August 11, 201311 yr this just keeps getting better. Yes it does. But I’m done expecting you to be objective about anything involving this project. From day one, this has been about one thing only with you - the demolition of a ratty old building with a 1960’s metal front. For those who haven’t seen it, here it is: Lovely ain’t it? This building and a newer two-story building would be demolished and replaced with an 8-story mixed-use building featuring ground-floor retail, internal parking and 106 apartments. Ask any poster on UO whether they would trade this: For this: Any objective poster would say yes. Not only is it an improvement, it’s a dramatic improvement. It’s not even a close call. But a point was also raised about the property owner, Cap South, also owning a surface parking lot diagonal from this site on High Street. And that Cap South should build on this parking lot parcel before demoing buildings on this parcel. (Cap South has built the Annex Condos and the Annex Apartment Building on 2 previous surface lots and the High Street lot is the last parking lot they own.) That’s a fair point. It’s always ideal to build on the surface lots. Well, guess what? That’s exactly what is happening. Cap South unveiled a 12-story office & apartment building to be built on their last parking lot on High Street. So let’s recap the redevelopment of RiverSouth: The landmark Lazarus Building, with its 1,000,000 square feet of office space and ground-floor retail along High Street - renovated 210 condominiums and apartments built on the two half-block former surface parking lots south of the Lazarus Building - finished New Rich & Front parking garage replacing a previous condemned garage - finished A renovated 120,000 square feet warehouse at Front & Main for residential use - underway 300 units of apartments and ground-floor retail along High Street in two 7-story buildings at Columbus Commons - under construction 106 units of apartments and ground-floor retail along High Street in the proposed 8-story LC RiverSouth Building 12-story, 136,000 square feet of office and 156 residential units in the proposed 250 High Building That sound’s like the opposite of “pathetic”.
August 12, 201311 yr And once again, you ignore what is behind the screen. Regardless, if you believe I can be objective or not on the subject, I do prefer the original rendering based on my expectation of the materials that will be used. The new design incorporates elements that would have historically been stone and cooper, but it is not common to use either of those today. Fiberglas and EIFS/Drive-it imitations often look cheap, and that is my fear for this building.
August 12, 201311 yr And once again, you ignore what is behind the screen. I'm not ignoring what's behind the screen. You showed a photo of how it originally appeared. It was pleasant enough, but rather dull and ordinary. There's no Frank Packard masterpiece lurking beneath that metal. Certainly nothing that warrants stopping the new 8-story mixed-use project. The new design incorporates elements that would have historically been stone and cooper, but it is not common to use either of those today. Fiberglas and EIFS/Drive-it imitations often look cheap, and that is my fear for this building. That's a fair point. But EIFS trim is simply a building material. And its use or non-use doesn't determine a successful overall design. In the hands of mediocre architects, you'll get mediorce results. But in the hands of talented architects, you can get high-quality and convincing neo-historical designs. And the architect for the LC RiverSouth is David Meleca. He has built his firm - Meleca Architecture - around achieving these type of neo-historical designs. Meleca designed the 191 W. Nationwide Boulevard Building in the Arena District. This is the 5-story office building near the arch park that has Boston Pizza on the ground floor. The 191 Building was one of the first new buildings in the Arena District - and to many opinions, still one of most beautiful buildings built there. It made extensive use of EIFS trim to complement its brick and stone exterior. And this would seem to be Meleca's design goal for the LC RiverSouth Building as well. (You can view the 191 W. Nationwide Building at http://www.meleca.com/ - go to 'office' in the project list.)
