Posted February 26, 200520 yr This was alluded to in a thread a few months back, and it appears that it's chugging along quite nicely. The AC Humko factory is now gone, and in its place will be 220 rental units, 102 ownership units (64 single-family/38 condos), a community center and a 5-acre park. The Short North Gazette has a great article on it: http://www.shortnorth.com/HarrisonPark.html Here is the project website: http://www.harrisonpark.com/
August 8, 200519 yr Author An update from the 8/6/05 Columbus Dispatch: Former factory site sprouts homes Hundreds of residences going up in Harrison West By Debbie Gebolys THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Work has started on the largest residential expansion of Harrison West in decades. It will add nearly 300 homes to the neighborhood northwest of Downtown, making use of the former AC Humko property, an area bounded by Perry Street, 1 st Avenue and the Olentangy River. The Harrison Park development is among five Downtown-area housing projects with a planned 412 units that have recently started construction, been approved or have been proposed. By far, the Harrison West project is the largest of them, accounting for 286 homes. "The housing style ties in well with existing housing in Harrison West and Victorian Village,’’ company President Mark Wagenbrenner said. Most will be three- to five-bedroom, single-family homes priced from $300,000 to $400,000. By October, work is expected to begin on the Flats of Harrison Park, a one- and two-bedroom condominium project with units priced between $170,000 and $230,000. In the spring, Wagenbrenner plans to begin work on Park Place Lofts, condos measuring up to 2,700 square feet, including three bedrooms and a den on a single-floor layout. Most will sell for $300,000 to $500,000; the penthouses that will overlook the planned 5-acre, riverfront Harrison Park could go for as much as $600,000, Wagenbrenner said. Read more at http://ee.dispatch.com/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=TCD/2005/08/06&ID=Ar02202&Locale=english-skin-custom
August 27, 200519 yr Author There's no accompanying news story...I caught this in RetroMetro. These are being done by Santer Communities, the same folks who are doing Boulevard Green. I believe these will be in the $200,000 range. http://www.santercommunities.com/community.html
October 8, 200519 yr Author There has been a slight change in the site plan: Here is a rendering of the Harrison Park Flats. Five of the 42 are sold or reserved: The single-family homes will have rear alleys. They are going for $290K-$399K. Right now it appears that about 2/3 of the lower-priced models are sold or are in contract and about half of the higher-priced homes are "reserved". Renderings and floor plans for the Park Place Lofts aren't available yet.
June 15, 200618 yr I walked down Perry yesterday, which is the street with the purple trees in this picture. All the houses are for the most part built on the side of the street that bows outward. They look VERY nice and match up with the neighborhood well. I'll try to take some photos soon!
June 15, 200618 yr Walked by this yesterday and they have a lot of the earthwork completed. There are trenches in the ground they have started to put steel rods into the trenches (sorry I don't know technical terms!). I'll try to take some photos soon!
June 16, 200618 yr Current status... Bonus Harrison West pics for you loyal Columbus thread followers!!! More updates to come!!! :-D
June 16, 200618 yr Author Wow...some of those houses look like they could have been built 80 years ago. Thanks for the update!
