I did note that the new Morse Road reconstruction did help bring some pedestrian elements into play, including consolidated intersections, well-defined crossings, and the like... but it still isn't the most pedestrian friendly out there.

 

But you gotta start somewhere!

More proof that an all Democratic controlled city doesn't = good urban planning. When is that going to change? I'd really like to see the beginning of some sort of pro-urban policies that would more or less require developers to build more developments with an urban bent, at least somewhat.

I don't know about this new proposal. It isn't as pedestrian friendly -- and is awash in a sea of parking! What happened to the original plans for this mixed-use community that looked quite grand? :(

 

I don't recall ever seeing the plans mentioned. All I remember hearing and seeing in the papers was trying to a get a Home Depot to commit to the area (which, last I checked, wasn't a very pedestrial-friendly development at all). I don't think this development was ever meant to be a new urban tract of dense, mixed use properties meant to be traveresed primarily by foot. As Colday mentioned, the entire Morse Rd. corridor is already the antithesis of "pedestrian-friendly," minus the hulking mixed use development further east known as Easton.

Link contains a photo.  From Northland News, 2/21/07:

 

Groups hope to clarify focus on 161

By JENNIFER WRAY 

 

In business since the summer, the NABA State Route 161 Task Force will celebrate its official coming-out party of sorts on March 8.  The task force is the result of a partnership among the Northland Area Business Association, the Northland Alliance, the Northland Community Council and others.  In addition to community representatives, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, Columbus City Councilman Andrew Ginther, Councilwoman Maryellen O'Shaughnessy, Columbus Development Director Mark Barbash and Franklin County Auditor Joe Testa are among those expected to attend the kickoff.

 

Council recently approved a 2007 general fund budget that included $50,000 set aside by Coleman for the Northland Alliance, which has teamed up with the task force in its work along Dublin-Granville Road.  The bulk of the funding, $40,000, will go toward professional services to help explore long-term solutions and funding for the corridor.  Options include the establishment of a Special Improvement District, akin to what the Alliance helped businesses establish along Morse Road.

 

Additional information on the task force is available via the Internet, on its Web site: www.naba161taskforce.org.

 

Full story at http://www.snponline.com/NEWS2-21/2-21_nn161.htm

 

From ThisWeek Northland, 3/1/07:

 

March 8 meeting

Route 161 task force seeks public input

Thursday, March 1, 2007

By RANDY NAVAROLI

ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

Northland officials seeking to improve state Route 161 in some of the same ways as the Morse Road corridor is being rehabilitated will introduce their 2007 agenda at a March 8 meeting sponsored by the Northland Area Business Association's Route 161 Task Force.  The session is being viewed primarily as a networking opportunity for Northland business managers, property owners, residents and the area's various community organizations.  The Northland Area Business Association's Route 161 Task Force includes members of the Northland Alliance and the Northland Community Council.

 

Full story at http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/030107/Northland/News/030107-News-312458.html

 

From the 3/20/07 Dispatch:

 

MAP

 

Rt. 161 firms make plans for block watch

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Block watches are about neighbors keeping an eye out for one another.  It works for housing subdivisions, say business owners along Rt. 161, so why shouldn't commercial neighbors band together for safety?  They are tired of break-ins, robberies and the perception that their area is declining, so they're working with Columbus police to create a block watch along E. Dublin-Granville Road.

 

"Police said neighborhood block watches have helped deter crime. It only makes sense that we do that for each other and businesses," said Dave Cooper, who owns the Ink Well and leads the Rt. 161 Task Force, a group of business and property owners formed through the Northland Area Business Association.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/contentbe/dispatch/2007/03/20/20070320-C1-03.html

 

From Northland News, 6/13/07:

 

 

Stonehenge shares plans with NCC

Home improvement store won't be built until late 2008 or early '09.

By JENNIFER NOBLIT

 

Hot on the heels of last month's announcement of new tenant for NorthlandPark, Stonehenge Co. President Mo Dioun again shared his plans for the former Northland Mall site with members of the Northland Community Council at its June meeting.  May 11, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, Columbus Urban Growth and the Stonehenge Co. announced plans to formally begin redevelopment of NorthlandPark into Northland Village, a 54-acre, mixed-use development.

 

Urban Growth -- a property development agency of the city -- holds a 99-year lease on the property, whose major tenants presently are the Ohio Department of Taxation and Vaud-Villities Productions. Stonehenge will serve as the Northland Village developer, said Urban Growth President Mark Froehlich, who also attended the NCC meeting June 5.

 

Read more at http://www.snponline.com/NEWS6-13/6-13_nnnorthlandpark.htm

 

County pursues Northland dog shelter

Civic leaders approve; price for land unsettled

Wednesday,  February 20, 2008  -  3:28 AM

By Barbara Carmen, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Franklin County's $18 million dog shelter could find a new home at the redeveloped Northland Mall site, and some neighborhood leaders think it's a good idea.  Franklin County commissioners agreed yesterday that it makes sense to build their shelter near the mix of offices and retail springing up there.  The current shelter has 16,000 square feet on 4 acres.  A Northland shelter would be 52,000 square feet and sit on 8.35 acres near a retention pond that could be ringed by a walking path.

 

Rea more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/02/20/NLDOGS.ART_ART_02-20-08_B1_3T9DGC8.html?sid=101

 

 

That neighborhood's been going to the dogs for a while... this just proves it.