August 31, 201311 yr Now that we're seeing some more height going into these buildings... that raises the questions of where and what next? Some potential locations for more mixed-use towers are: 1. This lot at the northwest corner of W. Main and S. High Street. It actually looks like 3 or 4 small lots crammed together, but they represent the very last High Street frontage between I-70 and Gay Street and will be directly across the street from 250 High. http://goo.gl/maps/0sIQ6 2. This lot at the northeast corner of 2nd (Civic Center Drive) and W. Main Street. This is the last lot that sits directly on the Scioto riverbank, and is also adjacent to the Scioto Mile/Bicentennial Park. A tower here would offer fantastic view of the city and river, and its proximity to park space makes this a prime development lot. http://goo.gl/maps/4caAB 3. This lot at the southwest corner of W. Rich and S. Front Streets. It's directly across the street from a public parking garage and only 1 block from the riverfront. It's also only 2 blocks from Columbus Commons. http://goo.gl/maps/IcliL 4. And finally, these broken up lots at the northwest corner of W. Main and S. Front Streets. Close to all the aforementioned amenities. http://goo.gl/maps/bTp5t Again, not sure who owns these, but there have been rumors that some of these will be developed in the not too distant future. There are also lots at S. Front and W. Noble as well as a large lot at the northeast corner of W. Mound and 2nd.
September 5, 201311 yr From Fox 28: Developers Building New Apartments in Downtown Updated: Wednesday, September 4 2013, 06:58 PM EDT COLUMBUS (Jen French/Ken Hines) -- People planning to move Downtown will soon have at least three more housing options from which to choose. Developers have announced plans to build two new apartment complexes -- one at 250 S. High St. and another at S. High and Rich Streets -- that will add between 600 and 800 residential units to Downtown Columbus. The announcement comes as construction crews are finishing work on Highpoint, a 301 unit complex currently nearing completion next to Columbus Commons. “What's happened downtown is that more and more people have been moving down," Columbus Downtown Commission Chairman Steve Whittmann said. “We've seen the infill of some places that are fun to go, whether it's something to eat, a drink, or entertainment." Read More at: http://myfox28columbus.com/shared/news/features/top-stories/stories/wtte_developers-building-new-apartments-downtown-columbus-26031.shtml
September 30, 201311 yr Now that we're seeing some more height going into these buildings... that raises the questions of where and what next? Some potential locations for more mixed-use towers are: 1. This lot at the northwest corner of W. Main and S. High Street. It actually looks like 3 or 4 small lots crammed together, but they represent the very last High Street frontage between I-70 and Gay Street and will be directly across the street from 250 High. http://goo.gl/maps/0sIQ6 2. This lot at the northeast corner of 2nd (Civic Center Drive) and W. Main Street. This is the last lot that sits directly on the Scioto riverbank, and is also adjacent to the Scioto Mile/Bicentennial Park. A tower here would offer fantastic view of the city and river, and its proximity to park space makes this a prime development lot. http://goo.gl/maps/4caAB 3. This lot at the southwest corner of W. Rich and S. Front Streets. It's directly across the street from a public parking garage and only 1 block from the riverfront. It's also only 2 blocks from Columbus Commons. http://goo.gl/maps/IcliL 4. And finally, these broken up lots at the northwest corner of W. Main and S. Front Streets. Close to all the aforementioned amenities. http://goo.gl/maps/bTp5t Again, not sure who owns these, but there have been rumors that some of these will be developed in the not too distant future. There are also lots at S. Front and W. Noble as well as a large lot at the northeast corner of W. Mound and 2nd. Interesting compliation of potential development sites. Two of the biggest hurdles to building on these sites is (1) land assemblage and (2) funding ability. I highlighted #2 on your list because it looked like that would be the most likely to get a new tower based on meeting those two criteria. Bill Schottenstein and his Arshot Investment Corp. owned most of that parcel and the adjacent 6-story Bicentennial Plaza office building. Business First even wrote about it back in 2008 under the headline of: Will Columbus ever get another skyscraper? It looked like if Schottenstein could get control of the one remaining parcel on that site, a 3-story apartment building, that a tower addition to Bicentennial Plaza might get built. However, in 2009, Schottenstein lost ownership of the Bicentennial Plaza building to his bank. Business First wrote a story about that too. Since then, Schottenstein has turned to renovation projects in the Brewery District like the Worley Building for Shadowbox Theatre and the 570 Lofts. So the tower next to Bicentennial Plaza is not looking as likely right now.