July 10, 200618 yr Developers have hope brownfield projects pump life into downtown Business First of Columbus - July 7, 2006 by Scott Rawdon Business First Mark Wagenbrenner, a principal with the Wagenbrenner Cos., a Grandview Heights developer, said it cost about $4.75 million to clean the soil beneath the AC Humko plant, a century-old factory in the Harrison West neighborhood that produced vegetable oil products. The site is now home to the developing Harrison Park project, a 16-acre upscale mix of single and multiple family residences and condominiums. The city of Columbus helped Wagenbrenner secure $3 million in state money from the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund to clean the site. The remainder was privately funded to bring the soil quality up to standards suitable for residential living. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/07/07/story8.html
July 10, 200618 yr The city helped Recchie secure a $3 million state grant to help clear 31 acres of old concrete from the site. Much of that concrete was eventually crushed and recycled for use in the project, Recchie said. Columbus Economic Development Manager Gary Guglielmi said that the city's goal is to prepare downtown brownfield sites so they are as easy as or easier to develop than the open land beyond Interstate 270. "Our job is to lower the risk to developers," he said. Great...now go do your job on the Whittier Peninsula! :)
July 18, 200618 yr Author From Business First of Columbus, 7/14/06: Santer works urban niche Business First of Columbus - July 14, 2006 by Brian R. Ball, Business First Urban housing developer Chip Santer has returned to an area of central Columbus that's around the corner from his well-regarded Delaware Place. Santer Communities Ltd. has begun construction on 24 condominium flats at West First Avenue and Thurber Drive adjacent to the Harrison West neighborhood. The project, named Avenue One, is two blocks from a Santer-built condo project that the city's Victorian Village Commission lauded as the community's top construction project in 2003. When completed in early 2007, individual condos will cost between $179,900 and $289,900, which falls within the range that has attracted the bulk of buyers for downtown residences. Santer said the ground level will have two units as well as one parking slot for each of the residences. The top two levels will include 11 condos each capped by a common roof deck. Santer considered townhouse-style residences on the site, but Avenue One needed more mass because it is next to a former school building that was turned into offices, he said. "I wanted to maximize the use of the site," he said. "(Two-story condos) didn't seem like an appropriate fit." More at http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/07/17/story6.html?page=1
August 7, 200618 yr Author From the 8/7/06 Dispatch: Avenue One to offer near-Downtown living at lower price Monday, August 07, 2006 Mike Pramik THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Despite a strong supply of condominiums being built in and near Downtown, price is a roadblock for many would-be owners. Developer Chip Santer said he designed his 24-unit Avenue One project in Harrison West for people who are seeking lower prices even if it means less space. Santer took the bold step of making all the condos at Avenue One one-bedroom units. The flats range from 890 to 1,258 square feet and are priced from $179,900 to $289,900. "The prices on condos in the Downtown and Victorian Village markets are extremely high," Santer said. "There are not a lot of opportunities in this price point, but there is a market need. Our team developed a handsome way to address it." Avenue One is a three-story building that is going up on a grassy lot at 431 W. 1 st Ave. It will feature a rooftop deck and a secured, 24-space parking garage on the first floor. More at http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/07/20060807-F6-01.html
October 19, 200618 yr Author Here's a progress report from the October 2006 Harrison West News newsletter: Harrison Park Update Developer Mark Wagenbrenner tells the News that all the public infrastructure should be finished by November, with the exception of street trees and sidewalks. These will be done as homes and buildings are finished to avoid damaging them during construction. They are finishing pavement and curbs on Quality Place and Ingleside in the next few weeks. Street trees on the east side of Perry should go in this fall, though the Perry Street island landscaping will be installed next Spring. Houses They have completed 21 homes and framed out 7 more. Seven spec homes are immediately avail-able; the rest are sold and 10 of the homes are occupied, includ-ing Bonnie and Nick Kentris’ home which was on the Vic Vil Tour of Homes. Flats They have begun framing the first of three of the Flats of Harrison Park at the southeast corner of Perry and West First Avenue. They plan on completing all of the 42 units in this building in May or June. Prices in this building range from $159,000 to $240,000 with floor plans ranging from 840 sq. ft. to 1,270 sq. ft. The Community Center It’s framed and under roof, to be finished by mid April. The Harrison West Society will be using the facility for meetings perhaps as early as May. The Park Wagenbrenner is working diligently with the Harrison West Society to get the signatures (see Sign on the Line on Page 1) to keep the majority of the TIF proceeds in the neighborhood. Once we get the signatures, Wagenbrenner intends to secure bond funds so as to begin construction by next summer. The Park Committee will begin meeting in the first quarter again to begin final planning on the park. http://www.harrisonwest.org/hwnews/0610/OCTOBER06.pdf
January 14, 200817 yr Columbusite: Are those two new photos in the same area as the infill photos from your City Photos thread "Harrison West Mini-Thread (Columbus)" at http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=14886.0 ?
January 15, 200817 yr Yep, those flats are new to the south of the one I took earlier and that street lined with houses is just west of the one I took.
