5 minutes ago, Gnoraa said:

I believe these are the parking lots that NRI still owns.  Didn't Brian Ellis recently come out and say they want to develop these?  Will be a great street presence with the plaza and stadium directly across and Astor Park (Pizzuti) cattycorner!!!

 

From what I understand looking at the auditor website, NRI only owns the Jaeger Machine Co. building and associated parking lot. That building was being used as offices for the stadium construction. I imagine it will be vacant again soon.

 

The other office building and parking lot (in the foreground of the photo, just west of Hocking) appears to be owned by Arshot and has office tenants. 

 

1 hour ago, cbussoccer said:

The smokestack appears to be complete! Well, at least this side of it. I'm assuming the other side is also complete.

 

As of this morning when I passed by the large "Columbus" lettering was completely up and they were working to apply the Crew logo on that side. So, probably complete by this point.

16 minutes ago, Gnoraa said:

I believe these are the parking lots that NRI still owns.  Didn't Brian Ellis recently come out and say they want to develop these?  Will be a great street presence with the plaza and stadium directly across and Astor Park (Pizzuti) cattycorner!!!

Yup. Let's give ourselves an interior alley between the existing buildings and the parking lots and we can activate it with restaurants like they're doing at the Peninsula and then we can do some adaptive reuse/redevelopment on top of those buildings along Spring and we're in business. No less than 12 stories along Nationwide and no less than 20 along Spring (it should actually be the opposite of that to maximize views but for whatever reason it will be reversed)! 

Since the new Crew stadium is finished, shouldn't this thread be split? Astor Park stays and the stadium goes to the completed projects thread?

3 minutes ago, .justin said:

From what I understand looking at the auditor website, NRI only owns the Jaeger Machine Co. building and associated parking lot. That building was being used as offices for the stadium construction. I imagine it will be vacant again soon.

 

The other office building and parking lot (in the foreground of the photo, just west of Hocking) appears to be owned by Arshot and has office tenants. 

 

Yes, I think this is accurate. Based on the auditor's website, here's the current situation. The lots outlined in red are owned by NRI. The lot in the bottom right is apparently where NRI is going to build a tower similar to the North Bank Condo tower. The lot outlined in blue is owned by Arshot. 

 

My hope is that NRI can get the Arshot lot, or work with Arshot, to build out the area. My proposal would be to relocate Hocking Street to the yellow squigly lines I drew. This would allow that tiny surface lot to be included in development plans much more easily. 

 

 

The two existing buildings are somewhat "historical". The building to the left was originally built in 1920, and the Arshot building was originally built in 1936. Neither appear to have any historical significance as they have both undergone major renovations over the years.

 

So we will see what eventually happens, but I can't imagine these lots will sit there for long in their current state. I could definitely see some hotel space being brought to the area as well as some parking and maybe some more residential space and office space. 

5 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

 

Yes, I think this is accurate. Based on the auditor's website, here's the current situation. The lots outlined in red are owned by NRI. The lot in the bottom right is apparently where NRI is going to build a tower similar to the North Bank Condo tower. The lot outlined in blue is owned by Arshot. 

 

My hope is that NRI can get the Arshot lot, or work with Arshot, to build out the area. My proposal would be to relocate Hocking Street to the yellow squigly lines I drew. This would allow that tiny surface lot to be included in development plans much more easily. 

 

 

The two existing buildings are somewhat "historical". The building to the left was originally built in 1920, and the Arshot building was originally built in 1936. Neither appear to have any historical significance as they have both undergone major renovations over the years.

 

So we will see what eventually happens, but I can't imagine these lots will sit there for long in their current state. I could definitely see some hotel space being brought to the area as well as some parking and maybe some more residential space and office space. 

One thing I think will need to be addressed in the future is the traffic patterns.  I'd love to see a reworking of the streets to allow for incoming and outgoing crowd traffic onto Spring Street.  Right now everything will be tightly funneled down NW Blvd from Neil Ave, which is a huge bottleneck when you consider the distance.  Neil is great for Huntington and NW Arena, but I feel a secondary option will do wonders.  Even if you had to put in a light on Spring, that ultimately stay's green, but can be overridden by traffic police during the large events for incoming and outgoing crowd times.