September 30, 201311 yr More about the six-story warehouse building at the northeast corner of Main Street and Front Street that is owned by CASTO. The news from June 2013 about CASTO beginning renovations to that building for residential use was previously posted here is this thread. Now there is some more news regarding that renovation from Business First: Casto hopeful with ‘historic’ designation of Secur-It property on the line By Brian R. Ball, Staff reporter Business First - Sept. 26, 2013, 3:29pm EDT A decade-long effort to redevelop the former Secur-It Personal Storage building at 272-280 S. Front St. into residential lofts will get a test Friday morning on whether the property belongs on the National Register of Historic Places. The Casto real estate development organization steps before Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board in hopes of getting the panel’s endorsement for official historic status. Successful approval through the National Park Service would allow the developer to compete for federal and state tax credits as a financing component for certain qualified improvements. Casto has dubbed the property “The Julian.” (. . .) Casto stepped up its efforts to redevelop the property 18 months ago when it punched out many of the cinder blocks that had covered up the property’s windows as it tested the building’s structure. It began installing windows this summer in preparation for the National Register application. MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2013/09/casto-hopeful-with-historic.html
September 30, 201311 yr And a recent photo of the window installation work at the Julian Building on the northeast corner of Main Street and Front Street from Columbus Underground. More photos of the renovation work at http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-september-2013-part-1
October 1, 201311 yr One more update about Casto's Julian Building at the northeast corner of Front & Main: Former Columbus factory eyed for housing takes step toward historic places listing By Brian R. Ball, Staff reporter Business First - Sept. 30, 2013, 10:45am EDT The old Secur-It Personal Storage building in Columbus has received a key Ohio agency’s endorsement that it be put on the National Register of Historic Places, an important step in plans to revive the structure as housing. The state Historical Preservation Advisory Board has voted to support the former shoe factory at 272-280 S. Front St. for a spot on the National Park Service’s roster of significant properties, said Casto development partner Bill Riat. MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2013/09/former-columbus-factory-eyed-for.html
October 4, 201311 yr Very intriguing building purchase in RiverSouth reported yesterday and today along the Scioto Mile riverfront. The fate of the 14-story Columbia Gas building at 200 Civic Center Drive has been a question since Columbia Gas announced it will be moving into a new 6-story building being built next to Nationwide Arena in 2014. Below are multiple reports that Columbia Gas has sold the 14-story building that they have occupied since it opened in 1983: Business First: Columbia Gas HQ bought by investors in LeVeque, Bicentennial Plaza Columbus Dispatch: Partners pay $15 million for Columbia Gas building Columbus Underground: Columbia Gas Building Purchased by CC-13 Development What is particularly intriguing is that the Columbia Gas building was purchased by a newly formed partnership of two development groups that have other on-going projects in Downtown Columbus: One is a group that purchased the iconic LeVeque Tower in 2011 - and is currently doing a top-to-bottom multi-year historic renovation of the 47-story building. The other is a group that purchased the neighboring Bicentennial Plaza building at 250 Civic Center Drive in 2012. This building is across Rich Street from the Columbia Gas building. The Casto real estate company was involved in this purchase and announced that it would an anchor tenant for the Bicentennial Plaza building. Iconically, Casto will be moving employees from its current leased space in the Arena District into this RiverSouth building starting next week. The $15 million purchase includes the 14-story, 240,000 square-foot office building plus an attached 484-space parking garage. The new owners haven't made any annoucements about future plans for the Columbia Gas building. And with Columbia Gas remaining in the building for another year, they've got some time to consider their options. But the positive track record of the new owners with other downtown projects, and this building's positioning near some of their other downtown properties, seems very encouraging.
