February 23, 200916 yr I don't think this is a big deal at all. That's actually a great spot for a public space. It's a great focal point that should draw a lot of people in, especially as later development occurs. Public-Private corporations tend to care less about what residents are concerned about but it looks like they made a decent effort to get input. At the same time, they're better equipped than the city to get large scale projects done. That's just the nature of Public/Private Partnerships. I could see how it would it would be cause for concern if they obliterated a neighborhood for a project but City Center is dead space. Kudos to AEP for supplying the majority of the funds!
February 25, 200916 yr I love the proposed commons area, but I find the C-shaped buildings odd especially considering their common space will be in an odd semi-public, semi-private setting. I think you would want to fully enclose those common areas so that they can be properly maintained and used by the people they're intended for - the residents.
March 2, 200916 yr Found a couple of Columbus Commons videos and a Dispatch columnist commentary: Columbus Commons Video One: Columbus Commons Video Two: Ann Fisher commentary: Turning City Center into a park makes sense
March 5, 200916 yr Closing day for dead mall in downtown Columbus http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=cincinnati&sParam=30288671.story The end has arrived for a Columbus shopping mall that died a slow death in the shadow of the Ohio Statehouse. Thursday is closing day for Columbus City Center, which opened downtown 20 years ago and was once a major magnet for shoppers. But over the course of the last decade, the number of stores dwindled as the mall lost business to newer retail centers in the suburbs. Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman has announced that City Center will be torn down this summer and replaced with an urban park as part of a $165 million redevelopment project that will later include offices, restaurants and shops. Mall fixtures and leftover store furnishings were sold off last month in a liquidation sale.
March 6, 200916 yr Closing day for dead mall in downtown Columbus http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=cincinnati&sParam=30288671.story Not trying to kick the City Center Mall when its down but there was a funny photo and caption in yesterday's Dispatch... Finally, some foot traffic These mannequin parts are some of the last feet to touch the floors of the doomed Columbus City Center, which closes to all pedestrian traffic at 7 p.m. today. There was no one around to ask how the mannequins came to grace the halls. Once the mall has been stripped, demolition will begin to make way for a park that will take its place on the valuable real estate south of the Statehouse.
April 20, 200916 yr Feds won’t send money to City Center demolition project Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball Friday, April 17, 2009 The city affiliate overseeing the planned demolition of the failed Columbus City Center mall has a team of design and construction experts lined up, but it has yet to find $15 million to $20 million needed to knock down the building and replace it with a park. Capitol South Community Redevelopment Corp. has hired Moody Nolan Inc. as the design architect and Corna Kokosing Construction Co. as construction manager to lead demolition of the 1.2 million-square-foot building and build a 9-acre park atop the mall’s underground parking garage. Both companies are based in Columbus. Edge Group Inc., a landscape architecture company from Grandview Heights, will design the park. Civil engineers at EMH&T Inc. of Columbus and structural engineers at Dublin-based Jezerinac Geers & Associates Inc. also will handle duties on the project for the city. Ed Mendelson, Capitol South director of construction services, said maintaining access to the 1,000-slot parking garage is a top goal of the project, which could get under way in early July. “It’s a very complicated demolition project,” said Capitol South’s Ed Mendelson. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/04/20/story6.html
