On 10/10/2021 at 1:44 PM, Luvcbus said:

I was just on West Broad going through Franklinton about an hour ago and I noticed there's fencing up around the buildings at 606 W. Broad and 630 W. Broad (these are the blue buildings just east of 315).  Anyone know if there are plans to tear these down soon? 

So signage for Marker Construction is going up on the fencing today. We might be seeing some development soon here too, although I’ve not really been able to find anything. Based on information from the Franklin Co Auditor’s property search feature, it looks like an LLC called KCG Franklinton has been buying up this and surrounding properties throughout 2021. The only thing I could find on Google was KCG Companies, which is a multi family developer out of Indiana. But I couldn’t find anything regarding Columbus on their site…

20 minutes ago, amped91 said:

So signage for Marker Construction is going up on the fencing today. We might be seeing some development soon here too, although I’ve not really been able to find anything. Based on information from the Franklin Co Auditor’s property search feature, it looks like an LLC called KCG Franklinton has been buying up this and surrounding properties throughout 2021. The only thing I could find on Google was KCG Companies, which is a multi family developer out of Indiana. But I couldn’t find anything regarding Columbus on their site…

Your sleuthing abilities are impressive. I hadn’t heard of KCG so I just googled them and added the word Columbus and the VP of Construction went to OSU and is from Columbus. Looks like the man wants to come back to his hometown 

 

looking at the portfolio for KCG is less impressive though. Their projects are pretty bland, although looks like a lot of them are affordable housing so that could be great

15 minutes ago, smjjms said:

Your sleuthing abilities are impressive. I hadn’t heard of KCG so I just googled them and added the word Columbus and the VP of Construction went to OSU and is from Columbus. Looks like the man wants to come back to his hometown 

 

looking at the portfolio for KCG is less impressive though. Their projects are pretty bland, although looks like a lot of them are affordable housing so that could be great

Thanks! I feel like they’ve been put to use quite a bit since I’ve started visiting this site 😂 And you’re right. Their projects don’t really look special, but I’ll bland over a dilapidated, vacant building! Lol

46 minutes ago, smjjms said:

Your sleuthing abilities are impressive. I hadn’t heard of KCG so I just googled them and added the word Columbus and the VP of Construction went to OSU and is from Columbus. Looks like the man wants to come back to his hometown 

 

looking at the portfolio for KCG is less impressive though. Their projects are pretty bland, although looks like a lot of them are affordable housing so that could be great

Well hopefully with how art focused this area of Franklinton is, the commission will not allow a boring bland building. No matter what, something is better than nothing.  

The Peninsula is really starting to look good from the other side of the river!

 

On 1/3/2022 at 2:56 PM, amped91 said:

So signage for Marker Construction is going up on the fencing today. We might be seeing some development soon here too, although I’ve not really been able to find anything. Based on information from the Franklin Co Auditor’s property search feature, it looks like an LLC called KCG Franklinton has been buying up this and surrounding properties throughout 2021. The only thing I could find on Google was KCG Companies, which is a multi family developer out of Indiana. But I couldn’t find anything regarding Columbus on their site…

A little more sleuthing. It isn’t much information, but I think it does help confirm that we actually will start seeing movement on this site soon, and that it’s not mere signage (Pizzuti…😒). 
 

From a Cycle Works FB post in September:

 

1 hour ago, amped91 said:

A little more sleuthing. It isn’t much information, but I think it does help confirm that we actually will start seeing movement on this site soon, and that it’s not mere signage (Pizzuti…😒). 
 

From a Cycle Works FB post in September:

 

Hopefully it looks nothing like the Wilson Place Apartments 

13 hours ago, VintageLife said:

Hopefully it looks nothing like the Wilson Place Apartments 

In Marker's defense, they were the contractor on that project, not the developer. They had little say on the aesthetics of the building.

2 hours ago, Pablo said:

In Marker's defense, they were the contractor on that project, not the developer. They had little say on the aesthetics of the building.

It honestly wouldn’t be as bad if it was different colors. It’s just very bland. 

Very busy at Gravity 2 today...

and McDowell is basically one big construction zone now (I'm assuming it's in anticipation of River and Rich phase two)

 

 

 

 

Gravity and The Peninsula from Veterans Memorial parking lot

 

 

 

 

Work slowly continues on the affordable housing development on Town:

 

 

View of the 8-story office building in Gravity 2.0 from BrewDog:

 

 

Site of future residential development:

 

More residential units.  These are at Rich and Green 

 

 

From Gravity 2...