January 22, 200817 yr Good news for Harrison West. Looks like the "park" in Harrison Park is actually going to happen. Housing development will give urban Harrison West area a park Friday, January 18, 2008 Business First of Columbus By Kevin Kemper, Business First After years of planning, a riverside park is set to become a reality for the Harrison West neighborhood in Columbus, thanks to new financing. The Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority issued almost $3.1 million in bonds last month to buy and develop nearly five acres along the Olentangy River into much-needed green space for the city neighborhood. The land had been the site of a roofing company warehouse and office building. The park is a component of Wagenbrenner Development LLC's redevelopment of the site, home for decades to an AC Humko vegetable oil processing plant. Columbus-based Wagenbrenner has been cleaning the site and turning it into a 16-acre housing development. Designed to blend into Harrison West's historic character, Wagenbrenner began building Harrison Park, a community of 330 detached and attached condominiums, 18 months ago. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/01/21/story11.html?f=et177&b=1200891600^1577763&ana=e_vert
October 19, 200915 yr Photo of the finished Avenue One condo building shown under construction above.
October 27, 200915 yr Merged two previous Harrison West project threads (Harrison Park Condos and Avenue One Lofts) into this combined Harrison West development thread.
September 9, 201014 yr Neighborhood goes from downtrodden to trendy Historical Harrison West's proximity to Downtown and OSU helped fuel its slow but steady upswing Tuesday, September 7, 2010 By Mark Ferenchik THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The new Harrison Park that will soon grace the east bank of the Olentangy River just north of Downtown is the latest piece of a plan to complete the Harrison West neighborhood. The transformation has been years in the making, turning a once-downtrodden area into a trendy neighborhood of renovated, colorful frame houses and immaculate gardens dotting its brick side streets. The parkland is a perfect example. "That site was a blighted industrial area that was pulling down the entire area of the neighborhood," said Jacob Sukosd, a Harrison West resident. Work began last week on the 4.3-acre park between Quality Place and W. 2nd Avenue. It will include a playground, a gazebo with a copper roof, a new lane for the Olentangy Trail and sculptures designed by Columbus College of Art & Design students. Full article: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/09/07/from-downtrodden-to-trendy.html?sid=101
September 10, 201014 yr Yeah, when I first moved to Harrison West the old industrial buildings were still there and the neighborhood had quite a different character than today. Quite the success story.
January 25, 201213 yr Good news for Harrison West. Looks like the "park" in Harrison Park is actually going to happen. Housing development will give urban Harrison West area a park Friday, January 18, 2008 Business First of Columbus By Kevin Kemper, Business First After years of planning, a riverside park is set to become a reality for the Harrison West neighborhood in Columbus, thanks to new financing. The Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority issued almost $3.1 million in bonds last month to buy and develop nearly five acres along the Olentangy River into much-needed green space for the city neighborhood. The land had been the site of a roofing company warehouse and office building. The park is a component of Wagenbrenner Development LLC's redevelopment of the site, home for decades to an AC Humko vegetable oil processing plant. Columbus-based Wagenbrenner has been cleaning the site and turning it into a 16-acre housing development. Designed to blend into Harrison West's historic character, Wagenbrenner began building Harrison Park, a community of 330 detached and attached condominiums, 18 months ago. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/01/21/story11.html?f=et177&b=1200891600^1577763&ana=e_vert An update on Harrison Park from the Harrison West Society website: Harrison Park Is Officially a Columbus City Park
January 25, 201213 yr More from the Harrison West Society website about two pieces of sculpture selected by the society and installed at Harrison Park: Two New Sculptures Selected for Harrison Park Welcome to the “Community” Harrison Park Graced by Another New Sculpture "Community" sculpture is on the left; "Brassia Orchid" sculpture is on the right
January 26, 201213 yr In the Columbus Dispatch's re-cap of Monday's City Council, there was a report about City Council approving a development proposal from the Wagenbrenner Company for the Harrison West neighborhood: In the Harrison West case, the council unanimously approved allowing the Wagenbrenner Co. to build a 108-unit apartment building on a 1.9-acre parcel that was planned for no more than 75 units. Harrison West neighbors said the plan for 108 apartments is too dense and at four stories too tall. Developer Mark Wagenbrenner defended the proposal, saying the entire Harrison Park development on former industrial land near the Olentangy River was planned for 345 units. This project won’t change that overall density, he said. The project changed to apartments from condominiums, he said, because that’s where the market is. Eventually, he said, the company plans to sell the one- and two-bedroom units, but nobody wants to buy condominiums now. Councilman A. Troy Miller, the council’s zoning chairman, said he was persuaded to vote yes because the 345-unit limit on the whole development won’t be exceeded, and by Wagenbrenner’s past record. Here's the location of Wagenbrenner's 947 Perry Street property in Harrison West. Location map from the Franklin County Auditor's GIS site: The 947 Perry Street property is located across the street from the three-story Harrison Park Flats that was also developed by Wagenbrenner (photo from Franklin County Auditor site):
January 27, 201213 yr I always enjoyed walking through this development when I lived in Columbus; I'm glad to learn the park has come along so nicely. And I love the "Community" sculpture!