April 21, 200916 yr Mall set to come down in summer Council clears Capitol South plan to demolish City Center Tuesday, April 21, 2009 3:06 AM By Robert Vitale THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH A month shy of its 20th birthday, Columbus City Center will come down starting in July. Although they couldn't score federal economic-stimulus money for demolition, officials of the nonprofit development agency that owns the shuttered Downtown mall said yesterday that they'll move forward this summer with plans to tear it down. The City Council gave the Capitol South Urban Redevelopment Corp. permission last night to refinance existing loans on City Center parking garages, borrow additional money and use funds earmarked for Downtown housing projects to pay for the work. Capitol South announced a plan in February to replace the failed mall with Columbus Commons, which will open as a 9-acre park in late 2010 and evolve over the next decade into a new retail center that also has homes and office space. Demolition and development of the park will cost $15 million to $20 million, according to Amy Taylor, Capitol South's chief operating officer. The long-term Columbus Commons plan has been estimated at $165 million. The development agency will seek federal and state grants to cover some of the cost, Taylor said. It will seek corporate help as well. City Council members emphasized, though, where funding won't come from. "No -- I'm underlining -- no city tax dollars will be used in this project," said Councilwoman Charleta B. Tavares. Columbus owns the land where City Center sits, between High and 3rd streets south of the Statehouse. Capitol South has owned the mall since 2007, after suing for control when its then-operators missed a rent payment. Read more at: http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/04/21/council21.ART_ART_04-21-09_B1_S0DK7U2.html?sid=101
May 21, 200916 yr I recently caught this recording of a recent Columbus Metropolitan Club presentation on one of WOSU's digital channels. Guy Worley, CEO of the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation, spoke about the Columbus Commons redevelopment plan for the City Center Mall site. He prefaced this with an overview of many recent and ongoing downtown development projects. Many slides of the projects and the Columbus Commons plan. The recording runs 52 minutes total - 26 minutes for the Guy Worley presentation and 26 minutes for Q & A with the audience. Columbus Metropolitan Club - You're going to do what with City Center? Bold plans emerge for City Center. May 13, 2009 presentation at the CMC by Guy Worley, CEO of Columbus Downtown Development Corporation Description Poor City Center. We've all watched in amazement and disbelief as a disappointing story has unfolded for a not-so-long-ago darling of our downtown stage. Try as they might, (and they have tried!) the city leaders have not been able to pull this one out of the ashes, and they have announced that the only ball this Grande dam will be seeing soon, will be the wrecking ball. The promise of downtown parks eases some of the pain, but will this new plan for prime center city real estate really capture the elusive downtown rebirth and resurrection that we all hope? http://www.ohiochannel.org/multimedia/media.cfm?file_id=120384
May 23, 200916 yr I haven't watched this video yet. Did he say anything new? Guy Worley didn't break any news about the Columbus Commons plan. His talk was more of a comprehensive overview. He first reviewed recent downtown development projects. Then covered the City Center Mall / Columbus Commons redevelopment plan. Looked like he was bringing the Metro Club audience "up to speed" on recent happenings. What was most useful was that the downtown development we follow was brought together into one overall presentation. Nice slide show too.
May 27, 200916 yr Mall set to come down in summer As Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast my friend!" (see the next article)
May 27, 200916 yr Plan for mall's razing argued Downtown panel chairman blasts 'lack of openness' Wednesday, May 27, 2009 - 3:05 AM By Mark Ferenchik, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The chairman of the Downtown Commission thinks that tearing down Columbus City Center would be a mistake. Razing the shopping mall sends the message that Downtown never will compete with outlying areas for retail even though a growing number of people live in or near the center of the city, Harrison W. Smith Jr. said. "This was a major policy decision that will last with us forever," Smith told commission members yesterday. He also is upset by what he says was a lack of openness when the board of Capitol South Urban Redevelopment Corp. decided to demolish the mall. "I don't trust the process," Smith said. Capitol South -- the private, nonprofit group that owns the mall -- was to ask for the Downtown Commission's blessing to demolish the mall but pulled the application from yesterday's agenda after Smith discussed his concerns this month with Capitol South Chief Executive Guy Worley. "It became apparent, after 2 1/2 hours, Guy and I were not on the same page," Smith said. "No understanding what I was trying to say." "It's a lousy reason why they wouldn't produce the document," Smith said. Worley wouldn't comment on what he had discussed with Smith, calling it a private meeting. Read more at http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/05/27/copy/CITY_CENTER_REDUX.ART_ART_05-27-09_B1_CFE027O.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