Northland Village starting Phase I development: City transfers parcel to Columbus Urban Growth

Posted by Paul Bonneville on March 11, 2008 at Columbus Retro Metro

 

Menard’s firms up commitment as eastern anchor

press release

(Columbus)  Redevelopment of the former Northland Mall has been a commitment of Mayor Michael B. Coleman since the mall closed its doors in 2002, and tonight the Mayor and City Council will move forward a land transfer to allow Phase I of the development of Northland Village to progress.  The City and its development partner Columbus Urban Growth Corporation are working together to redevelop the approximately 84-acre site, and Council is scheduled to vote tonight on legislation to convey specified portions of the Northland Mall property to CUGC to facilitate the development of a Menard’s, home improvement store.

 

“I am pleased with the progress that has been made at Northland Village.  The empty shell of the former mall could have been left a vacant and blighted wasteland, but, together, we stepped up to take action through public and private investment to help restore the vibrancy of the Morse Road corridor,” said Mayor Coleman.

 

Last year, Columbus Urban Growth Corporation and The Stonehenge Company announced a partnership to redevelop the remaining 57 acres at Northland as an $80 million project dubbed “Northland Village.”  Menards, a home improvement store, was the first anchor to commit to build on the site’s eastern district.  The final build-out will result will include more than 550,000 square-feet of new development and generate more than 800 jobs onsite, in addition to the 1,000+ jobs already at the Ohio Department of Taxation.

 

“The redevelopment of the Northland Mall site is the key to unlocking economic development for the entire Morse Road corridor,” said Development Committee Chair Maryellen O’Shaughnessy.  “The City of Columbus continues to invest in much needed infrastructure improvements, including sidewalks and bike lanes that will make the area more accessible to all residents.”

 

Together, the two anchors will draw increased traffic and consumers to the site in order to fulfill the dream of creating a mixed-use Northland community gathering space that will restore a civic center for the Morse Road corridor with pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, parks and neighborhood retail, dining and offices.

 

“Our goal is to provide Northland with a community gathering place. When I was growing up the mall was the center of the Northland community; now the center of the community will be Northland Village.  This has been a community driven development from the start and local leaders as well as the Mayor and Council are to be commended for their persistence, perseverance, and patience in making sure that it was done right and remained community focused, said Mark Froelich, Urban Growth president.”

 

Upon completion of the project the City of Columbus will have invested more than $38 million on redevelopment of the site and infrastructure improvements on Morse Road.  The investment includes $19.4 million on site redevelopment, including acquisition of land, utility improvements and new roads for the redevelopment plan and $18 million in improvements along Morse Road that are already built or scheduled for the corridor from I-71 to Cleveland Avenue.

 

Phase 2, including the 1.5 miles from Karl to Cleveland, will build a landscaped median, new curbs and gutters, street trees, sidewalks, improved streetlights and traffic signals and pedestrian crossing upgrades at intersections.  Work on Phase 2 will start in 2008 and will be complete in 2009.

 

 

http://columbusretrometro.typepad.com/columbus_retrometro/2008/03/northland-villa.html#more

Menard's expects Northland store after mid-2009

Business First of Columbus

By Brian R. Ball, Business First

Friday, March 21, 2008

 

Home improvement retailer Menard Inc. has bought a piece of the former Northland Mall site on Morse Road in Columbus, but construction there likely won't begin until late this year.  Gahanna-based Stonehenge Co. sold 16.2 acres for the store to the Wisconsin retailer on March 14 for nearly $2 million - minutes after it bought the site and an additional 19 acres from Columbus Urban Growth Corp. for $1.7 million.

 

The sale marked the beginning of Stonehenge's redevelopment efforts for its $80 million Northland Village project.  "Menard's will be the anchor to mark Northland Village as a destination point," said Stonehenge CEO Mo Dioun.

 

Read more at  http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/03/24/story7.html

Northland leaders say some areas near New Albany need attention

Thursday, April 24, 2008

By JENNIFER NESBITT, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

Leaders of the Northland Area Business Association and Northland Community Council are increasing their efforts to reach out to areas outside the neighborhood's traditional boundaries.  At a meeting last week, NABA's board of trustees checked the association's boundaries to make sure they were in line with those in the NCC's bylaws, which include areas outside I-270 and extends to the New Albany border.

 

While it was found that NABA's bylaws also include those areas, NABA president Dave Cooper acknowledged that the association traditionally has recruited businesses in the 43229 ZIP code, using I-270 as its northern border, Morse Road as its southern border, Worthington as its western border and the 3-C railroad tracks as its eastern border.  Cooper said NABA was led to examine its boundaries by NCC members who live in the area outside I-270, many of whom have joined the NCC in more recent years.

 

MORE: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/newalbany/stories/2008/04/24/0424nancc_ln.html

Northland Village behind-the-scenes progress continues

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

By JENNIFER NESBITT, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

It's been more than a year since The Stonehenge Co., the city's chosen developer for the Northland Village site, announced that home-improvement retailer Menard's would be a main anchor at the revitalized site.  Menard's officially purchased the Northland site property earlier this year but still hasn't broken ground.  That's not scheduled to occur until 2009, with a store opening scheduled in 2010, Northland Area Business Association president Dave Cooper said.