 

The parking garage is now vertical! (top two pictures)

 

 

 

One of the two little residential homes next to Rehab at the corner of McDowell and Town St. appears to be under construction in the photos above. Do we have any idea who is behind the project?

2 hours ago, CbusOrBust said:

From Gravity 2...

 

The parking garage is now vertical! (top two pictures)

 

 

 

 

I drove by this area yesterday and the scope of the project (in addition to the peninsula projects) is insane. The level of transformation might end up being more impactful to the city than what the SN went through between 2015-2018. 

Gravity 2 from State St

 

 

 

Few different views from Gravity 2 (without the sun!)

 

 

 

 

Crews are moving very quick on the parking garage...

 

From River and Rich-

 

Looks like crews have begun installing "The Slingshot"

 

Edited January 18, 20223 yr by CbusOrBust
grammar police

47 minutes ago, CbusOrBust said:

From River and Rich-

 

Looks like crews have begun installing "The Slingshot"

 

That's going to be such a convenient way to get over the river!

Some more details per the Dispatch on the new mental health facility, which it looks like will break ground this year. 
 

More than $44 million raised for Franklin County mental health and addiction facility

 

 

“A total of $44.5 million has been raised toward a $50-million goal to build the planned Franklin County Mental Health and Addiction Crisis Center in south Franklinton, which is scheduled to open in 2024.

 

The center is an initiative of Franklin County, the ADAMH Board and the Central Ohio Hospital Council. The planned new facility will have an observation unit, a short-term inpatient unit, and a walk-in clinic. There also will be an on-site pharmacy.

 

The center will be built on a three-acre site that ADAMH owns on Harmon Avenue east of South Souder Avenue, across from the Franklin County Children's Services building south of Interstate 70 near Franklinton. 
 

A summer groundbreaking is planned for the project, being led by the Alcohol Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County (ADAMH).“

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2022/01/19/adamh-closing-50-million-goal-build-mental-health-center/6565661001/

Can't believe how fast the parking garage is going up at Gravity 2!

 

On 1/19/2022 at 4:28 PM, amped91 said:

Some more details per the Dispatch on the new mental health facility, which it looks like will break ground this year. 
 

More than $44 million raised for Franklin County mental health and addiction facility

 

 

“A total of $44.5 million has been raised toward a $50-million goal to build the planned Franklin County Mental Health and Addiction Crisis Center in south Franklinton, which is scheduled to open in 2024.

 

The center is an initiative of Franklin County, the ADAMH Board and the Central Ohio Hospital Council. The planned new facility will have an observation unit, a short-term inpatient unit, and a walk-in clinic. There also will be an on-site pharmacy.

 

The center will be built on a three-acre site that ADAMH owns on Harmon Avenue east of South Souder Avenue, across from the Franklin County Children's Services building south of Interstate 70 near Franklinton. 
 

A summer groundbreaking is planned for the project, being led by the Alcohol Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County (ADAMH).“

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2022/01/19/adamh-closing-50-million-goal-build-mental-health-center/6565661001/

 

This location that ADAMH is planning to build at has a really interesting history.  It is the former location of the Sullivant Gardens public housing project.

 

Sullivant Gardens was a 392-unit public housing complex that opened in 1941, closed in 1996, and was the second public housing project ever built in Columbus.  The first public housing project in Columbus was Poindexter Village on the Near East Side, built a few years earlier than Sullivant Gardens.

 

Sullivant Gardens shared similar site planning and architectural design to Poindexter Village - both housing projects featured two-story brick structures with a traditional but spartan design.  A unique feature of Sullivant Gardens though was a distinctive U-shaped roadway:

 

Here is a wider view of Sullivant Gardens and its surroundings:

 

One of the downfalls of Sullivant Gardens came when the interstate highways were built nearby.  I-70 (east-west) cut off the site from the rest of Franklinton and I-71 (north-south) cut off the site from the Scioto River.  The second downfall came with the designation of the Sullivant Gardens site being in a high-risk flood zone (along with much of Franklinton).  That flood zone designation starved Sullivant Gardens of necessary funding to make any major upgrades to the housing units.  The federal government eventually built a 7-mile long Franklinton Floodwall to protect this site and the rest of Franklinton - but that wasn't completed until 2004.