June 19, 200915 yr DOWNTOWN COMMISSION Appointees will join in debate over City Center Friday, June 19, 2009 - 3:12 AM By Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch One of the first decisions Mayor Michael B. Coleman's former campaign manager will make as a new member of the Downtown Commission is whether to demolish Columbus City Center. Coleman, who appointed Danni Palmore to the board, wants the vacant mall torn down. Harrison Smith Jr., whom Palmore replaces, is vehemently opposed. Coleman also appointed local restaurateur Elizabeth Lessner to the commission, which meets again on Tuesday. Lessner replaces Kenneth Cookson, who said he had not seen the proposal and had not decided how he would have voted. Columbus City Council approved the appointments earlier this month. Palmore's term is four years, Lessner's, three years. This is what they're getting into: At his final commission meeting May 26, Smith blasted the nonprofit Capitol South Urban Redevelopment Corp. plan to demolish the mall, which it owns, and initially replace it with a park. Smith, who was the board's chairman, said the decision-making process was cloaked in secrecy. Capitol South denied him a report recommending the mall's demolition, citing the group's private, nonprofit status. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/06/19/DTCOMMISSION.ART_ART_06-19-09_B1_GIE7OEU.html?sid=101
August 19, 200915 yr Has it really been 20 years since the City Center Mall opened? Right now this is the only "news" emanating from the former City Center/future Columbus Commons site - as the demolition plans that once seemed very imminent have grown quiet. So, for what its worth, here's a brief Dispatch blog entry and a video from NBC4 TV. The NBC4 video is kinda unintentionally funny. Note the extreme contrast between the man-on-the street interview and the interview with Greg Lashutka (who was law director at the time of City Center's opening and later a two-term mayor in the 90's). I guess this is what TV news means by getting "both sides of the story". Enjoy. NBC4 VIDEO: 20 Years Later, City Center Still Stands DISPATCH BLOG: City Center opened 20 years ago
August 20, 200915 yr Commons design revolves around park Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 3:15 AM By Marla Matzer Rose, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH An expansive 6-acre park home to concerts and a patio cafe is part of the blueprint that's emerged for Columbus Commons, a park and mixed-use development planned for the City Center mall site. Capitol South Urban Redevelopment Corp. plans to present designs for the project to the Downtown Commission on Tuesday, six months after the general plan was unveiled to the public. Demolition of the mall is expected to begin in September, with the underground City Center parking garage and nearby streets remaining open. Plans call for the park to open in December 2010. Privately financed Capitol South will pay for the demolition. The group makes money from parking and rent on Downtown buildings it controls, including the former Lazarus building. Federal stimulus money didn't come through for the demolition project and development of the park, estimated to cost between $15 million and $20 million. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/08/20/citycenter_commission.ART_ART_08-20-09_A1_23EQPP3.html?sid=101
August 20, 200915 yr Well now I know why the demolition plans have been so quiet over the past six months. The CDDC has been busy making the Commons park plan worse! Judge the park plan from six months ago and the plan released in the "Commons design revolves around park" article from today's paper. COMMONS PLAN SIX MONTHS AGO Found another aerial view of the Columbus Commons proposal. And a color version of the site plans. Plus some smaller versions of the renderings. A park called Columbus Commons will be landscaped once City Center is demolished, a process the city hopes to begin this summer. The view looking toward the north along High Street should include shops and green space. A tree-studded walk would line much of Columbus Commons, which is to feature several new structures. The view is toward the southwest and High Street. COMMONS PLAN RELEASED TODAY Latest plans for the Columbus Commons show a band shell at the northern end, behind the Ohio Theatre. (From "Commons design revolves around park") This should make for an interesting Downtown Commission meeting next Tuesday!