November 13, 201311 yr There's more! Lifestyle Communities planning 2nd River South apartment tower on High Street Lifestyle Communities Ltd. has its eyes set on yet another South High Street property for redevelopment. The multifamily developer will ask the Downtown Commission next week to review a familiar concept for an apartment complex of about 100 units on the properties at 229-245 S. High St. The seven-story project would be located immediately south of the 106-unit Lifestyle Communities project slated to replace the Trautman Building at 203-213 S. High St. and the Hub Building at 221 S. High St., thanks to a $1 million Clean Ohio grant. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2013/11/lifestyle-communities-planning-2nd.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
November 14, 201311 yr ^Ink you are right. From the photos those buildings would look great rehabbed. Doesn't Columbus have one or two surface parking lots that this project could go on?
November 14, 201311 yr ^Absolutely. I assume Lifestyle likes this site because it is directly across from their proposed tower and the three buildings at the corner were under common ownership and on the market. The other half of the block (along High) and the SW corner of Front and Rich (still across from Lifestyle's Annex prokect) are surface parking, however.
November 14, 201311 yr There's more! Lifestyle Communities planning 2nd River South apartment tower on High Street Lifestyle Communities Ltd. has its eyes set on yet another South High Street property for redevelopment. The multifamily developer will ask the Downtown Commission next week to review a familiar concept for an apartment complex of about 100 units on the properties at 229-245 S. High St. The seven-story project would be located immediately south of the 106-unit Lifestyle Communities project slated to replace the Trautman Building at 203-213 S. High St. and the Hub Building at 221 S. High St., thanks to a $1 million Clean Ohio grant. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2013/11/lifestyle-communities-planning-2nd.html Awesome! Thanks for posting this CDM. Columbus Underground has more at the link below. And as the CU site owner, and sometimes UO poster, said in the comments section: "The intersection of High & Rich currently has zero residents. NE Corner = Highpoint = 301 Units SE Corner = 250 High = 156 Units NW Corner = LC #1 = 100 Units SW Corner = LC #2 = 100 Units Total = 657 Units A 1.5 people per unit, that’s 985 new residents coming to this intersection when all construction is complete. (Plus some new office workers in 250 High as well). From Zero to 1000 in just 2-3 years is pretty amazing. Should be a big boost to retailers in the immediate area." CU: Lifestyle Communities Proposes Another 8-Story Apartment Building Downtown
November 14, 201311 yr ^Ink you are right. From the photos those buildings would look great rehabbed. Doesn't Columbus have one or two surface parking lots that this project could go on? "Columbus" the city isn't proposing the development. A private company that bought the site is, and so long as they adhere to any development rules, they are free to build whatever they want. I am all for rehabbing old buildings, but these have been sitting empty for quite some time. They have mazes of additions to the backs that are not well adapted to new uses and would likely have to go even if the High Street-fronted buildings stayed. Over the years, no one has come forward willing to rework them. So should a project that is for certain be blocked in the hopes that, sometime down the line, someone comes along with the time and money to rehab what exists there, especially when the current buildings, even if rehabbed, would provide far less street life and new residents than what is currently being proposed? I hate losing old buildings, but at the same time, is saving them for an uncertain future worth sacrificing a good project that will help neighborhood now? These aren't being torn down for parking lots like they did to hundreds of buildings during the 1960s. Nor is it an office tower with no street-level presence and no hope of adding street life after 5pm. There's no guarantee that any future proposals would save these buildings. These are not on the National Register to begin with. There are quite a few lots nearby, but companies can't build on what they don't own. They will eventually be filled too, and it's not like it's all about tearing down. Right around the corner, a historic warehouse is being renovated, and 250 High is going on a vacant lot.