 

In the meantime, the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority sold this 50-acre Sullivant Gardens public housing site to Columbus Urban Growth Corp. in 2000.  Columbus Urban Growth was a non-profit development organization formed by the city in 1996 to take on urban redevelopment projects that other developers wouldn’t touch.  And the redevelopment of the former Sullivant Gardens site was one of those projects.

 

Columbus Urban Growth sought to turn the former Sullivant Gardens site into a 50-acre office/light industrial park called West Edge Business Center.  And although they did attract two businesses after they cleared off the site, that effort ended in 2008 when the Columbus Urban Growth agency was disbanded as part of city budget cuts during the 'Great Recession'.

 

After that the city started to sell off individual parcels and the office park morphed into a site for various public service agencies.  Here is a current aerial view of the former Sullivant Gardens/West Edge Business Center site:

 

Franklin County Childrens Services opened an office building next to where ADAMH plans to locate on the northern portion of the site.  And the YMCA of Central Ohio opened the Van Buren homeless shelter and the Van Buren supportive services apartment building on the southern portion of the site.  Below is a wider version of the current aerial view for the former Sullivant Gardens/West Edge Business Center site:

 

Here are some background articles about this former Sullivant Gardens/West Edge Business Center site:

• New life for Sullivant: Industrial park in store for project's site -- https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2000/12/18/story5.html
• West Edge development will revitalize Franklinton -- https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2001/06/11/editorial2.html
• City pulls financial plug on Columbus Urban Growth Corp. amid cuts -- https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/08/11/story10.html

On 1/20/2022 at 9:03 PM, Columbo said:

 

This location that ADAMH is planning to build at has a really interesting history.  It is the former location of the Sullivant Gardens public housing project.

 

Sullivant Gardens was a 392-unit public housing complex that opened in 1941, closed in 1996, and was the second public housing project ever built in Columbus.  The first public housing project in Columbus was Poindexter Village on the Near East Side, built a few years earlier than Sullivant Gardens.

 

Sullivant Gardens shared similar site planning and architectural design to Poindexter Village - both housing projects featured two-story brick structures with a traditional but spartan design.  A unique feature of Sullivant Gardens though was a distinctive U-shaped roadway:

 

Here is a wider view of Sullivant Gardens and its surroundings:

 

One of the downfalls of Sullivant Gardens came when the interstate highways were built nearby.  I-70 (east-west) cut off the site from the rest of Franklinton and I-71 (north-south) cut off the site from the Scioto River.  The second downfall came with the designation of the Sullivant Gardens site being in a high-risk flood zone (along with much of Franklinton).  That flood zone designation starved Sullivant Gardens of necessary funding to make any major upgrades to the housing units.  The federal government eventually built a 7-mile long Franklinton Floodwall to protect this site and the rest of Franklinton - but that wasn't completed until 2004.

 

In the meantime, the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority sold this 50-acre Sullivant Gardens public housing site to Columbus Urban Growth Corp. in 2000.  Columbus Urban Growth was a non-profit development organization formed by the city in 1996 to take on urban redevelopment projects that other developers wouldn’t touch.  And the redevelopment of the former Sullivant Gardens site was one of those projects.

 

Columbus Urban Growth sought to turn the former Sullivant Gardens site into a 50-acre office/light industrial park called West Edge Business Center.  And although they did attract two businesses after they cleared off the site, that effort ended in 2008 when the Columbus Urban Growth agency was disbanded as part of city budget cuts during the 'Great Recession'.

 

After that the city started to sell off individual parcels and the office park morphed into a site for various public service agencies.  Here is a current aerial view of the former Sullivant Gardens/West Edge Business Center site:

 

Franklin County Childrens Services opened an office building next to where ADAMH plans to locate on the northern portion of the site.  And the YMCA of Central Ohio opened the Van Buren homeless shelter and the Van Buren supportive services apartment building on the southern portion of the site.  Below is a wider version of the current aerial view for the former Sullivant Gardens/West Edge Business Center site:

 

Here are some background articles about this former Sullivant Gardens/West Edge Business Center site:

• New life for Sullivant: Industrial park in store for project's site -- https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2000/12/18/story5.html
• West Edge development will revitalize Franklinton -- https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2001/06/11/editorial2.html
• City pulls financial plug on Columbus Urban Growth Corp. amid cuts -- https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/08/11/story10.html

Good riddance to Sullivant Gardens-it was a cesspool and a nightmare of crime back in the 80's early 90's.