August 20, 200915 yr ^I got the impression that this (creating the park) was the first phase of the plan. The private development would come later (5-10 years). Most of the drawings above show the full-built version (I assume) whereas today's Dispatch picture shows the first phase. CDDC even adresses that issue in the link below: http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/progress/columbus-commons-questions-and-answers
August 20, 200915 yr ^I got the impression that this (creating the park) was the first phase of the plan. The private development would come later (5-10 years). Most of the drawings above show the full-built version (I assume) whereas today's Dispatch picture shows the first phase. CDDC even adresses that issue in the link below: Sorry but all they have done is make it much cheaper and worse. If you read the Dispatch article closely, it states that because of the underground parking garage the park is going to permanently take up more land because they could not build roads or buildings above the non load bearing garage. The article states there will only be plans for three buildings along high st. And town st. will be a pedestrian sidewalk not an open road with new buildings. My question is how come the mall could be built above the garage and the state house is above a underground garage but they couldn't put a road or new buildings over the city center garage?
August 20, 200915 yr Re: Columbus: Columbus Commons park to be built on City Center site « Reply #363 on: Today at 10:14:50 AM » Reply with quoteQuote "The new design for the Columbus Commons project was driven in part by practical concerns. Engineers have determined that the 1,000-space parking garage under the mall couldn't bear the weight of heavy traffic or high-rise buildings above it. The underground parking was both a limitation and a great amenity for the project, which recently has been guided by the Georgetown Co., a New York company that is also co-developer of Easton Town Center. Three Columbus firms make up the design/build team for Columbus Commons: construction firm Corna-Kokosing, architects Moody Nolan and landscape architects EDGE Group."
August 21, 200915 yr I agree, I like the original design better. It was more dense and less focused on the park. They have posted additional rendering on-line and the site plan shows the three High Street buildings as well as another building where the former Kaufman's store is today. http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/progress/columbus-commons-renderings
August 21, 200915 yr It'll be a failure for many years unless much attention is paid to what's going on with the surrounding properties. Public spaces need very active edges. The park looks lackluster to me but I hope it'll work out.
August 21, 200915 yr I agree, I like the original design better. It was more dense and less focused on the park. They have posted additional rendering on-line and the site plan shows the three High Street buildings as well as another building where the former Kaufman's store is today. http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/progress/columbus-commons-renderings Thanks for the link. I'll post the original plan and the revised plan below for comparison: ORIGINAL COMMONS PLAN (SIX MONTHS AGO) REVISED COMMONS PLAN (RELEASED YESTERDAY) The original Columbus Commons Plan is on the left. It shows the phase one demolition and interim park. It also shows phase two and three that would have built new streets and buildings onto the former City Center Mall superblock site. The revised Commons plan is on the right. (I rotated the plan 90 degrees to keep the same orientation) This revised plan shows the ulimate build-out. The phase one interim park is shown in rendering below. Both plans have parks on phase one and new buildings on future phases. So what's big difference? One key difference is the original plan has public streets that would break up the City Center Mall "superblock". Town Street would have been brought back to connect 3rd Street to High Street. Multiple other streets would also connect to Rich Street and High Street, forming a framework for new development. Additionally, the new Town Street would have connected with the beautifully rebuilt part of Town Street that runs in front of the restored Lazarus Building. The original plan has connections that would weave the redevelopment into the surrounding city fabric. The revised plan would not have those vital connections to the surrounding city. The revised plan would instead retain the City Center Mall "superblock". It would even further isolate the signature park from the surrounding streets after the perimeter buildings are built. The original plan allows for a transition from interim park to a graceful urban infill neighborhood. The revised plan basically builds a permenant park that would later be cut off from surrounding streets by future development. Capitol South/CDDC was willing to throw away the original plan for this? ORIGINAL COMMONS PLAN (on left) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - REVISED COMMONS PLAN (on right) Phase One park development. The original plan has the interim park oriented west facing High Street. The revised plan on the right turns the park 90 degrees from the original and has it facing the Rich Street Parking Garage. ORIGINAL COMMONS PLAN (on left) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - REVISED COMMONS PLAN (on right) Rendering of the ultimate build-out of the original plan on the left. The original plan would transition the initial interim park into a smaller neighborhood park surrounded by new buildings and new public streets. The revised plan did not provide an equivalent rendering of its ultimate build-out. However, the revised plan would not have any public streets on the City Center Mall "superblock" site. The view on the right shows what would end up being a permenant park. New buildings would be built to the left blocking High Street from this area. Also note the large amounts of blank walls created from the mall demolition that would remain permenantly unscreened in this revised plan. The original plan would screen these blank walls with new buildings. ORIGINAL COMMONS PLAN (on left) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - REVISED COMMONS PLAN (on right) The original plan on the left strives toward a graceful urban interaction between the private site and the public streets. The revised plan on the right feels far too open, barren and even suburban. It lacks the thoughtful urban design qualities of the original plan. ORIGINAL COMMONS PLAN (on left) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - REVISED COMMONS PLAN (on right) The original plan on the left shows a view from High Street at ultimate build-out. Again, it shows how the original plan was more than a simple park plan. The original plan is a well thought out master plan that would transition from an interim park to a graceful urban infill neighborhood. The revised plan on the right also shows a view from High Street. It lacks the thoughtful urban qualities of the original plan. The revised plan would instead retain the City Center Mall "superblock" and basically build a permenant park that would later be cut off from surrounding streets by future development. Capitol South was willing to throw away the original plan for this?