 

Despite lack of visible progress on the former site of the Northland Mall, which closed in 2002, Cooper said Stonehenge Co. president Mo Dioun is making behind-the-scenes progress on the 60-acre property.  "We have to be patient," Cooper said.  "I know the residents of the Northland area are getting pretty frustrated, but from a business standpoint, things are developing as they need to."

 

MORE: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/northland/stories/2008/06/18/0619nonorthlandvillage_ln.html

City to begin Phase II of improvements

ThisWeekNews

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 5:30 PM

By JENNIFER NESBITT, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

The city will extend the Morse Road improvements to Cleveland Avenue, with construction beginning in July.  In Phase II of a project meant to help revitalize the Northland area, the city will add bike lanes and landscaped medians and improve street lights, traffic lights, curbs, sidewalks, street signs and stormwater facilities.

 

Phase II of the project will improve a 1.2-mile stretch of Morse Road between Karl Road and Cleveland Avenue.  The improvements will cost $13.4-million and are scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2010.  Phase I of the project, which cost more than $12-million and encompassed Morse Road from Indianola Avenue to Karl Road, was completed in May 2007.

 

Read more at http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/northland/stories/2008/06/18/morse.html?sid=104

Businesses still want to form SID along 161

Wednesday,  July 23, 2008

By JENNIFER NESBITT

ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

Though Northland groups have lost funding to establish a special improvement district (SID) along a section of state Route 161, the issue is far from off the table.  A group of local businesses owners in the corridor have taken up the charge, meeting to establish a SID board, plan a budget and set up a proposal of what the SID would look like.

 

"They have been very busy on that," said Northland Area Business Association president Dave Cooper, who also chairs the Northland Alliance and the State Route 161 Task Force.  To keep the SID efforts moving forward, he said the 161 Task Force is working with city officials to try to find any money left from other projects that could be used to establish the SID.

 

MORE: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/northland/stories/2008/07/23/0724nosid_ln.html

County approves Northland Village dog shelter

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 3:55 PM

By JENNIFER NESBITT

ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

Northland Village will be home to the new Franklin County dog shelter.  The Franklin County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to purchase eight acres of land on the Northland Village site for $2.37-million to build a state-of-the-art dog shelter that would open in 2010.  The dog shelter will serve as an anchor in the portion of the site dubbed Northland Crossing East, which will sit north of a planned Menard's, said Mo Dioun, president of the site's developer, The Stonehenge Co.

 

The shelter will cause the relocation of the Vaud-Villities' Northland Performing Arts Center, which currently occupies the portion of Northland Village planned for the dog shelter.  Dioun said developers have worked out a deal with Vaud-Villities, whereby the theater will be closed and razed to make way for the dog shelter, and the theater company will move into 30,000 square feet of space in the former J.C. Penney building.

 

Read more at http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/northland/stories/2008/08/13/dog_shelter.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=104

 

Dog shelter shifts Northland site for Vaud-Villities

Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball

Friday, August 15, 2008

 

A deal to build a dog shelter for Franklin County at the former Northland Mall site in Columbus will send the Vaud-Villities Performances Inc. theater troupe packing for a move across the parking lot to a former J.C. Penney department store building.  Franklin County commissioners have agreed to fund a $2.4 million purchase of the former theater that Vaud-Villities has owned since 2002 plus six acres owned by Northland Village developer Stonehenge Co.

 

Vaud-Villities plans to purchase about 30,000 square feet of the former department store building from Stonehenge after plans stalled on a $13 million rehabilitation of its home into a live performance venue.  It bought the former movie theater building for $250,000.  Stonehenge acquired the theater site Aug. 8 for $2 million.  It also closed on the seven-acre J.C. Penney site from Columbus Urban Growth Corp., a city-affiliated developer, for $700,000 that same day.

 

Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/08/18/story3.html?ana=e_ph

Morse Road's new face

Can $18 million prettification help North Side businesses thrive once more?

Monday, August 18, 2008 - 3:09 AM

By Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Morse Road is getting prettier, with bicycle lanes, fresh pavement and banners in the median.  But whether pretty turns into profit for businesses along the North Side artery is another question.  On Tuesday, city officials and neighborhood leaders are scheduled to stand in front of the Kroger store at Morse and Karl roads to kick off the final phase of the Morse Road improvements -- a $9.4 million, 1.4-mile segment between Karl and Cleveland Avenue.

 

City officials hope that spending $18 million to spruce up Morse -- the city and contractors are spending an additional $100,000 to fix sidewalks laid there less than two years ago -- will translate into a revitalized commercial strip that will help stabilize the nearby neighborhoods.

 

Read more at http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/08/18/MORSEROAD.ART_ART_08-18-08_B1_BCB1R61.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

 

 

Group asks businesses to gear up improvement district for Northland area

Friday, December 26, 2008

Business First of Columbus - by Jeff Bell

 

Ink Well print shop owner David Cooper argues there can be strength in numbers in the effort to revive the Route 161 business corridor in the Northland area of Columbus.  By banding together to create a special improvement district, property owners can take a big step toward helping an area stung by the loss of businesses in recent years, said Cooper, chairman of Northland Alliance Inc.

 

The nonprofit community and business organization is leading the effort to create the district, in which property owners would pay a tax assessment to support grass mowing along Route 161 medians and service roads, litter pickup and landscaping maintenance.  “We’re simply trying to maintain what we have,” said Cooper, also president of the Northland Area Business Association.  “Our goal is to show the benefit to property owners by making their property more attractive, more salable and more leasable.”