December 18, 201311 yr Another rendering of the 2nd Lifestyle Communities apartment building for RiverSouth from http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/seven-story-building-proposed-for-high-rich/page/10 --- This rendering shows the 2nd LC Building going into the SW corner of Rich & High along with the other LC Building going into the NW corner of Rich & High. This view is from High Street looking westward down Rich Street:
December 18, 201311 yr Lazarus building landlord seeks operator for restaurant planned across from Highpoint apartments By Brian R. Ball, Staff reporter Business First - June 19, 2013, 3:38pm EDT The city affiliate that owns the Lazarus building at South High and West Town streets downtown hopes to encourage a restaurant operator to set up in the building across from the HighPoint on Columbus Commons apartments under construction. The Columbus Downtown Development Corp. this week began seeking proposals from restaurateurs interested in leasing and operating a 4,000-square-foot “upscale, casual" eatery that the agency plans to build. Agency General Counsel Matt Lutz said providing a developed space for a restaurant operator to furnish and equip is meant to take the difficulty out of setting up in the former department store space. ... Grandview Heights-based M&A Architects designed the restaurant space, which could be turned over to a tenant/operator in February for an opening in April. MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2013/06/19/lazarus-building-landlord-seeks.html An update on the CDDC's search for a restaurant to fill out the Lazarus Building's retail space facing High Street: Modernized Chintz Room Restaurant Reopening at Lazarus Building By: Walker Evans, Columbus Underground Published on December 10, 2013 - 9:10 pm For those of us who are too young to remember, The Chintz Room was *the* place for lunch Downtown for decades until its closure in 1998. This department store dining room was where ladies put on their best hats and gloves for tea time, and fancy sandwiches were all the rage. In 2014, the restaurant will make a modernized return under the helm of Elizabeth Lessner’s Columbus Food League, but instead of being tucked away up on the fifth floor of the Lazarus Building, it will be located down on the High Street level facing Columbus Commons. (. . .) The new concept was officially approved today by the CDDC board, which owns and operates the Lazarus Building. The historic structure is also home to Cup O Joe, the OSU Urban Arts Space, the Center for Architecture and Design, and office tenants including the Columbus Chamber, Franklin County Economic Development Department, the Ohio Department of Insurance and many others. The new restaurant space takes up roughly 4,000 square feet with a dining room of 2,500 square feet, making this one of the largest Columbus Food League restaurants to date (Tip Top is roughly half that size). In typical CFL fashion, the Chintz Room will take on a hipper motif while paying homage to history. MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/reimagined-chintz-room-restaurant-reopening-at-lazarus-building
December 18, 201311 yr The Dispatch and Business First also had stories about the reimagined Chintz Room coming to the renovated Lazarus Building: Columbus Dispatch: Lessner’s next restaurant project: Reprising Chintz Room Business First: Lazarus’ Chintz Room returning, courtesy of Liz Lessner
January 30, 201411 yr Some photos of the northwest corner of Rich & High (i.e. 221 S. High & Trautman) at http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-january-2014 CU's January 2014 construction roundup also has some photos of the opposite southeast corner showing the beginning of the 12-story 250 High project - previously posted here in this thread. Construction crews just started digging at the site.
January 30, 201411 yr More about the Julian Building on the northeast corner of Main Street and Front Street from Columbus Underground. First, some photos on the progress of the window installation. Previous update here: Late October 2013 view from the corner of Front & Main from http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-october-2013 Late November 2013 view from Front Street from http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-november-2013-part-2 Late January 2014 view from the corner of Front & Main from http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-january-2014
January 30, 201411 yr Now, an update about the residential conversion of the Julian Building. Earlier reports about the project with renderings posted here: Casto’s Julian apartment project downtown cleared for construction By Brian R. Ball, Staff reporter Business First - Jan. 28, 2014, 5:07pm EST The Downtown Commission gave Casto the green light to redevelop the former shoe factory and storage facility at 272 S. Front Street at West Main Street. The developer plans to build out 90 apartments in the building after a getting a listing on the National Register of Historic Places. “It’s looking like late spring, May for construction,” Casto spokeswoman Sarah Benson told me. “It will take one year from when we start.” MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2014/01/28/castos-julian-apartment-project.html
March 6, 201411 yr I wonder if Red Zone (nightclub across the street) is gonna make potential buyers second guess buying a unit in this building? Red Zone has had a couple of shootings in the last few months that caused some issues
March 7, 201411 yr I wonder if Red Zone (nightclub across the street) is gonna make potential buyers second guess buying a unit in this building? Red Zone has had a couple of shootings in the last few months that caused some issues I don't know what has become of this, but in December 2013 Red Zone was one of 14 places City Council asked the State to revoke their liquor license. More: http://www.nbc4i.com/story/24236088/city-wants-bars-to-lose-liquor-license
May 17, 201411 yr Great shots! It will really transform this part of downtown once the two LC buildings and 250 high get vertical. Still though, HighPoint stands out to me as such an architectural turd. We definitely need the units and residents, but having that bad design and poor construction quality in a so prominent a spot is disappointing.