Kaufman is presenting their phase 3 of the gravity project at this months commission meeting. There haven’t been any picture updates, it looks the same as it has since the original conceptual design came out. 
They are adding 2,300 sq ft of retail along McDowell to support it as a connector street. 
 

It doesn’t say when they would start, but if they are already applying for demo and approval of new design, it must be close. 

Edited January 24, 20223 yr by VintageLife
Went ahead and added some photos, I don't remember the street art.

Arch City Development is also presenting a 4 story 37 unit development at 640 W Town St. 

 

Edited January 24, 20223 yr by VintageLife

8 minutes ago, VintageLife said:

Arch City Development is also presenting a 4 story 37 unit development at 640 W Town St. 

 

 

And replacing an abandoned gas station next to 315.  Excellent.

 

Bring it on! Hopefully the continued momentum brings the Mondrian proposal  and River & Rick phase II back into the foreground. 

Franklinton is really turning into one the one most architecturally diverse/fun parts of the city and we are just getting started. I fully expect to see height and design continue to be pushed as it grows.

1 hour ago, DevolsDance said:

Franklinton is really turning into one the one most architecturally diverse/fun parts of the city and we are just getting started. I fully expect to see height and design continue to be pushed as it grows.

Hopefully it becomes super density rich also. Would love a huge area of walkability with retail and restaurants all over. 

8 minutes ago, VintageLife said:

Hopefully it becomes super density rich also. Would love a huge area of walkability with retail and restaurants all over. 

Need more of that across the river, too!

5 minutes ago, CMHOhio said:

Need more of that across the river, too!

Probably the wrong place to share this but since you made this comment - I got an email that the first downtown planning meeting is tomorrow. The meeting is supposed to share “emerging ideas” and the email says they’re welcoming feedback throughout.
 

My fingers are crossed that they emphasize transportation, street beautification, housing density, better interaction with the river front, and creating a plan to make downtown more livable (like a friggin grocery store).

https://mksk.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wDu59bTZQmqSRnAWDmiLFg

53 minutes ago, VintageLife said:

Hopefully it becomes super density rich also. Would love a huge area of walkability with retail and restaurants all over. 

Would be cool to have more areas in the city that are like this and both easy to live in or visit. There should be more incentive to visit other parts of the city for extended periods of time other than the Short North, Easton and the Arena District when there are events. Nowhere else is it as easy to park and head out on foot to eat, shop etc. for 4+ hours.

4 hours ago, smjjms said:

 

My fingers are crossed that they emphasize transportation, street beautification, housing density, better interaction with the river front, and creating a plan to make downtown more livable (like a friggin grocery store).

Grocery store!!! And a big gym would be nice too! 

6 hours ago, TIm said:

Would be cool to have more areas in the city that are like this and both easy to live in or visit. There should be more incentive to visit other parts of the city for extended periods of time other than the Short North, Easton and the Arena District when there are events. Nowhere else is it as easy to park and head out on foot to eat, shop etc. for 4+ hours.

 

We were really hammering the Short North, so much that it was making rents too high and therefore making businesses riskier and harder to be profitable. The SN is fantastic but spreading the love might actually help the SN and allow businesses to be more stable.

I like this view of the Arch City Development. Apparently the houses behind it might be demolished and replaced with a parking lot.

Edited January 27, 20223 yr by OBO

2 hours ago, OBO said:

I like this view of the Arch City Development. Apparently the houses behind it might be demolished and replaced with a parking lot.

From one of the articles, it said only one house would be demolished and the commission wasn’t really happy about it, so it might not happen. 

1 hour ago, VintageLife said:

From one of the articles, it said only one house would be demolished and the commission wasn’t really happy about it, so it might not happen. 

 

I'm not really sure why they'd need to there.  

More on that...

 

Arch City Development plans 4-story apartment building in Franklinton

 

A four-story, 47-unit apartment building has been proposed to replace a former gas station and single-family house near Dodge Park in Franklinton.

 

Brian Higgins, of Arch City Development, said if he gets the necessary approvals, he hopes to break ground in the fall on the residential building at 640 W. Town St.

 

The East Franklinton Review Board considered the project on a conceptual basis on Wednesday.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/01/27/brian-higgins-franklinton-project.html

More from Gravity 2

 

 

 

On 1/11/2022 at 1:50 PM, CbusOrBust said:

More residential units.  These are at Rich and Green 

 

 

Looks like most of the exterior work is now finished here. 
 

