Posted February 28, 200421 yr Glitz at Broad and High Mayor unveils Casto’s plan for celebrated corner: condos, shops, restaurants — and fancy billboards Friday, February 27, 2004 Debbie Gebolys THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The crossroads of Columbus may have life in it yet. The decrepit northeast corner of Broad and High streets, once considered the most valuable corner in central Ohio, could become a marquee location again if Casto Communities completes a $15 million plan announced last night by Mayor Michael B. Coleman. Casto wants to convert five long-vacant buildings on Capitol Square into 16 stories of stylish condominiums next to streetlevel restaurants and shops and a shorter office building. The project would combine old and new buildings and spruce up facades facing both streets. A lively showpiece may emerge from the plan to replace a billboard atop the four-story corner building with a stack of brightly colored, animated advertising messages reminiscent of New York’s Times Square. Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/2004/02/27/20040227-Pc-A1.html
February 29, 200421 yr :) "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
November 30, 200420 yr FINALLY! PUBLIC Broad & High Casto Renovation Meeting Jan 6, 2005 As the rest of downtown columbus sees some nice renovations and newbuilds, one corner sits as it has for a few years. That is vacant and ugly. I am talking about the group of buildings owned by CASTO at Broad and High St. Now this could be a little bit more understandable if it was a different part of the city but this is the intersection of Columbus. If anyone has a pic of this eyesore please post. Already on this site is CASTO's grand plans announced earlier in 2004 for the buildings. Composed in this corner is 3 smaller buildings and two of the first highrises in the city. Those are proposed to become condominums. Ya all sounds grand but not when Casto is the company we are relying on to do this renovation. Casto's urban sucess are limited to really nothing. They are the Columbus' based company who opened some of the first strip malls in the country. They own many in Ohio and have developed more urban sprawl based residential development in the past few years. This is also the company who failed to revive the Senaca Hotel into apartments. Now the Phildelphia based company will do this. They also proposed new apartments next to the city center parking lot and the Great Southern Hotel. This was in 2003 and they claimed construction would occur this OCT. Has it? NO I have always wanted to express my opinions on Casto and this projet. Well now we have our chance. If we can have a strong turnout and give our opinions maybe this major renovation will happen. The project has recieved brownfield funds and all paperwork is on file in the main library. Also, a public meeting has been scheduled and they want the public's input on the buildings. A sign, with very small print, has been posted on the rusting scaffolding outside the buildings. I will post the exact location for the meeting on here soon but until then the meeting will be on January 6th link to project plans http://www.donmcasto.com/lsc/indev.asp
January 21, 200520 yr Author TV station plans to build studio at Broad, High Friday, January 21, 2005 Debbie Gebolys THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Broad and High is to become home to daily television news by next year. WCMH-TV (Channel 4) will open a Downtown news studio as part of the Casto company’s redevelopment of five buildings at the intersection once considered the most important in central Ohio. Scaffolding surrounds the one-time home of Roy’s Jewelers on the intersection’s northeast corner and adjoining buildings that once housed street-level stores beneath offices. The buildings have been vacant since city inspectors declared them unsafe two years ago. Casto plans to tear down 4 E. Broad St., just east of Roy’s and where the studio will be built, and 12 and 18 N. High St. beginning in April. It is part of a $30 million conversion that also will include offices, high-priced condominiums, street-level shops or restaurants. Craig Robinson, WCMH-TV president and general manager, said a street-level studio will broadcast morning or afternoon news in front of windows that would show Downtown traffic and pedestrians. Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/2005/01/21/20050121-Pc-C3.html
January 21, 200520 yr Author NBC 4 Announces Downtown Studio 4 On The Square Planned For Broad And High Streets POSTED: 5:56 pm EST January 20, 2005 UPDATED: 9:05 am EST January 21, 2005 COLUMBUS, Ohio -- NBC 4 will build a landmark satellite studio at Broad and High streets in downtown Columbus, the station announced Friday. The studio will incorporate a glass facade; much like the "Today" show and other similarly designed NBC broadcast studios. Groundbreaking is scheduled for April. The studio opening is scheduled for summer 2006. Full story at http://www.nbc4i.com/station/4113290/detail.html http://www.8onthesquare.com/ http://www.broadandhigh.com/
January 21, 200520 yr I've been waiting for years for something like this to happen. If you look at most major cities (and some smaller ones as well), there is at least one television station with their studios prominently situated downtown. It's about time something like this happened here in Columbus, I can't wait for it to be completed! Also, WBNS 10TV will NOT stand idlely by and watch Channel 4 do this. Channel 10 and Channel 4 are vicious in their competition to be Columbus' #1 station. Currently, it's Channel 10 that has the highest ratings, but they're constantly swaping places with 4. Channel 6/28 is so poorly run that it'll never be able to compete and will always remain #3. I can't wait to see what Channel 10 does in response to this.