May 17, 201411 yr I don't mind the design of Highpoint, but I do wish there was some variation with the roofline. It is so long it needs something to break it up. I know nothing about its construction quality.
May 17, 201411 yr Highpoint is a piece of junk. Monotonous design and cheap appearance. Our only hope now is for the first floor retail to add some texture.
May 17, 201411 yr ^This. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 23, 201411 yr All these different projects going on downtown! I'm starting to get them mixed up. Thanks for the pics
July 28, 201410 yr Columbus Dispatch: Lessner’s next restaurant project: Reprising Chintz Room Business First: Lazarus’ Chintz Room returning, courtesy of Liz Lessner Liz Lessner's reimagined Chintz Room in a High Street storefront of the renovated Lazarus Building is getting close to opening: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2014/07/23/chintz-room-to-open-late-august-early-september.html
July 28, 201410 yr The northwest corner of Rich & High has been cleared for the 8-story LC RiverSouth Building - 106 units of apartments, internal parking garage accessed from Wall Street and ground-floor retail along High Street. Below is a rendering of it: Here are some photos of the LC RiverSouth site at the northwest corner of Rich and High from http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-june-part-1: Elevated view of the Rich & High intersection looking westward toward the LC RiverSouth site. The 12-story, 250 High Building - which will have 156 residential units and 136,000 square feet of office space - is under construction and visible to the left. The recently completed 300-unit Columbus Commons Apartments are visible to the right Street level view of the LC RiverSouth site looking westward. In the background are part of the 210 condominiums and apartments built on the two former surface parking lots facing Front Street: Street level view of the LC RiverSouth site looking northward up High Street:
August 2, 201410 yr Some interior shots of the under-renovation Julian Building taken during Columbus Underground's Urban Living Tour at http://www.columbusunderground.com/photos-urban-living-tour-2014 First one on of the outside, then two taken on the inside of the Julian Building:
September 15, 201410 yr Columbus Underground had a recent interview with the architecture firm heading up the renovation of the Julian building at Front & Main. The posting also contained a rendering of what the finished project will look like from Front Street. Below is the Julian rendering from the CU interview at http://www.columbusunderground.com/design-digest-sullivan-bruck-architects-bw1 And here's a view of the Julian building taken in late July from http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-july-2014
September 15, 201410 yr The Chintz Room signage is now along High Street in the renovated Lazarus Building. From the Chintz Room facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TheChintzRoom I really like how they included that overhead view from the office tower across the street from the Chintz Room location. That view also shows part of the rooftop patio on the renovated former Woolworth building (the building with CVS in the ground floor) next to the Lazarus Building.