 

As for the 2 "historic" buildings, I'm actually typically a open minded if not advocate for reasonable and appropriate preservation, but I'm sorry, level these 2 buildings and open up the lots to full development.

 

I feel like I heard a comment by Brian Ellis that the tower lot would be at minimum North Bank (20 stories) if not going higher.  They sellout their condo buildings so fast, the market is there.

13 minutes ago, cbussoccer said:

 

Yes, I think this is accurate. Based on the auditor's website, here's the current situation. The lots outlined in red are owned by NRI. The lot in the bottom right is apparently where NRI is going to build a tower similar to the North Bank Condo tower. The lot outlined in blue is owned by Arshot. 

 

My hope is that NRI can get the Arshot lot, or work with Arshot, to build out the area. My proposal would be to relocate Hocking Street to the yellow squigly lines I drew. This would allow that tiny surface lot to be included in development plans much more easily. 

 

 

The two existing buildings are somewhat "historical". The building to the left was originally built in 1920, and the Arshot building was originally built in 1936. Neither appear to have any historical significance as they have both undergone major renovations over the years.

 

So we will see what eventually happens, but I can't imagine these lots will sit there for long in their current state. I could definitely see some hotel space being brought to the area as well as some parking and maybe some more residential space and office space. 

 

The traffic engineers aren't going to like that. It puts Hocking Street closer to the off-ramp, takes away the slip ramp for Hocking (which is on the left, something they don't like) and its car storage capacity then adds a signal to both directions of Spring which currently has it in only one direction.

5 minutes ago, Gnoraa said:

As for the 2 "historic" buildings, I'm actually typically a open minded if not advocate for reasonable and appropriate preservation, but I'm sorry, level these 2 buildings and open up the lots to full development.

 

Totally agree.

 

6 minutes ago, Gnoraa said:

I feel like I heard a comment by Brian Ellis that the tower lot would be at minimum North Bank (20 stories) if not going higher.  They sellout their condo buildings so fast, the market is there.

 

This is probably what you are thinking of:

 

Nationwide Realty also owns a 1½-acre site at the northwest corner of West Spring and Hanover streets that Ellis expects to one day develop into a high-rise akin to the Condominiums at North Bank Park and Parks Edge condominiums down the street.

"We hope to have a mix of offices and residential here," he said while touring the district recently. "It could be big."

 

https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/2021/07/02/arena-district-office-and-residential-development-far-done/7795014002/

 

I would guess, based off that quote, that they are envisioning something at least 15 stories, but probably more in the 20-25 story range. Hopefully they move forward on it soon! Although I'd rather see the lots across from the stadium get developed first. 

24 minutes ago, GCrites80s said:

 

The traffic engineers aren't going to like that. It puts Hocking Street closer to the off-ramp, takes away the slip ramp for Hocking (which is on the left, something they don't like) and its car storage capacity then adds a signal to both directions of Spring which currently has it in only one direction.

 

I'm not quite sure what you are getting at. 

 

Here's specifically what I'm proposing in terms of street realignment and traffic signals:

 

 

I'm not quite sure what the issue would be in terms of off-ramps. The traffic signal for the new Hocking Street would only be for right turns from Hocking onto Spring. There would be no turns to/from Long. Traffic on Long would travel down to Hanover where a new signal would be. This intersection would already need a signal in the future to allow for pedestrian crossing and increased traffic, assuming the surrounding area gets built out the way it should. 

 

If anything, it seems moving Hocking further west would be the safest option. Currently you have cars crossing Spring from a turn lane that has a slightly obstructed view of oncoming traffic, and the traffic is coming from under a railroad overpass. You also have cars pulling on to Spring from Hocking which have to deal with cars traveling at 45 mph and coming from under the same railroad overpass. Traffic will need to be slowed down a bit when the area gets built out, so this seems like a logical solution.

Oh a RIRO. That would be fine.

15 minutes ago, GCrites80s said:

Oh a RIRO. That would be fine.

 

Yes, at Spring and Hocking. 

That still keeps the bottleneck at Neil and Nationwide. That's where anyone heading east or north or into Downtown is forced to go. One of those intersections (Hanover or Hocking) needs to be a full service intersection. 