August 22, 200915 yr Really doesn't look THAT drastically different. Of course, if we were playing Sim City, it would be wonderful to put a bunch of skyscrapers filled with affordable housing there. But unfortunately, we've got the economical and structural limitations of the real world to deal with. I'm looking forward to some progress being made on this. Anything is better than the eyesore of the boarded up mall.
August 22, 200915 yr I just hope that for the park they're sure to make function a priority and give people lots of reasons to go there. Three buildings is fine, and in any case if the park was shrunken too much it wouldn't be much of a park. Aside from all the parking lots, we also have abandoned buildings like the one next to B1 bicycles which could be residential with retail space on the 1st floor, this one on 3rd, etc. This one less large parcel of Downtown we don't have to worry about. In fact, I'd rather see the city adopt a policy stating that all surface lots must be converted to park space and cannot be used for car storage (not my idea, surprisingly enough). All that asphalt makes for some sweltering heat and is ugly to boot.
August 22, 200915 yr No, this new plan is so much worse than the original. To have the park anchored at two ends by blank brick walls is atrocious. They need to stick with the original plan, that works a lot better, especially since it reopens Town Street. It is also very plain and uninspiring. Why do we need another performance pavilion? There is already one being built at Bicentenial Plaza a couple of blocks away. I think this, the newer version, if it were built, would be an epic fail. The original design wasn't the best in my opinion, but it was still a lot better than the revised version.
August 22, 200915 yr You're correct that there needs to be an interaction between the park and the buildings surrounding it. I'd say the biggest oversight with the plan is that the only new buildings they'll be able to build on High have no space in the park set aside for a restaurants, cafes, or bars to have seating right on the park. Instead, you get grass and a row of trees. That's....fun....err, at least "green". I only lived in Spain for awhile, so of course I have no idea on how a great public space functions. Suffice it to say, such businesses as those listed provide free security and would lend to more use of the park outside of the typical 9-5 schedule of Downtown. It would also be a one of a kind destination, because there is no where else where you'd have such businesses directly fronting a park and no vehicular traffic cutting through and contributing fumes and noise. Also, for those bike racks to be of any use, cyclists are going to need a reason to stop there. I know personally that without any good establishments facing the park to hang out at that I'm not going to spend much time at all in this park. The city government has made a bustling, 24/7 Downtown a priority, so they'll need to pay attention. They'll never get advice like this from Rebecca Ryan.
August 22, 200915 yr Maybe it is the optimist in me, but all that's been proposed is a conceptual site plan and a few preliminary drawings. I don't disagree with what has been said as to what should come of the Columbus Commons, but I think the CDDC should be given time to explain their new vision. Reopening Town Street does not sound like a feasible option given that heavy traffic would have to travel over the parking garage portion. Personally, I like the idea of the pedestrian walk-way. Maybe if the Town Street bridge was not being relocated would a continuous connection be important. Since the bridge is being realigned, that continuous connection does not seem that important to me. Having retail/restaurants/condos face the park is a great idea; however, I think its a little early to determine that the developers have not considered that. All that is presented are building site locations - not the architectural style, tenants, etc. My point is that we (the general public) do not know enough about the revised plans yet to call them an epic failure.