February 3, 201213 yr I always enjoyed walking through this development when I lived in Columbus; I'm glad to learn the park has come along so nicely. And I love the "Community" sculpture! I've always thought that this was some of the best new infill construction in Columbus. I especially liked the single-family and duplex homes built by Wagenbrenner on Perry Street and Harrison Park Place between First and Second Avenue. Earlier in this thread there were some photos of this area when it was still under construction. Below are some photos of this area taken after completion by the County Auditor site in May 2011:
February 6, 201213 yr In a fortunate bit of happenstance, Columbus Underground just featured one of those Wagenbrenner-built Harrison West infill homes in their "At Home" series. They talked to a married couple with an infant that moved into a 1500 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath single-family home. Below is the link to the interview and a phototour of the interior at Columbus Underground: At Home: In Harrison West
February 6, 201213 yr That isn't a Wagenbrenner infill home... it's actually from the last round of urban renewal done in the mid 80's by M/I Homes. I couldn't recall the exact details so I let google fill in the blanks... Page 12 http://development.columbus.gov/UploadedFiles/Development/Planning_Division/Document_Library/Plans_and_Overlays_Imported_Content/HarrisonWest4.pdf
February 8, 201213 yr That isn't a Wagenbrenner infill home... it's actually from the last round of urban renewal done in the mid 80's by M/I Homes. I couldn't recall the exact details so I let google fill in the blanks... Page 12 http://development.columbus.gov/UploadedFiles/Development/Planning_Division/Document_Library/Plans_and_Overlays_Imported_Content/HarrisonWest4.pdf It appears the CU feature was about a M/I infill home from the 1980's and not about one of the more recent Wagenbrenner infill homes. I wasn't aware that M/I Homes did any single-family infill in Harrison West. It's certainly atypical from their suburban portfolio. But it looks quite nice. Page 16 in the link to the Harrison West Plan you posted also contains a first person story from someone who brought one of those 1980's M/I homes: "When we found the new "Victorian" style homes being built by M/I Homes in the Harrison West area, an established older neighborhood, we felt we had found the best of both worlds... the diverse nature of the residential mix, and the proximity to downtown." It's interesting to see how over 25 years of use has impacted these "older" new infill homes. It looks like they've held up very well. I looked up the location of the house featured by CU at the County Auditor's site and found that these M/I infill homes were built along the north and south side of Fourth Avenue in a roughly three block area. Some blocks have these infill homes intregrated with Harrison's original victorian homes - others have full blocks of infill homes. Below is a photo of the home featured by Columbus Underground. And it's followed by the same home in its Fourth Avenue context in a photo from the County Auditor's website. I've also included some other M/I infill photos from the County Auditor:
March 14, 201213 yr From the Harrison West Society website: Traffic Islands on West Third and West Fifth Avenues After much delay due to funding restrictions, Harrison West is finally going to see traffic islands installed on West Third and West Fifth avenues along with a bump out on West Third. ... West Fifth Avenue will receive two islands, one at the intersection with Perry Street and another where the Olentangy Recreation Trail crosses the street. West Third Avenue will receive one island where it crosses the Trail and a bump out immediately to the east of the island. The bump out will, in essence, replace the white striping already in place to narrow the lane in an attempt to slow traffic. MORE: http://harrisonwest.org/traffic-islands-on-west-third-and-west-fifth-avenues/ (The above link also contains two pdf's of the city's full construction documents for the traffic islands.)
