Kinda surprised it will be that early, tbh. 
 

Here’s when the Hilton Columbus Downtown’s new tower will officially open

 

“After three years of construction, the opening of the brand-new, $255 million tower addition to the Hilton Columbus Downtown is finally around the corner.

 

The addition, along with the renovation to the existing Hilton tower, will be “substantially completed” by Aug. 26.

 

“It’s tight, it’s very tight, but we still believe that the project will be … open in late August,” said Don Brown, executive director of the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority, the hotel’s owner.

 

Everything will be delivered by that date except the rooftop bar and restaurant, Brown said this week.”

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/04/29/hilton-construction-update-april.html

I'm guessing they want to be open for the entire OSU football season. The first home game is September 3 against Notre Dame, so there is probably much more hotel room demand than the MAC opponent that the Buckeyes typically have on their schedule that early.

Edited May 2, 20223 yr by OliverHazardPerry

19 minutes ago, OliverHazardPerry said:

I'm guessing they want to be open for the entire OSU football season. The first home game is September 3 against Notre Dame, so there is probably much more hotel room demand than the MAC opponent that the Buckeyes typically have on their schedule that early.

This is why I am so confused that they are not pushing quickly for a hotel at the 15th and high development. Build a 20 story hotel there and it will be booked all the time. 

Anyone have a picture from today or yesterday?  I noticed last night while driving that they were installing the "crown" or finishing exterior accents at the top.

Green roof installation is underway on the ballroom roof.

 

View out from the bar on the 28th level. Taken last week. 
 

 

 

The buck hoists (exterior construction elevators) have been removed. That means the internal fright elevators are operational. The south façade will be completed soon. The green roof looks good too.

 

The Hilton Tower is a great addition to skyline when viewed from the Short North, in my professional opinion.

 

 

Plus, it sorta blocks the Rhodes Tower.  I'm pleased. 

Window installation is going quickly on the south façade were the buck hoists were removed. 

 

^   Pretty close to anything that does that is good.  I have never understood Columbus's approach to the skyline.   One great building (LeVeque Lincoln) and then blah.

7 minutes ago, E Rocc said:

^   Pretty close to anything that does that is good.  I have never understood Columbus's approach to the skyline.   One great building (LeVeque Lincoln) and then blah.

 

I've always liked Huntington Tower and Riffe Tower. They are both very unique and easily distinguish Columbus from any other city. 

40 minutes ago, E Rocc said:

^   Pretty close to anything that does that is good.  I have never understood Columbus's approach to the skyline.   One great building (LeVeque Lincoln) and then blah.

 

Because we weren't important until the late '80s.

^That and the 70s were not kind to the center city. 

To be fair, Rhodes is also very unique and easily distinguish Columbus from any other city. 😉

 

The Columbus approach to the skyline is a product of it's time. In general, our largest buildings were built in a period where many other cities had similar builds, but they've been long covered, masked, or removed.  That or nobody really talks about them (Ft Wayne). Chicago has Water Tower Place, Olympia Center, North Harbor Tower, 200 West Madison, Three First National etc etc that were also built during the same period as the Columbus Peak and the similarities to our buildings of the same period is pretty remarkable. But they've been long forgotten with all that happened since or what they had before. 

 

 

Many were built to fill office space for profit as well and not be a showpiece of any particular company's portfolio or brand. Even the showy office towers fit the design of their time (AEP, NW).  Our peak building era was the early stages of designing with energy efficiency at the forefront of, and to the sacrifice of aestetic. 

 

To really break out of that, Columbus needs companies and developers who wants to have that 'showpiece'. The original North Market Tower design was the closest we have come in awhile.

 

And this is consistent across the board. Lots of infill ends up looking like the finalized Merchant Building across the country, even in Chicago and NYC. But places like Omaha and Cleveland getting showy new towers is directly correlated to (Mutual of Omaha, Playhouse Square, Sherwin Williams, etc) wanting a defining tower. 

 

Before NW made the decision to bring office associates to Grandview Yard, they considered a 3rd tower but ultimately decided on a different direction.  So who are we going to convince to build the show pieces?

 

I slapped this together a few months ago to show the timeline of Columbus's tallest buildings. The gray is Merchant Building. The last one is OSU Medical Center. It really does show how drastic the slow down was. Now, it obviously doesn't account for the remarkable infill we've had over the last decade so it's really just geared toward skyline junkies. 