It definitely is going to take some creative reworking of the current layout, but given the influx of office, apartments, restaurants/bars and event traffic that's about to happen around Lower.com Field, a traffic change/modification of some nature needs to happen.  I'll leave that up to the experts though, traffic engineering almost gives me a headache, but they're the professionals :)

 

Maybe this is crazy, but what if an access road even more west of what cbussoccer illustrated took place and have it be a one way south to Spring/Long?  So this would be west of the 2nd "historic" office building basically right up against the power transformer station.  Then have a full 3 way large intersection/light for turn options on both Spring or Long.  It's unique because they are one ways that run side by side to each other.  Then have the current Hocking street be a one way north to NW Blvd.

 

Again, I'm not a traffic design/engineer at all so I'm sure I'm overlooking something big time hahaha

Edited July 28, 20213 yr by Gnoraa

3 hours ago, Gnoraa said:

One thing I think will need to be addressed in the future is the traffic patterns.  I'd love to see a reworking of the streets to allow for incoming and outgoing crowd traffic onto Spring Street.  Right now everything will be tightly funneled down NW Blvd from Neil Ave, which is a huge bottleneck when you consider the distance.  Neil is great for Huntington and NW Arena, but I feel a secondary option will do wonders.  Even if you had to put in a light on Spring, that ultimately stay's green, but can be overridden by traffic police during the large events for incoming and outgoing crowd times.

 

There are plans to add signals at Hocking and at Hanover. The city solicited bids for the project in June and it looks like council approved the construction contract last week.

 

At Hocking they are basically replacing the current flashing light with a full signal and then adding a second left turn lane, essentially setting it up to handle mostly inbound traffic, though still allowing right-turn traffic from Hocking to Spring (north is up):

 

At Hanover they are planning to allow for outbound left turning traffic and not allowing inbound traffic from Long to Hanover (north is to the right):

 

2 minutes ago, .justin said:

 

There are plans to add signals at Hocking and at Hanover. The city solicited bids for the project in June and it looks like council approved the construction contract last week.

 

At Hocking they are basically replacing the current flashing light with a full signal and then adding a second left turn lane, essentially setting it up to handle mostly inbound traffic, though still allowing right-turn traffic from Hocking to Spring (north is up):

 

At Hanover they are planning to allow for outbound left turning traffic and not allowing inbound traffic from Long to Hanover (north is to the right):

 

They should have consulted me first. What the heck?!

4 hours ago, .justin said:

As of this morning when I passed by the large "Columbus" lettering was completely up and they were working to apply the Crew logo on that side. So, probably complete by this point.

 

Photo of the Columbus side of the smokestack from Twitter - 

 

5 hours ago, Pablo said:

Since the new Crew stadium is finished, shouldn't this thread be split? Astor Park stays and the stadium goes to the completed projects thread?

 

Leaving that one up to @Columbo.  That's a looooooooooooooooooooot of work.

14 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

 

Leaving that one up to @Columbo.  That's a looooooooooooooooooooot of work.

I vote we just leave it as is. Once the entire neighborhood is built out maybe we can move the thread. 

13 hours ago, cbussoccer said:

I vote we just leave it as is. Once the entire neighborhood is built out maybe we can move the thread. 

OK, but let's put all Crew related discussions in the sports thread.

As long as this thread doesn't get flooded with pictures and videos every time there's a game at the stadium, I think it should be alright.

42 minutes ago, Pablo said:

OK, but let's put all Crew related discussions in the sports thread.

 

That's fine. We haven't even talked much Crew-specific stuff here though. The past few pages have been discussing the fact that a large profile international game will be held at the stadium, and how the surrounding area can be built out. That all seems to be appropriate for the thread. 

 

30 minutes ago, TIm said:

As long as this thread doesn't get flooded with pictures and videos every time there's a game at the stadium, I think it should be alright.

 

Agreed, although that's only happened thus far to document how the finished product looks in action. Again, that seems to be appropriate for the thread. 

20 hours ago, cbussoccer said:

 

I'm not quite sure what you are getting at. 

 

Here's specifically what I'm proposing in terms of street realignment and traffic signals:

 

 

I'm not quite sure what the issue would be in terms of off-ramps. The traffic signal for the new Hocking Street would only be for right turns from Hocking onto Spring. There would be no turns to/from Long. Traffic on Long would travel down to Hanover where a new signal would be. This intersection would already need a signal in the future to allow for pedestrian crossing and increased traffic, assuming the surrounding area gets built out the way it should. 

