. They say it will have a rooftop deck overlooking the stadium or towards the stadium at least. I think this would be an awesome place for a huge brewery.

 

I also think where Nationwide Blvd passes under the railroads as you head west out of the Arena District and into "Confluence Village".....would be an awesome place for Crew themed murals. I would also illuminate this yellow at night!

 

Okay I'll stop ranting now!

Edited September 16, 20195 yr by Tobias C

5 hours ago, Tobias C said:

I wonder if the surface lots behind 530 and 600 W. Spring St that line the south side of Nationwide Blvd, directly across the street from the stadium site, will eventually become something. The Confluence Village renderings and diagrams and everything show nothing planned. I know that's because its owned land that is the parking for those buildings. It just seems like it creates some dead space along what they will want to be a vibrant little corridor.

 

Perhaps one of those buildings (especially 600 Spring which is like a century old but not that architecturally significant and seemingly underutilized?) could be purchased and developed into a mixed use, parking garage with street front commercial space along Nationwide Blvd. Dress it up with a nice facade so the upper parking levels dont look ugly. Or maybe do this same development idea with the surface lot of 530 spring st while leaving the existing office building intact and then those offices could have reserved parking at the bottom levels of the garage. Then 600 Spring could be bought in its entirety and redeveloped into anything. It might even be wise to spread the "walkability" and pedestrian oriented development all the way up to Spring St itself with an eye for the future when pedestrians may cross over the Scioto River from a booming Franklinton via a future pedestrian bridge.

 

Just dreamin' over here...

 

Development on the parking lots at 530 and 600 W. Spring Street isn't far-fetched.  They will be prime spots once the new Crew Stadium gets going and when the group renovating the neighboring Municipal Light Building gets finished.

 

-- 600 W. Spring is owned by an affiliate of Nationwide Realty Investors - so very good prospects there.

 

-- 530 W. Spring Street is owned by LION-DOV - which is an affiliate of Bill Schottenstein - aka Arshot - aka the person/company behind the failed Cooper Stadium SPARC project - aka the person/company behind the stalled Millennium Tower project.  So not very good prospects there, but only because of the current ownership.