 

Edited June 17, 20222 yr by DTCL11

1 hour ago, E Rocc said:

^   Pretty close to anything that does that is good.  I have never understood Columbus's approach to the skyline.   One great building (LeVeque Lincoln) and then blah.

 

Most skylines are like that with a signature tower or two and that's it.  Aside from Key and Terminal, Cleveland's would be "blah" by that standard too.  

 

And for the record, Huntington Tower is a great landmark tower for Columbus.  Much like the Cash Register in Denver, of its time.

1 hour ago, E Rocc said:

^   Pretty close to anything that does that is good.  I have never understood Columbus's approach to the skyline.   One great building (LeVeque Lincoln) and then blah.

God I wish the Leveque tower was double in size.

47 minutes ago, DTCL11 said:

Before NW made the decision to bring office associates to Grandview Yard, they considered a 3rd tower but ultimately decided on a different direction.  So who are we going to convince to build the show pieces?

I wonder, do we think there’s much of a chance now of seeing many new show pieces, with the big push towards WFH? 
 

Im hoping Intel establishes some sort of Downtown presence eventually, but I don’t see them building a tower. Would be nice for one of our home growns to build a downtown tower. Branch recently achieved unicorn status, I believe, and it would be nice to see them establish a larger downtown campus as they continue to grow, but I don’t really see a tower coming from them either. I keep hoping for Grant to build a new showpiece tower, akin to the WMC tower, but taller and skinnier, but I’m not sure how well that fits in with OhioHealth’s regional growth plans. I do think COTA needs to go big, iconic, and showpiece-y with their redevelopment of the Greyhound site, since they want this to be their mobility hub. But I’m not exactly holding my breath either. 
 

I think our best bets for new showpieces will likely be new residential and hotel towers in the near future. 

29 minutes ago, amped91 said:

with the big push towards WFH? 

This. Who knows what the future of WFH will be, but right now it's absolutely a factor. Companies are also waiting for their leases to expire so they can downsize the sq. ft. they lease. That'll free up even more existing space. 

52 minutes ago, amped91 said:

I wonder, do we think there’s much of a chance now of seeing many new show pieces, with the big push towards WFH? 
 

Im hoping Intel establishes some sort of Downtown presence eventually, but I don’t see them building a tower. Would be nice for one of our home growns to build a downtown tower. Branch recently achieved unicorn status, I believe, and it would be nice to see them establish a larger downtown campus as they continue to grow, but I don’t really see a tower coming from them either. I keep hoping for Grant to build a new showpiece tower, akin to the WMC tower, but taller and skinnier, but I’m not sure how well that fits in with OhioHealth’s regional growth plans. I do think COTA needs to go big, iconic, and showpiece-y with their redevelopment of the Greyhound site, since they want this to be their mobility hub. But I’m not exactly holding my breath either. 
 

I think our best bets for new showpieces will likely be new residential and hotel towers in the near future. 

It would be great to have a few more tall buildings, but IMO I just want a dense walkable Downtown. If all we get is a bunch of 10-15 story buildings I'm fine with it, as long as they are mixed use and add to the downtown shopping, living and eating establishments. 

I think our most likely high rise future will be in the form of mixed use with a heavy lean towards residential. If you look at recent booms in Austin, Nashville, Toronto, Miami, etc. the signature and tall towers they are getting are overwhelmingly residential. While I think office will always be around, WFH may have a hidden perk of helping diversify the uses of downtown. I would say look to 250 High and 80 On The Commons for how development will probably look moving forward (not in height but in mix); 10% commercial, 20-40% office, 50-70% residential. 

Edited June 17, 20222 yr by DevolsDance

^Austin is doing exactly that (office/residential/commercial) with their new tallest 1,000+ tower.

 

Ongoing window installation and Pride Parade

 

The more striking thing in that photo is the Convention Center appears to be stepping down High Street.  Weird optical illusion.

40 minutes ago, 614love said:

 

I would imagine that crane won't be around too much longer. 

The windows on the south façade have gone up quickly!

 

Friday 6/17

 

Today 6/21

On 6/21/2022 at 3:26 PM, Pablo said:

The windows on the south façade have gone up quickly!

 

Friday 6/17

 

Today 6/21

 

Should be complete by the end of the week, with the tower crane starting to come down soon after!

21 minutes ago, PizzaScissors said:

 

Should be complete by the end of the week, with the tower crane starting to come down soon after!

I remember one article talking about the air conditioning unit being delayed so they will probably have to use a helicopter for it.

 

I love when they use helicopters for system installs. 