 

If anything, it seems moving Hocking further west would be the safest option. Currently you have cars crossing Spring from a turn lane that has a slightly obstructed view of oncoming traffic, and the traffic is coming from under a railroad overpass. You also have cars pulling on to Spring from Hocking which have to deal with cars traveling at 45 mph and coming from under the same railroad overpass. Traffic will need to be slowed down a bit when the area gets built out, so this seems like a logical solution.

It definitely seems like there should be a road or something along that line. Whether or not they add lights elsewhere to help with traffic, there should be either an actual road or a pedestrian thoroughfare along that line. Even if it allows traffic that is right turn only into/out of Spring. That block of land needs to be broken up IMO.

What would really be helpful is if they pave a road connecting the Astor Park development to the White Castle development to the north (underneath 670). It's all at grade -- there are 2 railroads to cross, but just add RR crossings. It connects two semi-isolated developments and allows for some direct access to/from 315 at Goodale.

4 hours ago, jebleprls22 said:

What would really be helpful is if they pave a road connecting the Astor Park development to the White Castle development to the north (underneath 670). It's all at grade -- there are 2 railroads to cross, but just add RR crossings. It connects two semi-isolated developments and allows for some direct access to/from 315 at Goodale.

I would rather the connection be from what will apparently be the eastern end of Nordecke drive(what on Google Earth is the name for the road north of the stadium) east/northeast across and into "The Triangle" and then north into the "The Quadrilateral" that is south of Vine. White Castle can then be connected to this all by extending a road into the existing access point under the freeway east into  "The Quadrilateral".  Instead of connecting two semi-isolated areas, you would be connecting four.  Connecting the extra two areas would improve access and might make them more developable, and make the cost of the connection more 'worth it".

 

If you are going to have at grade rail crossings I would rather they connect everything together and everything would have two entrance/exit points. The alternative would be either a large overpass or a large underpass-requiring much $$$$ to build. I really don't have the knowledge of whether or not these at grade crossings are something that is feasible or not(also not sure given the different locations of them).  What happened with Schottenstein and the Grand Central plan does not bode well-it seems they ran into problems with the at grade crossings-I am not sure if the problems were technical in nature/not feasible for safety reasons/regulations, or just really expensive?

 

It might be a good time for "the powers that be" to think about these things/come up with a solution while there is momentum in this area with what is currently being built and planned. Build things now that will at least allow future extensions to be built or feasible, instead of locking off access to some of these isolated areas by making future road extensions unworkable.

Edited July 29, 20213 yr by Toddguy

I just think this picture is amazing. Wanted to share. Stole it off TwitterI 

Edited July 30, 20213 yr by WagChase

1 hour ago, WagChase said:

I just think this picture is amazing. Wanted to share. Stole it off TwitterI 

 

Yes. The downtown skyline in the background is amazing. Even though this is a rendering and not a photograph.

2 hours ago, Columbo said:

 

Yes. The downtown skyline in the background is amazing. Even though this is a rendering and not a photograph.

Really? It looks real

Edited July 30, 20213 yr by WagChase

^ Yep:  Here's a bunch of links to some opening game photo-posts I compiled in the Crew thread at https://forum.urbanohio.com/topic/4534-columbus-crew-discussion/page/45/?tab=comments#comment-1022620

On 7/8/2021 at 4:52 PM, Columbo said:

In the Lower.com Field / Astor Park development thread, two excellent posts with lots of photos of the before, during and after of Saturday's opening game:

• cbussoccer:  https://forum.urbanohio.com/topic/1415-columbus-downtown-lowercom-field-astor-park/page/19/?tab=comments#comment-1022404
• NorthShore647:  https://forum.urbanohio.com/topic/1415-columbus-downtown-lowercom-field-astor-park/page/19/?tab=comments#comment-1022405

 

And four local media photo galleries of opening day:

• https://www.dispatch.com/picture-gallery/sports/2021/07/03/gallery-columbus-crew-fans-prep-first-day-lower-com-field/7852208002/
• https://www.massivereport.com/2021/7/4/22562537/gallery-columbus-crew-vs-new-england-revolution-lower-dot-com-field-opener
• https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2021/07/05/photos-columbus-crew-unveils-lower-com-field.html
• https://www.columbusunderground.com/photos-columbus-crew-vs-new-england-revolution-me1/

 

Here is sort of the same view as that rendering:

 

And another similar view but without the fireworks:

 

Personally though, one of my favorites was NorthShore647's photo from a different angle where you can see the historic power plant building through the southwest corner of the stadium:

I see it now. Yeah. My bad

Edited July 30, 20213 yr by WagChase

6 hours ago, WagChase said:

Really? It looks real

 

The shark head with "R U OK?" underneath it on the field didn't tip you off to the fact that maybe it's not a real picture? lol

3 hours ago, cbussoccer said:

 

The shark head with "R U OK?" underneath it on the field didn't tip you off to the fact that maybe it's not a real picture? lol

 

This is what the field would look like if Morgan Hughes became the head groundskeeper(!)

10 hours ago, WagChase said:

I see it now. Yeah. My bad

It still looks good though.

 

I always loved that railway adjacent, big field tailgating energy at the fairgrounds before a game. Glad we can some of that to our new home. Here are some pictures of The Triangle I took at the opener. 

 

 

 

LDC from The Triangle back in March

 

Here is the one entrance to The Triangle on Nationwide between the tracks before the game. FWIW the lot had been used as Huntington Park employee parking in the past, so there is a precedent for its use as intermittent Arena District gameday parking.  

 

19 minutes ago, NorthShore647 said:

 

I always loved that railway adjacent, big field tailgating energy at the fairgrounds before a game. Glad we can some of that to our new home. Here are some pictures of The Triangle I took at the opener. 

 

 

 

LDC from The Triangle back in March

 

Here is the one entrance to The Triangle on Nationwide between the tracks before the game. FWIW the lot had been used as Huntington Park employee parking in the past, so there is a precedent for its use as intermittent Arena District gameday parking.  

 

^ Good stuff.  This also explains this Morgan Hughes tweet from before yesterday's game(!)

 

I love this! the forgotten "Triangle" now has a name-The Crew Triangle!!!!  Long live the Crew Triangle!-and may it be developed and connected to another area(either west or north) in the future!

1 hour ago, NorthShore647 said:

 

I always loved that railway adjacent, big field tailgating energy at the fairgrounds before a game. Glad we can some of that to our new home. Here are some pictures of The Triangle I took at the opener. 

 

 

 

LDC from The Triangle back in March

 

Here is the one entrance to The Triangle on Nationwide between the tracks before the game. FWIW the lot had been used as Huntington Park employee parking in the past, so there is a precedent for its use as intermittent Arena District gameday parking.  

 

I absolutely adore this idea! Way to take an inactive piece of land (that I thought was going to stay barren and forgotten forever due to its inaccessibility) and make it into something exciting! As @Toddguymentioned, hopefully this eventually leads to development of the land. Columbus just keeps getting better and better!

Some pics of the finished Columbus Crew smokestack:

 

Distant pic from https://twitter.com/Yaznasty/status/1421246948317794310

 

Closer pics from https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/the-history-behind-the-new-crew-smokestack

 

An interesting historical fact from the Columbus Crew website story about the smokestack is that when it was in use, it was painted white with "MUNICIPAL LIGHT PLANT" lettering painted in black on it.  So this new bright yellow paint job with new lettering is actually going back to the way it used to look(!)

^^ Great pics...but...now I am longing for a 900 foot cylindrical observation tower directly across from the Statehouse next to the old Dispatch building! 

20 hours ago, Columbo said:

Some pics of the finished Columbus Crew smokestack:

 

Distant pic from https://twitter.com/Yaznasty/status/1421246948317794310

 

Closer pics from https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/the-history-behind-the-new-crew-smokestack

 

An interesting historical fact from the Columbus Crew website story about the smokestack is that when it was in use, it was painted white with "MUNICIPAL LIGHT PLANT" lettering painted in black on it.  So this new bright yellow paint job with new lettering is actually going back to the way it used to look(!)

This also shows that the roof of the stadium is getting closer to being complete. It is a much darker black now and looks like it’s 3/4 complete. 