More from Gravity 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 hours ago, CbusOrBust said:

More from Gravity 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those banner like colored things along the fencing will likely be the most color this area sees. I wish they would adopt more color in some of the buildings. Even in the pic preceding this, the townhouse looking stuff at Rich and Green would look just a tad better with some blue, light yellow, and yeah, GREEN lol. A bit too much gray. It always seems like a bit too much of one color or another. They should strive to match what they did with the different colors of brick and panels in the River and Rich development. JMO of course.

I'm not sure if these have been discussed, but I found engineering applications for projects at 1034-1048 W. Broad and 1325 W. Broad.

 

The 1034 Broad project is for a 44-unit, 4 story, but seems to just be residences, not mixed-use.  The name seems to be McKinley Manor and is being built by Woda, but there's nothing on their site about it.

 

1325 Broad is for a 3-story, 50-unit, mixed-use building with retail space.  

 

Anyone heard anything about these?  I'm thinking they might have been mentioned at some point in reference to affordable housing, but not sure.

Edited February 19, 20223 yr by jonoh81

13 minutes ago, jonoh81 said:

I'm not sure if these have been discussed, but I found engineering applications for projects at 1034-1048 W. Broad and 1325 W. Broad.

 

The 1034 Broad project is for a 44-unit, 4 story, but seems to just be residences, not mixed-use.  The name seems to be McKinley Manor and is being built by Woda, but there's nothing on their site about it.

 

1325 Broad is for a 3-story, 50-unit, mixed-use building with retail space.  

 

Anyone heard anything about these?  I'm thinking they might have been mentioned at some point in reference to affordable housing, but not sure.

I don’t remember hearing about those ones before, but would be great if they both go up. There’s so many gaps along Broad in Franklinton. And all throughout Franklinton, really. 

Some more from Gravity 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like some positive changes to the proposal:

 

Two apartment buildings proposed for Dodge Park area in Franklinton

 

 

“The Dodge Park area in Franklinton could see two new apartment buildings go up this year. 
 

Brian Higgins of Arch City Development has proposed a five-story, 47-unit building on the site of a former gas station and a three-story building with six studio flats where a single-family house now stands.

 

He said he hopes to break ground in the fall.

 

Higgins originally proposed a four-story apartment building at 640 W. Town St with a 20-space surface parking lot behind it.

The new proposal shows 31 spaces, with some ground-floor parking inside the building.”

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/02/23/arch-city-franklinton.html

Parking garage at Gravity 2

 

 

 

At this point, I’m just waiting to hear Kaufman has bought the old Byers property  from NRI to build Gravity 4. 
 

Kaufman buys Idea Foundry, folds it into Gravity

 

 

“Idea Foundry founder Alex Bandar and his team will continue running the Idea Foundry. Gravity’s residential, office and retail tenants will now have access to the facility.

 

Together, the Idea Foundry and Gravity teams are exploring a buildout of the Idea Foundry's rooftop, basement and parking lot; a maker-in-residence or entrepreneur-in-residence program that would allow someone to live at Gravity while launching a new idea or concept at the Idea Foundry; and potential pop-up retail spaces or marketplaces for budding artists and makers at Gravity. 

 

The Columbus Fashion Alliance, a fashion incubator and The Idea Foundry’s largest tenant, is already working closely with the Gravity team on a partnership that could include retail pop-ups.

 

Gravity is also looking for locally and nationally operated music venues, food concepts and beverage concepts to add to the makerspace facility.”

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2022/02/28/idea-foundry.html

^More on that.

 

Kaufman Development Purchasing Franklinton’s Idea Foundry

 

Gravity owner and developer Kaufman Development is purchasing the Idea Foundry in Franklinton.

 

The largest makerspace in the world, the Idea Foundry, 421 W. State St., will become a part of the large-scale development in Franklinton with Gravity’s residential, office and retail tenants having access to The Idea Foundry. The second phase of the project is currently going up across State Street from the makerspace.

 

The 65,000 square foot facility offers a mix of office, workshop and events spaces, with additional tools and technologies that support some 500 plus members. Founded in 2008 by Alex Bandar, The Idea Foundry made the move to Franklinton in 2014, initially occupying just the first floor of the former factory. With support and investment from local entrepreneurs Nancy Kramer and Christopher Celeste, The Idea Foundry finished the buildout of its second floor in 2017, adding more coworkinng, office and events space to the first floor’s more industrial use.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/kaufman-development-purchasing-franklintons-idea-foundry-sp1/