August 22, 200915 yr I know it's in the early stages, but it's obvious to me that you would immediately include patios along the park and include those in the renderings, instead of some lame greenspace that would pale in comparison. There should be no consideration for that; they should know it is integral. Otherwise they come off as ignorant as to how the park and buildings should function together. I know that alone would cause to me ditch the CDDC altogether for another organization who has their stuff together right off the bat.
August 23, 200915 yr Its just hard for me to put too much stock in preliminary drawings, especially when the building locations are to be developed in conjunction with private companies. I'll be interested to see what the CDDC has to say at the formal presentation to the Downtown Commission.
August 25, 200915 yr Well, for better or worse, the City Center demolition approval is official. I don't oppose the demolition of the vacant mall. But I do think the original Commons plan is superior to Cap South's revised redevelopment plan. Commission OK's tearing down City Center Demolition work could begin in late September Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 10:48 AM By Marla Matzer Rose, The Columbus Dispatch Columbus' Downtown Commission unanimously approved the demolition of the Columbus City Center mall at its meeting this morning. The move clears the way for a permit to be issued to Capitol South Community Urban Redevelopment Corp., with demolition planned to begin in late September or early October. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/08/25/commission_colcommons.html?sid=101
August 25, 200915 yr Commission OK's tearing down City Center Demolition work could begin in late September Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 10:48 AM By Marla Matzer Rose, The Columbus Dispatch Columbus' Downtown Commission unanimously approved the demolition of the Columbus City Center mall at its meeting this morning. The move clears the way for a permit to be issued to Capitol South Community Urban Redevelopment Corp., with demolition planned to begin in late September or early October. The approval came after two commission members questioned the need to demolish the former Marshall Field's building that sits on the corner of Rich and Third streets. Member Robert Loversidge argued that the plans presented by the project's design/build team seemed to be proposing a building of the same shape and size on the site, and asked why they couldn't simply re-purpose the building. Mark Corna of Corna Kokosing and Curt Moody of Moody-Nolan said that after extensive study and consultation with developers, it was determined that re-using the existing building would be costly and impractical. Stephen Wittmann, chairman of the commission, commented that the group normally frowns on the destruction of Downtown buildings, but in this case is willing to take a "leap of faith." "It makes me kind of gag to think of tearing down a million square feet of space that's, what, 20 years old?," Wittmann said. But, after consideration of the plan and the alternative of having a huge vacant building there instead, "I've come around." Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/08/25/commission_colcommons.html?sid=101
August 25, 200915 yr Well, for better or worse, the City Center demolition approval is official. I don't oppose the demolition of the vacant mall. But I do think the original Commons plan is superior to Cap South's revised redevelopment plan.
August 26, 200915 yr More detail on yesterday's Downtown Commission approval that clears the way for the demolition of the City Center Mall. According to a Business First article and a later edition of the Dispatch report posted earlier, the demolition of the mall was the only approval given. As reported in Business First's Downtown Commission OKs razing City Center, "the commission unanimously approved the demolition of City Center and also reviewed conceptual renderings of the city park that will take its place". From the later edition of the Dispatch article Razing of City Center approved, "The commission did not give the go-ahead for new structural elements such as an entryway to the underground garage and a proposed mural on the back of the Ohio Theatre, where a removable bandshell is planned. The commission said it will consider those items after final designs are presented."