 

Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/12/29/story2.html?ana=e_ph

 

They're attempting to make this a complete street here. This is sprawl: the most costly and least beneficial place to do this. A bike lane along 50 MPH or faster traffic? Paint all the lines you want, I'm a very experienced urban cyclist and I won't even touch it, never mind try to walk across it as a pedestrian.

 

This all begs the question for Columbus city leaders; why the ass-backwards approach? Forget about Morse Rd., which should just be chalked up as a lost cause at this point in time. What about implementing a complete streets network Downtown, in neighborhoods east, south, west and north of Downtown where is would actually make a huge difference? Why are there bike lanes on Morse and Schrock, but not even a hint of traffic calming on Front, 3rd Ave, 3rd St, Bryden, Long, etc, etc, etc? What is the logic here?

maybe they need more practice doing that stuff first?  they are wide open in a sense and would be easier to practice on than the tighter downtown streets. morse & shrock certainly need calming at the very least. just a guess (based on nyc starting with calming the far westside, wide and relatively little trafficked lower 9th avenue before expanding to other streets).

 

ps -- if anyone can get more renderings and site pics of the northland mall site please do post them.

That theory might hold water, were it not for the conversion of Gay St. Downtown into a complete street with medians, bulb-outs, and crosswalks which serves as a success story for complete streets Downtown.

 

I did an entry on this subject on my blog and I seem to be in the minority, but I think it makes sense: spend money for complete streets where it will work, not on a wide, high-speed corridor lined with strip malls and drive-thrus far from the city center.

 

Vaud-Villities closer to showcase at Northland

Friday, January 2, 2009

Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball

 

The new rehearsal home for Vaud-Villities Performances Inc. under construction in the back of a vacant department store building at the former Northland Mall won't remain hidden when it opens this winter.  Designers of the Northland Performing Arts Center intend to extend the excitement expected inside the stage troupe's 30,000-square-foot home to the building's exterior through a "colorful and fanciful" design, said Peter Macrae, president of Triad Architects Ltd. and a design principal on the Columbus project.

 

The design includes a marquee tower that rises above the two-story building, a lobby built at the northeast corner and a covered walkway to welcome patrons into the venue.  Macrae said the design is aimed at letting the energy inside unfold to the outside.  The theater project is the stage in reusing the 84-acre Northland Mall property six years after the retail complex shut down.  An affiliate of Vaud-Villities in 2004 acquired a former movie theater at the site but couldn't raise the money for a proposed $13 million renovation of the building into a 1,500 seat performance hall.

 

Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/01/05/story2.html

 

Business leaders see 161 SID as catalyst for turnaround

By KATHLEEN L. RADCLIFF, COLUMBUS LOCAL NEWS

Published: Thursday, August 13, 2009 - 9:42 AM EDT

 

"161 is at a tipping point," Cleve Ricksecker, executive director of Capital Crossroads and Discovery Special Improvement Districts, said as approximately 25 business leaders met recently at Columbus Square Bowling Palace, 5707 Forest Hills Blvd., for a progress report regarding the initiative.  In its last session of 2008, Columbus City Council approved legislation authorizing $50,000 by the city to support the continued efforts of the Northland Alliance toward revitalization efforts in the Northland stretch of Dublin-Granville Road, including a proposed special-improvement district on state Route 161.

 

Read more at http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2009/08/16/multiple_papers/news/allnnsidup_20090812_0131pm_6.txt

Menard’s gets EPA OK for Northland project

Business First of Columbus

Friday, November 6, 2009

 

The Ohio EPA has cleared retailer Menard Inc. to begin development of a 16-acre parcel on the site of the former Northland Mall that the company bought last year.  The in-the-works Menard store is part of the $80 million Northland Village project in development by Gahanna-based Stonehenge Co.

 

Menard bought the acreage from Stonehenge in March 2008 for about $2 million.  Other tenants at the former Northland site include Franklin County, which broke ground this fall on an $18 million dog shelter, and the Vaud-Villities Performances Inc. troupe.

 

Full story at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/11/02/daily42.html

Somehow I doubt that the city is encouraging smart growth like they say they are. I haven't read or seen anything that indicates this will be a walkable, urban development.

Who can walk to this site, really? It's practically impossible to retrofit 1960s sprawl to a non-autocentric use without going with a clean-slate design and some form of rail stop.

Major redevelopment projects mark Northland's year

By Kathleen L. Radcliff, Columbus Local News

Tuesday, December 29, 2009 - 2:06 PM EST

 

Change and redevelopment marked some of the biggest news in Northland in 2009. Here's a look back at a few of the year's top stories, from community coverage in the Northland News:

 

* The site of a former Northland car dealership is now a school, as Horizon Science Academy Middle School opened its doors to welcome students in September, on the 6 acre site at 2350 Morse Road that formerly housed Ron Rush Lincoln Mercury.

 

* After a 49-year run, Vaud-Villities bid farewell to the Veterans Memorial stage and hello to the Northland Performing Arts Center.  In April, Vaud-Villities made itself at home in the former JCPenney building on the former Northland Mall property.  The new center encompasses 30,000 square feet of the first floor of the former department store and includes an 800-seat theater.