On 6/21/2022 at 2:37 PM, ColDayMan said:

The more striking thing in that photo is the Convention Center appears to be stepping down High Street.  Weird optical illusion.

Especially, if anything, it is on a bit of an upslope to the south. 

 

 

Exterior cladding is almost finished on the main structure. Just a few more panels to go on the crown.

1 hour ago, columbus17 said:

 

 

Exterior cladding is almost finished on the main structure. Just a few more panels to go on the crown.

It won't be long now before they take the crane down

Boom! Miss Hilton 2 has her crown!

 

7 hours ago, John7165 said:

It won't be long now before they take the crane down

At this point, may as well drag it across High Street for the Merchant Building lol

18 hours ago, amped91 said:

At this point, may as well drag it across High Street for the Merchant Building lol

As of now its off to the far side - should be any day by the looks of it!

Tower crane is starting to come down

 

21 minutes ago, Pablo said:

 

The second pic perspective is a different view I havent seen. I like the tower and the facade of the tower, but what is going on with the base? One too many different angles, pitches. Maybe its me but feels like the base design is fighting itself and too many design ideas were not filtered out, where the tower feels refined.  

44 minutes ago, savadams13 said:

The second pic perspective is a different view I havent seen. I like the tower and the facade of the tower, but what is going on with the base? One too many different angles, pitches. Maybe its me but feels like the base design is fighting itself and too many design ideas were not filtered out, where the tower feels refined.  

It's an interesting moment that was captured - I think the final condition will be cleaner. Funny how the reflection of Hilton 1.0 aligns with the current top of the corner curtain wall from that perspective. One the crane (and its reflection) are gone, the curtain wall is finished and the currently-white "portal" on High Street is wrapped in darker metal panels, it should be less busy.

1 hour ago, savadams13 said:

The second pic perspective is a different view I havent seen. I like the tower and the facade of the tower, but what is going on with the base? One too many different angles, pitches. Maybe its me but feels like the base design is fighting itself and too many design ideas were not filtered out, where the tower feels refined.  

 

I think it's an effort to tie the new tower to the quirky convention center façade.

 

I agree.  I thought that was a clear homage to the CCC.

You can see it more clearly in the elevation from the Downtown Commission presentation:

 

 

I think if the main facade hadn't come all the way down it in between it would have felt cleaner and more clear but otherwise I think it will look good in the long run.

 

Now, let's see what the urgency will be for more. I'm hoping it won't be too long before we get traction on a plan for the East Surface Lot as the next evolution of Convention Center. I dont necessarily have a preference as to what it becomes, just that it becomes useful. 

 

An unnecessary idea would be to totally revamp the southern half. Tear down Drury Inn, add a new modern hotel that can more efficiently use the land and tie into an expanded/renovated south end, make the roofs match, prepare for a continous connection to whatever goes into the East Surface Lot etc... but again, not required though would be nice.  As I sit here staring at Google earth playing SimCity in my mind, I wish they would have acquired the plot between 3rd and 4th south of Goodale for a garage and then left all of the space between Goodale and 670 for expansions. And actually picked any of those proposals from way back when on the north end. *sigh*

Edited June 29, 20222 yr by DTCL11

The convention center does own a parcel south of Goodale, it's too small for a garage.

 

They also own the large lot between 3rd and 4th north of Nationwide. This is large enough for a garage/hotel. A connector over 3rd (or a tunnel beneath 3rd) could connect this to the convention center.

 

The whole triangle is the one I was thinking of. Glad they own part which means it's probably in their interest to get all of it. 

 

The big plot is what im referring to as East Surface Lot. I know they've floated plans before but now the Hilton is nearing completion I'm hoping we get more solid plans for it. Probably ought to move hypotheticals to the general convention center thread.

 

But that's where I think that taking Drury Inn out and putting in a new structure that can flow foof traffic over or under 3rd Street into a future expansion is something I'd like to see. 

 

Also found the original approved proposal for the 3rd street garage and I'm salty.  I'd literally prefer it to be an exposed parking deck than that terrible curtain. 

 

Edited June 29, 20222 yr by DTCL11

^ Either the east surface lot or the surface lot between Goodale and 670 should be the next focus, I think. The east lot is huge; there’s so much that could be done with it. 

9 minutes ago, amped91 said:

^ Either the east surface lot or the surface lot between Goodale and 670 should be the next focus, I think. The east lot is huge; there’s so much that could be done with it. 

The surface lot on Goodale is a much better location, at least from an urban planning perspective.