January 21, 200520 yr Author I have a feeling with all the media attention that corner will get, they will have no problem selling out all those condos. Talk about great advertising.... This will be an ongoing story for NBC4 for the next year and 1/2. This will put a huge spotlight on downtown and may spur even more growth.
January 21, 200520 yr oh thank goodness. that corner has been an embarassing eyesore forever. those renderings look very nice. personally i could do without the gaudy faux times square nonsense on the roof, but otherwise hallelejah get out the wrecking ball and bring it on!
January 22, 200520 yr This is awesome. Good for channel 4! This is good news at a time when I discovered Cincy's only downtown presence, channel 12, is abandoning their morning show from Fountain Square (inside the Fifth Third tower). Shitty.
January 22, 200520 yr The tickers and billboards look kind of funny because its just the one building. They really should either ditch it, or try to make a coordinated effort with other building owners to make that a signature element of that corner. Cleveland would like to do something similar with Playhouse Square-they already have the ticker and a couple of news screens, but they would like to begin adding billboards above as well.
January 23, 200520 yr With the new video board on top of the renovated Woolworth's building, plus the news ticker planned for the Key Building, the graphics display at Broad and High should fit well on Capitol Square.
January 23, 200520 yr i sure hope so. it looks like queso so far. the buildings themselves look sharp.
January 23, 200520 yr I think it'll look a lot better once it's actually in place. I do agree that they should coordinate with other building owners. As for the other video screens going up, how close are they to this new project? Close enough that you could see them all at the same time?
January 24, 200520 yr Ugh ya seeing them all at once is no issue. The ticket monitor that has been on the Woolworth building is at the intersection of high street and state street. It is turned so you can see it as driving south on high and coming down state. The huge TV screen is literally facing and right across this 8 on the Square project, on the corner of broad and high. Also, the monitor on the Woolworth building opened in December and because of the long straight nature of high street can be seen for quite a distance. I can see the monitor in the Short North and as driving into downtown past the Arena District.
March 8, 200520 yr I was just checking out 8 on the Square's website today and they've added some video "walk-throughs" It looks like there will be some really good views from the condos as well as some neat features inside the condo tower. On the front page you can view a video of the exterior of the whole project, and then each of the three different floorplans has a video on their respective pages. Check them out if you get a chance! http://www.8onthesquare.com/
May 30, 200520 yr Developer gets plans OK’d Interior work on the Casto Co. project at Broad and High streets is going strong a month after the developer’s final plans for the project were approved. There’s "quite a bit’’ of asbestos to be removed from some of the buildings, Casto partner Bill Riat said. Building demolition, including the property at 4 E. Broad St., is expected to begin within six weeks, Riat said. The project was revamped in part because of objections by the Ohio Department of Transportation, which said that several planned signs were too large. Casto Co. tweaked the exterior design. Perhaps the most-visible change, in addition to smaller signage, is the curved television screen that now appears at the corner of the project. Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/2005/05/30/20050530-Pc-C1.html
September 30, 200519 yr This came to me in an e-mail from Downtown Columbus: Broad & High Comes Down Every now and then you'll hear a bang or a boom in between the hum of a drill and the clang of a shovel. But office workers in the vicinity of Broad and High streets have gotten used to continuing on with their day, knowing progress requires a little bit of noise. Casto's Broad and High revitalization carries on. Patrons in Pearl alley have seen what demolition really looks like when they peer behind the Ringside Café and see the shell of buildings that once stood tall on High Street. Never fear, the buildings will rise again as luxury condominiums, offices, street level retail and a Channel 4 TV studio. It just takes time. "Demolition is somewhat slow because the nature of the site," says Casto's Kolby Turnock. "The site itself can be tricky at times. They have to do the demolition by hand, since the site is so tight and not as easy as getting a crane in there." Crews are being careful. "We did the hand demolition in 20 N. High because of the common wall with 24 N. High," says Mike Ambuske, senior project manager at Ruscilli Construction Co. The Abraham building at 24 N. High is not being demolished. Turnock says the debris is filling the basement while the demolition of 18 and 20 N. High is taking place. When that's done in about a month, crews will take it out of the site altogether. "That'll be a nighttime operation," Ambuske says. Are there any ghosts in the midst of this debris? "It's a 100-year-old construction, but we're not finding anything too out of the ordinary," Ambuske says. He adds crews of about 18 people clear two to three floors at a time and work their way down. They are continuing with asbestos removal in 8 E. Broad while the demolition continues in the High Street buildings. "We're pretty much on track" with the construction schedule, Ambuske says. By fall 2006, Casto plans to have the project finished. Just under half of the 24 planned condominium units have been sold, are in contract, or have a deposit on them, Turnock says. More at www.downtowncolumbus.com
October 7, 200519 yr The roof of the old Roy's Jewelers at Broad & High, where Casto's development project is taking place, has collapsed, causing the billboard atop the building to come crashing down inside the structure and onto High St. and staging an emergency demolishion of the building. I drove by the area this evening. Broad St. is completely blocked off from 3rd St. to Front St. and High is blocked off from Gay St. to Town St. There are several cranes staged at Broad & High, ready to take the buildings down. Deteriorating Building Leads To Emergency Demolition Broad, High Streets Closed POSTED: 4:18 pm EDT October 6, 2005 UPDATED: 12:18 am EDT October 7, 2005 COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Officials scheduled an emergency demolition Thursday night after a downtown building began to collapse. A large sign on top of a building at Broad and High streets fell from its scaffolding, crashing through the roof at about 4:15 p.m., NBC 4's Mike Bowersock reported. After the sign fell, the scaffolding began leaning toward High Street. Authorities said the building was scheduled for demolition Friday, but officials said the building was unstable and it would be demolished Thursday night. All lanes at the intersection of Broad and High streets were closed while emergency crews assessed the situation. Officials said the situation will probably cause traffic problems Friday, as well. No injuries were reported. Watch NBC 4 and refresh www.nbc4i.com for additional information. Video at: http://www.nbc4i.com
October 7, 200519 yr Awesome! :D "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
October 7, 200519 yr There's a thread for this project, maybe this should go with that. The corner building still looks ok to stay, doesn't it?