 

* In October, ground was officially broken for the new Franklin County Dog Shelter.  The new $18 million facility will be located at 4340 Tamarack Blvd., on part of the former Northland Mall property.  It will replace the existing Franklin County Animal Shelter on Alum Creek Drive in southeast Columbus.

 

* Construction crews wrapped up the improvements to Morse Road between Karl Road and Cleveland Avenue with a new layer of asphalt in October.  The paving project completed a two-phase major improvement project to Morse that added medians, sidewalks and other pedestrian friendly features between Indianola and Cleveland avenues.

 

Full story at http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2009/12/29/multiple_papers/news/allnnyir09_20091229_0144pm_8.txt

Performing Arts Center to have wide array of uses

Wednesday,  February 17, 2010 - 12:13 PM

By Kevin Parks, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

The new home for Vaud-Villities will be home to much, much more.  "To have our own space to do what we want when we want is going to be amazing," said Scott A. Jones, a 29-year veteran of the homegrown production outfit and the assistant artistic director.  Part of what they want is to let others do what they want in the Northland Performing Arts Center, which Jones said should be ready in April. 

 

Plenty of rehearsal space, as well as room for the troupe's 600 linear feet of costumes, a recording studio, 11,000-square-foot "black box" theater, green room, lobby, costume shop, commercial kitchen and administrative offices is taking shape in a portion of the old JCPenney building at the former Northland Mall site.

 

While arts is the main focus of the renovations being made to 35,000 square feet, roughly a fourth of the overall structure, the commercial kitchen means the facility also can be used for receptions, banquets, conventions and trade shows, Jones said.  An additional 50-seat theater, perhaps suitable for children's theatrical groups, is being prepared near the recording studio, Kerr said.  He added that a boardroom near the building's administrative offices will be available as meeting space for community groups.

 

Full article at http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2010/02/17/0218clcenter-use_ln.html

NORTHLAND VILLAGE

Menards construction to start in mid-May

Monday,  April 26, 2010 - 1:03 PM

By Kevin Parks, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

Construction is about to begin on one of the anchor stores at the former site of the Northland Mall.  "We're going to start construction in mid-May," Jeff Abbott, spokesman for Eau Claire, Wis.-based Menard Inc., said Monday.  Completion is anticipated for spring 2011, he added. 

 

"This is our large-format store," Abbott said.  "This is the same size store that we have currently in Lancaster and Chillicothe."  Stores of this size -- Abbott declined to provide the specific square footage -- include a garden center, full-service lumberyard and home-improvement products.

 

The Menards will be built on the site of the former Sears department store and parking lot at the mall, which is now called Northland Village and is being redeveloped by Gahanna-based Stonehenge Co.

 

Full article: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/northland/stories/2010/04/21/Menards-construction-to-start-mid-May.html?sid=104

Northland area thrilled to be getting home-improvement store

Thursday,  April 29, 2010 - 2:55 AM

By Mark Ferenchik, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Northland-area leaders are ecstatic that Menards is finally coming to the barren Morse Road mall site, but West Siders will have to wait a few days to see whether they have anything to celebrate.  Things are much more concrete on the city's North Side, where Menards is to begin construction in mid-May and open the store in spring 2011, said company spokesman Jeff Abbott.  Menards owns the store site on the east side of the former Northland Mall property.

 

That long-awaited move indicates not only a corporate decision to restart a dormant project but also a commitment to an area that needs to be redeveloped, neighborhood leaders said.  "Other property owners, developers, have been waiting for this signal," said Dave Paul, who leads the Northland Community Council.

 

Menards first discussed its plan for the Northland site three years ago, part of developer Mo Dioun's $80 million vision dubbed Northland Village.

 

SITE MAP OF REDEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AT NORTHLAND VILLAGE

 

Full article: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/04/29/building-a-future.html?sid=101

Long wait for Menards will be worth it, officials say

The company finally has broken ground on one of the anchors for a redeveloped multiuse site where Northland Mall once stood.

By KATHLEEN L. RADCLIFF, COLUMBUS LOCAL NEWS

Published: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 - 10:04 AM EDT

 

It's been a long process that officials said will be worth the wait.  Two years after the Northland Community Council's development committee approved variances regarding a planned Menards store at Northland Village, ground has been broken on the project.

 

Columbus elected officials, Menards representatives and developers, Northland community leaders and residents gathered at the site at the corner of Morse Road and Tamarack Boulevard for a groundbreaking celebration Monday, May 24.

 

Full article: http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2010/05/25/multiple_papers/news/allnnmenar_20100525_0949am_2.txt

Menards groundbreaking heralded as site's 'rebirth'

Monday,  May 24, 2010 - 1:15 PM

By KEVIN PARKS, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

In his remarks, Northland Community Council president Dave Paul also talked about what it was like when the shopping mall went under, after opening in 1964 and remaining the city's only shopping mall until 1967.

 

"When the mall closed in 2002, it left a big hole in the community's core," Paul said.  "This morning, Northland residents are excited to welcome Menards to what is now the Northland Village site, not only because it represents jobs for area residents and increased retail choice in a unique and appealing format, but because we believe that today's announcement is the first of many that will herald the rebirth of the site of the former mall as the hub of the Northland community."