September 19, 201410 yr I wonder if Red Zone (nightclub across the street) is gonna make potential buyers second guess buying a unit in this building? Red Zone has had a couple of shootings in the last few months that caused some issues I don't know what has become of this, but in December 2013 Red Zone was one of 14 places City Council asked the State to revoke their liquor license. More: http://www.nbc4i.com/story/24236088/city-wants-bars-to-lose-liquor-license The Ohio Division of Liquor Control did not renew the liquor licenses for three locations the City objected to. The Red Zone at 303 S. Front Street was one of those locations. According to the Dispatch article linked below, the businesses have 30 days to appeal the State's ruling. The lawyer respenting Red Zone said they would likely appeal in order to transfer the liquor permit to another location. According to the article, the owner of the Red Zone agreed with the City to not reopen the club. MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/09/12/liquor-permits-denied.html
October 11, 201410 yr The 14-story office building at the corner of Rich Street and Civic Center Drive has had only one tenant in its 30-year existence, Columbia Gas. With their new HQ building in the Arena District nearing completion, Columbia Gas has begun to move its 650 employees from here to there. While the new Columbia Gas HQ was being built, a group of local developers led by Robert Meyers and Don Casto bought the old Columbia Gas HQ building last year - this purchase was posted HERE in this thread in October 2013. Now the old Columbia Gas building, to be called 200 Civic Center Drive, has started to re-lease its office space as Columbia Gas employees move out. Business First reports that NiSource Corporate Services will move into two floors of 200 Civic Center Drive by January 2015. More about this at http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2014/10/nisource-backfilling-part-of-200-civic-center.html
October 13, 201410 yr Speak peek of the inside of The Chintz Room going into the ground floor of the Lazarus Building at http://www.columbusunderground.com/first-look-the-chintz-room. However, this isn't the grand opening, as the restaurant is not quite open yet. As the CU article states, "The Chintz Room played host to a fundraiser. ... The event marked the first time the highly-anticipated new Downtown restaurant has served a large crowd with food and drink prior to the upcoming grand opening. Chintz Room Co-owner Michael Hermick said that final equipment was being installed in the kitchen, additional light fixtures and chandeliers are on their way, and the restaurant is likely several weeks away from opening."
October 21, 201410 yr The City of Columbus is floating the idea of an "Innovation District" to aid business start-ups and other entrepreneural ventures. This was reported on at Columbus Underground at http://www.columbusunderground.com/innovation-district-proposed-to-boost-entrepreneurism-in-columbus-bw1. CU's founder, Walker Evans, came out with an opinion piece about why he thinks this should be located downtown in the RiverSouth District. Below is the opening to his opinion piece. The full article (along with a nice phototour of the RiverSouth District) is also linked below: Opinion: RiverSouth is Ideal for Innovation District By Walker Evans, Columbus Underground October 20, 2014 - 8:10 am As Brent Warren reported on Thursday, Troy Miller spent his final days on Columbus City Council studying the feasibility of creating an Innovation District plan in Columbus, which would encourage the creation of a centralized cluster of entrepreneur-focused facilities. That could include startup incubators, business accelerators, industry-specific development hubs, shared resource and co-working spaces, and of course, places to live and spots to drink a lot of coffee. The end goal would be to support the entrepreneurial community, and to give startups a better chance at blossoming from a simple idea into the next locally-grown billion-dollar enterprise. As reported, the research conducted thus far has looked at the possibility of creating an Innovation District in one of three areas: Downtown, The Short North or Franklinton. After spending a week thinking about the possibilities, I’ve come to the personal conclusion that the RiverSouth District in Downtown Columbus is the most ideal place for this initiative to land. That’s not to say that it couldn’t work in other areas, but the Short North is growing short on space, and East Franklinton’s development plan calls for a more robust creative rebirth that doesn’t focus specifically on startups. Here’s why RiverSouth has all the right ingredients for the making of an Innovation District: MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/opinion-riversouth-is-ideal-for-innovation-district
December 17, 201410 yr The first (of two) LC RiverSouth apartment buildings awaits the start of construction at the southwest corner of Rich & High. Late October 2014 view of the corner from http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-october-2014-part-1 LC RiverSouth construction has begun at the southwest corner of Rich & High, the first of two new eight-story buildings planned for this intersection. Late November 2014 view of the corner from http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-november-2014-part-1
December 18, 201410 yr Drove past last night; even more progress has been made and I'm assuming they'll be going skyward after the first of the year.
January 27, 201510 yr Last week when I walked by the LC RiverSouth site there was actually a full crew of construction workers there. I had never seen more than 1 or 2 on the site before. It looks like a crane will be going up soon (or already has?). A couple of shots from last Monday.
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