October 7, 200519 yr Im in Phoenix now and I just read this, actually good news. I'll be glad to come home and see that all four of the buildings are gone to make ready for the new buildings ready to go up at Broad and High. If you notice that chicago style skyscraper next to the buildings has also begun work to transform it into condos (8 On The Square.) Those light posts are only on four places, each around the state house. You don't really notice them in person, there's too much too look at around you, but I don't know why they ever put them there.
October 7, 200519 yr Agreed also that in reality, this new is really good, since it will speed up work on the entire Broad and High project. Also, as seanguy mentioned, the tall light poles are only around the statehouse, one on each corner. I always thought they looked cool, but to each his own I guess.
October 7, 200519 yr i hope nobody got hurt??? otherwise, anything that hastens getting that ugly group out of there quicker is a-ok!
October 10, 200519 yr ^They belong at highway intersections. They could have at least used the black poles like Indiana. That has got to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard of and to hear they are around our capital is more rediculous. I hope you don't notice them like sean mentioned. Last I checked, Broad & High was a highway intersection. Cars (and buses) travel through there.
October 12, 200519 yr I sat outside and watched some of the demolition on Saturday morning. Always fun to see buildings being knocked down. Can't wait to see the new ones go up! ;)
October 27, 200519 yr Those tall narrow buildings from early last century always make me laugh, especially because so many appear next to two story structures.
October 27, 200519 yr I don't know how funny the contrast is. I consider the difference between the old mid-rise skyscrapers and the newer Rhoads Tower to be striking. That is a contrast that some cities with buildings from last century do not always have. The mid-rise tower on the left is part of this project as well, that building is currently being redone into condos and called "8 on the Square."
October 27, 200519 yr ^when I laugh its just because of the result. I am glad several Ohio cities have structures like that.
October 27, 200519 yr Is the site (the area at the corner to the tower) bigger than it looks in the latest picture? The renderings make the site look much more massive. Does anyone have an estimate? 80 foot frontage?
October 27, 200519 yr I love the plan....more excitment in any downtown is a good thing........go Columbus. This is also very similar to some of the ideas for the renovated Fountain Square in Cincinnati. It also has a big videoboard sitting atop the current Macy's/Tiffany's Building adjacent to Fountain Square. All is good in the OHIO.
April 14, 200619 yr http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/04/14/20060414-E1-01.html
April 14, 200619 yr Some of those red spots representing surface lots on that Columbus map are going to disappear. Downtown housing planned Brewery District developer is expected to build in area between Gay, Long streets Friday, April 14, 2006 Mike Pramik THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH A Columbus developer has begun assembling the land to build a low-rise residential community Downtown, a city official confirmed yesterday. The official said Jeff Edwards has had talks with the city about turning an area between Gay and Long streets into a residential development. The area, which is bordered on the west by 4 th Street and on the east by 6 th Street, is mostly surface parking lots. Edwards, whose family operates Edwards Co., has not presented plans to the Downtown Commission for approval, said Bob McLaughlin, the city’s downtown development director. "He’s still completing assemblage, doing engineering work and those kinds of things," McLaughlin said. Edwards, who did not return calls seeking comment yesterday, helped to drive the redevelopment of the Brewery District beginning in the 1980s. Gay Street Condominium LLC is listed as having its headquarters at Edwards Co.’s Brewery District office building. The Gay Street enterprise in March bought several parcels along E. Long Street that are being used as parking lots. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/04/14/20060414-E1-01.html
April 18, 200619 yr The area being talked about for development is pretty massive. I wonder how many floors this proposed "low-rise" would be? As much as I desperately want the majority of these surface lots gone, it would be nice to have something with a little bit of height to it. Maybe the garage mentioned could comprise the first several stories with the residential built on top...
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