 

Full article: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/northland/stories/2010/05/19/Groundbreaking-heralded-as-sites-rebirth.html?sid=104

Work begins on Northland Menards

Monday, May 24, 2010, 2:24pm EDT

Business First of Columbus

 

Shovels are in the ground on home improvement retailer Menard Inc.’s new store at the Northland Mall site, with the shop set to open a year from now.  The $11.5 million store, at 1811 Morse Road, will become the chain’s 16th in Ohio.  Menards opened a Marion store in 2007, a Lancaster store in 2008 and a store in Chillicothe last year.  The company operates 255 stores in 12 Midwestern states.

 

There’s also other activity at the former Northland Mall including a 52,000-square-foot Franklin County animal shelter being built by Columbus-based Elford Inc.  That $13 million project should be complete in February.

 

Full article: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/05/24/daily5.html

Agency expects to draw people to Northland

Franklin County Commissioners approved lease-purchase agreement

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 4:13 AM

By Barbara Carmen, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Northland Village, rising on the site of the old mall, is set to get a new tenant that will bring more than 1,000 people a day into the once-thriving community.  Franklin County Job and Family Services plans to remodel the former JCPenney store on the Northland Mall site to consolidate three offices - two customer-service centers and its Downtown management bureau.

 

The move will save the agency an estimated $2.9 million in rent and operating costs within five years and streamline services to the needy (with the renovated 145,000 sq. ft. building), officials say.  In all, 365 employees would move by fall 2011 to the new Northland offices.  The county would consolidate 179 managers from its Downtown complex along with 186 case workers from customer-service centers at 345 E. 5th Ave. and at 3443 Agler Road.

 

Rendering/Elevation of the Franklin County Jobs and Family Services building at Northland Village

 

Full article: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/06/29/copy/agency-expects-to-draw-people-to-northland.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

Pieces of Northland Village puzzle coming together

Tuesday, July 6, 2010  - 5:39 PM

By KEVIN PARKS, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

As additional pieces continue to fall into place in the ongoing redevelopment of the former Northland Mall site, one community leader said last week that he feels the best is yet to come.  Dave Paul, president of the Northland Community Council, feels that the "most exciting part" of the project will be the mixed-use Commons in the center of Northland Village.  This will be in the area surrounded by such "anchors" as: 

 

• The Menards home-improvement store now being built where Sears used to be,

• The Ohio Department of Taxation building off Karl Road,

• The Franklin County Animal Shelter and Adoption Center on Tamarack Boulevard,

• The Northland Performing Arts Center being carved out of a portion of the old J.C. Penney

• And, as voted on last week by the county commissioners, the relocation of three county Job and Family Services operations to the rest of the former department store

 

Full article: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/northland/stories/2010/06/30/hp4.html?sid=104

 

I certainly think this is an improvement on the status quo--but I wouldn't count it as anything more than a mixed blessing.  If government offices created real dynamism, the central business district of Columbus (which is also where most of the government buildings are) would be a lot more vibrant.  Only recently, with the arrival of businesses and residences that have nothing to do with the government, has the place begun to show signs of real vitality and energy.

I tend to agree with Gramarye about the Northland Village redevelopment of the former Northland Mall site.  The new development is far better than leaving an abandoned mall in the neighborhood.  And redeveloping an abandoned mall site isn't easy.  But the new buildings aren't much different than the previous mall from an urban design point of view.  Maybe this will change if the mixed-use Commons planned for the center of the site is built.  But for now, the redevelopment is a good effort but underwhelming.

 

Speaking of the Commons, Business First has another article about Northland Village that includes a site plan of the future "mixed-use Commons in the center of Northland Village" that the president of the Northland Community Council referenced earlier.  There's also a 1964-2010 timeline of the site included with that article, linked below.

 

Menards gets ball rolling at revamped Northland

NORTHLAND VILLAGE

Developer: Expect more developments by end of year

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

By Kevin Parks, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

The site of what was once the busiest shopping mall in Columbus is now the busiest construction site in Franklin County, according to Mo Dioun, developer of Northland Village.  Speaking at last week's Northland Community Council meeting, the Stonehenge CEO thanked the entire neighborhood for supporting each step in the ongoing redevelopment of the former shopping mall.  Dioun predicted that by the end of the year he will be ready to announce the final pieces falling into place for replacing the mall - a "very creative" combination of retail and residential development in the Commons area in the center of the project.

 

The developer's comments came in the wake of the latest announcement of a tenant for Northland Village, two Franklin County Job and Family Services opportunity centers and the business office moving into a large portion of the former J.C. Penney building.  Dioun said that more than $55-million in public and private investment is currently taking place where the city's first shopping mall closed in 2002.

 

A Menards home-improvement store, representing an investment of $15-million, is in the midst of site preparation off Morse Road, while work is progressing on a new Franklin County Animal Shelter and Adoption Center, with a price tag of about $20-million, Dioun said.  The remaining amount is represented by the Job and Family Services consolidation project and the nearly complete Northland Performing Arts Center, which together will occupy what was once a Penney's department store.

 

MORE: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/northland/stories/2010/07/14/developer-expect-more-developments-by-end-of-year.html

Students to look into sign problem

Wednesday, October 20, 2010 

By KEVIN PARKS, ThisWeek Community Newspapers

 

A professor at Ohio State University is letting the 12 members of one of his classes loose on the visual landscape of the Northland area, with an eye toward determining the impact of illegally posted signs. 