August 27, 200915 yr Reopening Town Street does not sound like a feasible option given that heavy traffic would have to travel over the parking garage portion. Personally, I like the idea of the pedestrian walk-way. Maybe if the Town Street bridge was not being relocated would a continuous connection be important. Since the bridge is being realigned, that continuous connection does not seem that important to me. Having retail/restaurants/condos face the park is a great idea; however, I think its a little early to determine that the developers have not considered that. All that is presented are building site locations - not the architectural style, tenants, etc. My point is that we (the general public) do not know enough about the revised plans yet to call them an epic failure. I don't think the town street bridge should be realigned. I think the only reason they wanted to realign the bridge was because City Center blocked off Town St. Now that it will be torn down, or maybe not...I guess there is new debate over whether to not it should be torn down. If they tear it down, then Town Street can be reconnected and the bridge will not need to be realigned. I think the pictures say enough for me and I still consider it to be majorly flawed. Turning the axis of the park 90 degrees is a mistake.
August 27, 200915 yr They should put low weight bearing space needle type tower thingy there since the park is going to be completely worthless anyway. Could you imagine some kind of modern looking "space needle like" tower soaring up to around 75 stories or higher with some cool light displays on top? You could have some kind of advertising on the tower that resembles the corner of Broad and High that could help pay for the damn thing. Imagine something like this:
August 27, 200915 yr Interesting idea c-dub. I would still like Capitol South to go with their original plan - I think they really nailed the right urban vibe with that plan. But if Cap South continues going with this revised plan, then some kind of space needle type tower would probably make sense. It doesn't even need to be mega-tall. Just something with some height to it relative to the surrounding low-rise buildings.
August 27, 200915 yr They should put low weight bearing space needle type tower thingy there since the park is going to be completely worthless anyway. Could you imagine some kind of modern looking "space needle like" tower soaring up to around 75 stories or higher with some cool light displays on top? You could have some kind of advertising on the tower that resembles the corner of Broad and High that could help pay for the damn thing. Imagine something like this: I always imagine something like this being built at the location of Confluence Park.
August 27, 200915 yr I think the reason for not re-opening Town Street might have to do with the fact that they just converted the two blocks of west of High into a narrow pedestrian-friendly slow-moving cobblestone neighborhood street: <img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/annex-1.jpg"> There's no way it could handle the extra traffic that would be generated from opening it up to the east of the City Center site and west with the bridge to Franklinton. I like it how it is now. It's quickly turned into one of the most beautiful streets Downtown. And once there are 300+ new residents living in the new apartments and condos there it will look even better with folks out walking their dogs and jogging around the block there.
August 27, 200915 yr ^My guess is that the Town St bridge was realigned 1) to have a through street between downtown and Franklinton (i.e. Rich Street) and 2) to accomodate the Scioto Mile project. There could be more reasons, but I'm betting those are the top 2 reasons for the realignment.
September 9, 200915 yr Investor takes chance with 3rd St. office tower Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball Tuesday, August 25, 2009 Real estate investor Danos Tiano has acquired a high-profile downtown office building in hopes of taking part in the revival of the neighboring Columbus City Center mall site. Tiano bought the 198,000- square-foot building at 175 S. Third St. for $7.3 million in July, eight months after selling his building at 33 N. High St. to the Central Ohio Transit Authority for $4.7 million. Uncertainty over the future of the defunct City Center, which connects to 175 S. Third by a pedestrian bridge, also played a role in the property’s decline. Tiano expects the building to benefit from the city’s plan to demolish the mall and replace it with a park. “Instead of overlooking the back or top of City Center,” Tiano said, “we’ll look over a brand new downtown park.” Plans for the office building include demolition of the pedestrian connector to the mall and improvements to a second public entrance. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/08/24/story2.html
September 9, 200915 yr Anyone with a paid subscription to Columbus Business First able to summarize the article? I am interested in it but cannot access the article. Thank you.