June 4, 201213 yr In the Columbus Dispatch's re-cap of Monday's City Council, there was a report about City Council approving a development proposal from the Wagenbrenner Company for the Harrison West neighborhood: In the Harrison West case, the council unanimously approved allowing the Wagenbrenner Co. to build a 108-unit apartment building on a 1.9-acre parcel that was planned for no more than 75 units. Harrison West neighbors said the plan for 108 apartments is too dense and at four stories too tall. Developer Mark Wagenbrenner defended the proposal, saying the entire Harrison Park development on former industrial land near the Olentangy River was planned for 345 units. This project won’t change that overall density, he said. The project changed to apartments from condominiums, he said, because that’s where the market is. Eventually, he said, the company plans to sell the one- and two-bedroom units, but nobody wants to buy condominiums now. Councilman A. Troy Miller, the council’s zoning chairman, said he was persuaded to vote yes because the 345-unit limit on the whole development won’t be exceeded, and by Wagenbrenner’s past record. Here's the location of Wagenbrenner's 947 Perry Street property in Harrison West. Location map from the Franklin County Auditor's GIS site: The 947 Perry Street property is located across the street from the three-story Harrison Park Flats that was also developed by Wagenbrenner (photo from Franklin County Auditor site): Construction has started on this four-story, 108-unit apartment building in Harrison West. Walker posted these two photos of the First Avenue and Perry Street site at Columbus Underground:
June 5, 201213 yr Like the much older three-story apartment concentration in Town-Franklin it just goes to show that the areas are still quiet and that single-family homes don't have to be scared of higher densities. Too bad about the NIMBYism from the president of one part of the developments: “This proposal violates the entire spirit of the Harrison West plan,” Adam Deutsch, president of the Harrison Park Homeowners Association, told the council. “You’re setting a precedent that says to developers, ‘It’s open season on Harrison West.’ ” http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/01/24/two-city-neighborhoods-lose-development-fights.html It was OK when there are numerous three story buildings, but just one four-story building = "open season on Harrison West"? Is it too much to ask for these residential area leaders to have a basic understanding of what constitutes good urbanism? Same issue everywhere though.
June 5, 201213 yr Then it is a good thing that the city's Zoning Board and City Council wisely chose to approve the project isn't it?
June 5, 201213 yr ^^The homeowner here were not concerned with density; they were really concerned with having additional competition for the community house and swimming pool.
August 15, 201212 yr More photos of the four-story, 108-unit apartment building under construction at First & Perry in Harrison West from Columbus Underground's Construction Roundup — July 2012:
September 13, 201212 yr More photos of the four-story, 108-unit apartment building under construction at First & Perry in Harrison West from Columbus Underground's Construction Roundup — August 2012 - Part 2:
September 29, 201212 yr More photos of the four-story, 108-unit apartment building under construction at First & Perry in Harrison West from Columbus Underground's Construction Roundup — September 2012 - Part 2. You can start to see this new building in context with the previous Wagenbrenner residential building across the street:
October 1, 201212 yr From the Harrison West Society website: Traffic Islands on West Third and West Fifth Avenues After much delay due to funding restrictions, Harrison West is finally going to see traffic islands installed on West Third and West Fifth avenues along with a bump out on West Third. ... West Fifth Avenue will receive two islands, one at the intersection with Perry Street and another where the Olentangy Recreation Trail crosses the street. West Third Avenue will receive one island where it crosses the Trail and a bump out immediately to the east of the island. The bump out will, in essence, replace the white striping already in place to narrow the lane in an attempt to slow traffic. MORE: http://harrisonwest.org/traffic-islands-on-west-third-and-west-fifth-avenues/ (The above link also contains two pdf's of the city's full construction documents for the traffic islands.) Some construction photos of the above mentioned traffic islands from Columbus Underground:
November 7, 201212 yr More photos of the four-story, 108-unit apartment building under construction at First & Perry in Harrison West from Columbus Underground's Construction Roundup —- October 2012:
January 3, 201312 yr More photos of the four-story, 108-unit apartment building under construction at First & Perry in Harrison West from Columbus Underground's Construction Roundup — December 2012:
January 7, 201312 yr A couple more photos of the four-story, 108-unit apartment building under construction in Harrison West from Columbus Underground. The first is from an article about the project developer - Wagenbrenner Development. The article - "Wagenbrenner Continues Urban Infill Development in 2013" - discusses this Harrison Park project along with three other urban infill projects that Wagenbrenner is proceeding with this year. The second photo is from a mid-November 2012 update from Columbus Underground. This view is from the previously built 3-story Harrison Park Flats condo development across Perry Street from the under-construction Harrison Park Apartments. Nice view from one development into the other. They do seem to complement each other don't they?
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