 

Jack L. Nasar, a professor of city and regional planning at the Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture, and three of his students were on hand at the Northland Community Council meeting earlier this month.  Their appearance followed a meeting in September between Nasar, NCC president Dave Paul, graphics task force coordinator William Logan and a city council legislative aide. 

 

NCC members, in particular Logan, have long complained that existing city law is anemic when it comes to halting the proliferation of advertising signs placed illegally in the public right of way.  Currently only the individuals physically installing the signs face possible prosecution, not the enterprises doing the advertising.

 

MORE: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/northland/stories/2010/10/20/students-to-look-into-sign-problem.html?sid=104

City OKs deal for rest of Northland Mall site

Tuesday, November 2, 2010 

By Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch

 

Now that he controls the last two pieces of the former Northland Mall site, developer Mo Dioun faces the tough task of luring retailers and other businesses to complement the other projects rising nearby.  A Dioun company, Northland Village Developers LLC, bought the remaining 19.8 acres from the city for $2.85 million.  The Columbus City Council approved the deal yesterday.

 

One part of the property is west of Tamarack Boulevard and the Menards home-improvement store under construction.  The other piece is just south of Northland Park Avenue, across from the Ohio Department of Taxation building.  Columbus acquired the site after Northland Mall died in 2002.  In 2004, the city entered a lease agreement with the now-defunct Columbus Urban Growth Corp. for 75 acres, which Urban Growth was to sublet or sell to developers.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/02/copy/city-oks-deal-for-rest-of-mall-site.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

Northland area boundaries bound to be topic of future talks

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 

By KEVIN PARKS

ThisWeek Community Newspapers

 

Where does Northland begin and where does it end? How do people know if they're in Northland or not?  "There is a lot of confusion about is Northland the area around the mall, the area inside I-270, the area outside I-270?" Northland Community Council president Dave Paul said last week.

 

The answer to these and other pressing questions may not be in the immediate offing, but the issue of boundaries and identity is once again in the air as the result of work being done on behalf of the community council by a group of Ohio State University students.

 

The members of the City and Regional Planning Serving Learning Studio of Knowlton School of Architecture Professor Jack L. Nasar were originally recruited to study the proliferation of signs placed illegally in the public right of way throughout the Northland area, particularly along the major traffic corridors.

 

As the students have conducted their work and met with NCC representatives, Paul said that one "fairly remarkable" issue that has come up is the need for doing a better job of having physical landmarks that define what the Northland area is

 

MORE: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/northland/stories/2010/11/23/boundaries-bound-to-be-topic-of-future-talks.html?sid=104

Kohl's departure a setback for recovering Northland area

Neighborhood leaders say the Feb. 26 closing of the store is bad timing as revitalization continues across the street.

By KATHLEEN L. RADCLIFF, COLUMBUS LOCAL NEWS

Published: Saturday, January 15, 2011 - 1:26 AM EST

 

The ongoing revitalization of the former Northland Mall site wasn't enough to convince Kohl's to stick around.  The department store's location at 1700 Morse Road, directly across the street from the old mall site, will shut its doors Feb. 26.

 

Bob Thurman, Northland Community Council vice president and chairman of the council's Development Committee, said the decision comes at a bad time for the neighborhood. "I have never seen the official numbers from Kohl's reflecting that the store was having a hard time," he said. 

 

Following the closing of Northland Mall, the city bought the site located across the street from Kohl's in 2002.  Since that purchase, the site, now known as Northland Village, has been a work in progress, beginning with the Ohio Department of Taxation moving into the former Lazarus store. 

 

Vaud-Villities will occupy around 35,000 square feet in space that once was J.C. Penney, with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services occupying all of the second floor and part of the first floor of the former store.  Menards broke ground in June on its new store at Northland Village, and construction continues on the new Franklin County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center.

 

MORE: http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2011/01/16/multiple_papers/slideshow/ssallnnkoh_20110114_0556pm_2.txt

Menards, 'Village' sparking excitement

Menards open house planned for April; animal shelter and JFS right behind with July openings at the Northland Village

By KATHLEEN L. RADCLIFF, COLUMBUS LOCAL NEWS

Published: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - 4:10 PM EDT

 

Let the good times roll to Northland Village.  "There's a lot of good stuff going on in Northland, as well as all over Columbus," said Paul Weber, vice president of district operations for YMCA North, a last week's meeting of the Northland Area Business Association.

 

Mo Dioun, president and CEO of the Stonehenge Co., the private firm leading the redevelopment project, gave NABA members an update as to what will be open for business in the next few months on the site, formerly the home of Northland Mall, during the March 8 luncheon at Monaco's Palace.

 

Ground was broken on the Northland Village Menards in May 2010.  Representatives of the Wisconsin-based home improvements retailer now have tentatively scheduled an open house in April.

 

READ MORE: http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2011/03/25/northland_news/news/nnmenardsv_20110316_0249pm_4.txt

Northland Village Being Revitalized

By Rick Reitzel, NBC 4

Published: March 29, 2011

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Despite the recent recession-- some parts of Columbus are seeing a bit of an economic renaissance these days.

 

One of those areas is the site of the old Northland Mall on Morse road.  A new Menards mega-store with home improvement supplies, pet needs and groceries has a tentitive opening date in April.