1 hour ago, VintageLife said:

This also shows that the roof of the stadium is getting closer to being complete. It is a much darker black now and looks like it’s 3/4 complete.

Is this part of the sealing process?  I remember there were a bunch of posts on social media where tons of water was coming through the roof on a really rainy day when people were touring the stadium.  Luckily, it hasn't rained on any match days yet.

21 hours ago, Columbo said:

 

Closer pics from https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/the-history-behind-the-new-crew-smokestack

 

 

 

 

Drone shots... on film?

More signage going up to today. I think we should see the signage on the roof installed fairly soon.

 

8 hours ago, TH3BUDDHA said:

Is this part of the sealing process?  I remember there were a bunch of posts on social media where tons of water was coming through the roof on a really rainy day when people were touring the stadium.  Luckily, it hasn't rained on any match days yet.

Not sure, I think they had that fixed already, this does look like the final sealing though. 

On 7/31/2021 at 12:25 PM, NorthShore647 said:

 

I always loved that railway adjacent, big field tailgating energy at the fairgrounds before a game. Glad we can some of that to our new home. Here are some pictures of The Triangle I took at the opener. 

 

 

 

LDC from The Triangle back in March

 

Here is the one entrance to The Triangle on Nationwide between the tracks before the game. FWIW the lot had been used as Huntington Park employee parking in the past, so there is a precedent for its use as intermittent Arena District gameday parking.  

 

and

 

And then came the rains.

 

Some took shelter under their flimsy tents at the Mega-Tailgate:

 

Some took shelter under the two railroad bridges on Nationwide Boulevard:

 

But the rain has stopped and there's time to dry out before the 7:30pm game start(!)

So, I am unsure if this is new but.. I was driving down spring street last night and noticed that the electrical transmission station along spring now has uplighting installed. 
 

Is this new?

 

I never noticed this before but I dont often find myself on spring street in the evening hours. If it is new, it is certainly welcome. Definitely adds visual appeal to an otherwise boring sight. My first guess is that Connect added these as a part of their reno of the municipal light building but again, not even sure if these lights are new.

7 hours ago, NightNectar said:

So, I am unsure if this is new but.. I was driving down spring street last night and noticed that the electrical transmission station along spring now has uplighting installed. 
 

Is this new?

 

I never noticed this before but I dont often find myself on spring street in the evening hours. If it is new, it is certainly welcome. Definitely adds visual appeal to an otherwise boring sight. My first guess is that Connect added these as a part of their reno of the municipal light building but again, not even sure if these lights are new.

I wonder if NRI has ever inquired about putting up faux facades around the substations in the AD on Convention Center Dr and the one that fronts Spring?

49 minutes ago, wpcc88 said:

I wonder if NRI has ever inquired about putting up faux facades around the substations in the AD on Convention Center Dr and the one that fronts Spring?

If only!!! Those things are hideous. If they can/are allowed to, they should. Those are horrific eyesores especially in very urban areas.

On 9/14/2021 at 8:22 AM, NightNectar said:

So, I am unsure if this is new but.. I was driving down spring street last night and noticed that the electrical transmission station along spring now has uplighting installed. 
 

Is this new?

 

I never noticed this before but I dont often find myself on spring street in the evening hours. If it is new, it is certainly welcome. Definitely adds visual appeal to an otherwise boring sight. My first guess is that Connect added these as a part of their reno of the municipal light building but again, not even sure if these lights are new.

Never noticed this before either. Were they color changing lights or white? Either way a cool way to spruce up a rather bland functional space. 

On 9/19/2021 at 12:08 PM, 17thState said:

Never noticed this before either. Were they color changing lights or white? Either way a cool way to spruce up a rather bland functional space. 

Just white when I passed by. 

Was in Columbus yesterday visiting some family, then girlfriend and I went out to dinner in the short north and after we went for a walk. Happened to walk down High and turn right on Nationwide around 7:15. People were everywhere (on a Buckeyes game-night no less!), and after a few minutes I figured out why, so we followed the crowd all the way to the new stadium. Awesome vibe on the street and the exterior is striking. Very happy the new stadium appears to have turned out excellently, will return ASAP to go to a match.

Edited September 26, 20213 yr by mu2010