 

READ MORE & VIDEO REPORT: http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2011/mar/29/northland-village-being-revitalized-ar-437551/

Vaud-Villities spring show will 'Celebrate!' new facility

The new digs feature an 800-seat theater, large reception area, recording studio and full kitchen facility.

By KATHLEEN L. RADCLIFF, COLUMBUS LOCAL NEWS

Published: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 10:01 AM EDT

 

Vaud-Villities is ready to Celebrate!  The nonprofit performance group is in rehearsal for its annual spring production, as well as gathering costumes, painting and putting the final touches on its new Northland Performing Arts Center.

 

Celebrate! will be the inaugural show for the new center at 4411 Tamarack Blvd., part of the Northland Village redevelopment.

 

Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. May 18-19, 8 p.m. May 20-21 and 6 p.m. May 22.  Matinee performances will take place at 2:30 p.m. May 21 and 2 p.m. May 22.

 

READ MORE: http://columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2011/04/19/multiple_papers/slideshow/ssallvaudv_20110419_0947am_2.txt

'Board cutting' opens Northland Village Menards

A cordless Sawzall and 2-by-4 replace the traditional ribbon and scissors at the grand opening of the home improvements superstore.

 

By KATHLEEN L. RADCLIFF, COLUMBUS LOCAL NEWS

Published: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 9:29 AM EDT

 

It's been a long wait, but the Northland Village Menards is open for business.

 

Instead of a ribbon cutting, the home improvements superstore celebrated the opening of its first Columbus location with a "board cutting" April 11 with about 500 people on hand, including city officials, community leaders, Menards associates and vendors.

 

After a cordless Sawzall powered through a 2-by-4, Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman became the store's first customer.

 

READ MORE: http://columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2011/04/21/northland_news/news/nnmenards%20_20110420_0908am_3.txt

Menards attracting retailers to old Northland Mall site

By Brian R. Ball, Business First 

Friday, June 17, 2011, 6:00am EDT

 

The arrival of a Menards home improvement store at the former Northland Mall site in Columbus has prompted a flurry of real estate activity around the Morse Road property.

 

SJG Ventures I LLC, a development organization led by Columbus attorney and developer Scott Schiff, has purchased a 1.4-acre parcel at 1851-55 Morse Road for a planned Shops at Northland Park retail center.  Public records show SJG paid Northland Village Developers LLC $288,900 in cash for the property June 10.  Schiff said the partnership broke ground June 14 for an AT&T Wireless store and Chipotle fast-food restaurant at the site.  The merchants should open late this year.

 

Agent Jay Smith of R.S. Garek Associates represented Northland Village Developers in the deal.  Separately, Smith said Tim Hortons Inc. has put the second of three outparcels in front of the Menards store in contract.  The purchase of that parcel, at just more than an acre, should close this summer.

 

Earlier this spring, the Vaud-Villities stage troupe moved in as the operator of the Northland Performing Arts Center, in a portion of a former department store building.  Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services will move its administrative offices into the remainder of the building this year.

 

READ MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/print-edition/2011/06/17/retailers-begin-setting-up-around.html

New $18 million digs for dogs opens on North Side

Franklin County Dog Shelter's new north-side facility has everything old building lacked, from space to digital X-rays

By BRETT NUCKLES, COLUMBUS LOCAL NEWS

Published: Monday, October 3, 2011 10:02 AM EDT

 

The future is brighter for Franklin County's lost, stray and homeless dogs.  Last week, workers put the finishing touches on a new facility for the Franklin County Dog Shelter, located at 4340 Tamarack Blvd., just south of Morse Road in Columbus.

 

The building on the former Northland Mall property now referred to as Northland Village, opened to the public Monday, Oct. 3.  It replaces the old shelter on Alum Creek Drive in southeast Columbus.

 

The new $18 million facility was a long time coming, county officials said.  Plans to build a new shelter first surfaced in 2005, but workers did not break ground until October 2009.  Finally complete, the 40,000-square-foot building is roughly three times the size of the old shelter, where space always was at a premium, said county Commissioner Paula Brooks.

 

MORE: http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2011/10/03/multiple_papers/news/copy%20of%20al_20111003_0947am_2.txt

Diversity a hurdle to improving Beaumont neighborhood

By Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch

Monday, January 9, 2012 - 6:30 AM

 

Community leaders hope to reverse the decay and end the violence in a Morse Road neighborhood southeast of the former Northland Mall site.  The Northland Alliance has applied for a United Way neighborhood-partnership grant of $10,000 to pay for a survey of 200 residents to help determine the community’s needs, rather than take a top-down approach, said Joyce Bourgault, who heads the alliance, a nonprofit group.

 

One hurdle to reaching that goal is that the area, known as Beaumont, is so diverse.  There are small post-World War II houses, some with longtime owners and others that are becoming deteriorating rentals.  Large apartment complexes just south of Morse Road teem with immigrants from Ghana, Haiti, Mexico, Sierra Leone and Somalia, and with refugees who are ethnic Nepalis forced from the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

 

“It’s very difficult to get people to work together,” said Bourgault, who also is executive director of the Helping Hands Free Clinic on Morse Road, just west of the neighborhood.  Bourgault said Northland leaders learned from the multiagency effort to transform the Weinland Park community, near the Ohio State University campus.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/01/09/diversity-a-hurdle-to-improving-neighborhood.html

 

MAP AND STATS FOR THE BEAUMONT NEIGHBORHOOD