September 12, 200915 yr Investor takes chance with 3rd St. office tower Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball Tuesday, August 25, 2009 Real estate investor Danos Tiano has acquired a high-profile downtown office building in hopes of taking part in the revival of the neighboring Columbus City Center mall site. Tiano bought the 198,000 square-foot building at 175 S. Third St. for $7.3 million in July, eight months after selling his building at 33 N. High St. to the Central Ohio Transit Authority for $4.7 million. Uncertainty over the future of the defunct City Center, which connects to 175 S. Third by a pedestrian bridge, also played a role in the property's decline. Tiano expects the building to benefit from the city's plan to demolish the mall and replace it with a park. “Instead of overlooking the back or top of City Center,”Tiano said, we'll look over a brand new downtown park.” Plans for the office building include demolition of the pedestrian connector to the mall and improvements to a second public entrance. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/08/24/story2.html I'll try and summerize the article. The 12-story office building at 175 S. Third Street is 29 years old. It is 198,000 sq. ft in overal size and has 70,000 sq. ft. vacant (mostly due to two large tenants recently moving to other downtown locations). The purchase history of the building $12.2 million in 1994, $22 million to a REIT in 1998, and $7.3 million to Mr. Tiano this year. Mr. Tiano said that even this lowered price was difficult to finance because of the overall US credit market conditions. This delayed his purchase of the building until now. Mr. Tiano went on to say that he wanted to purchase another downtown building after selling his previous property at 33 N. High Street in COTA for $4.7 million earlier this year. Tiano had purchased 33 N. High for $1.6 million only four years previously, so he did very well with this COTA deal. Tiano sees the City Center Mall demolition as a big plus for the 175 S. Third property. And he's probably right. Instead of facing the back end of the mall, his building will be facing a new park. The mall demolition will remove a second story walkway that currently connects the mall to the building. And a more presentable second entrance to the building will need to be built facing the new Columbus Commons park space. Mr. Tiano also said that he would probably hold onto the 175 S. Third building longer than he did the 33 N. High building because basically COTA made an offer he couldn't refuse and he likes the long-term prospects for his new purchase. Here is a photo of the 175 S. Third Street building I got from the County Auditor website (taken 2007). This is a view from Third & Town looking toward the building and the soon-to-be demolished City Center Mall. The much discussed mall underground parking garage has its entrance located on a street that goes behind the office building.
September 12, 200915 yr Thank you so much for summarizing the story for me. My mother and my uncle used to work there when I was growing up when the building was known as The National Bank of Detroit (NBD). My mother a secretary and mu uncle the head of maintenance for the building. This was back in the late 80's and early 90's when City Center was first opened and all the rage. We used to watch Red White and BOOM from the penthouse and the Lazarus Christmas Parade, the highlight of which was seeing Suzie from the Fox 28 Kids Club go by. I think the demolition of the mall will bode well for the property and Mr. Tiano for the very reason's he mentions in the beautiful summarization of the article. I hope that someday though, he may reconsider recladdng the building with a different type of glazing. Or perhaps he should not to stay with the style of 80's of which the building was constructed.
October 2, 200915 yr Demolition has started. A few photos starting to roll in here: http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/columbus-commons/page/6
October 3, 200915 yr ^ HA! That is an odd parallel to the past isn't it. Demo pic and description from www.downtowncolumbus.com: "At 2 pm October 1st, the first pieces of City Center came down to make room for the creation of Columbus Commons. Demolition is scheduled through spring 2010 and park creation will begin in summer 2010, with a completion date scheduled for December 2010."
October 3, 200915 yr As an outsider looking in who is not very familiar with the evolution of this project (so you have been warned), I can't say I'm very impressed. Looks like a missed opportunity. Someone totally missed the message on "urban open spaces need active edges." In the late 90's when I moved from Cincinnati to Columbus for college, I felt like the city had totally eclipsed Cincinnati in sophistication and development potential. This project though...wow. I don't even know what to say. It's like having a very good student turn in crap one day.
October 3, 200915 yr That's a fair criticism, Civvik. Columbus did debate the merits of renovating a 20-year old mall vs. starting clean. Obviously, the "starting clean" argument won. The City Center Mall was always rather unloved, even when it was successful. Mostly because of its suburban bunker-like exterior and its "cut off from the downtown" interior. So the CCM generated as much warm feelings as a typical suburban mall did. With is to say - not much. But still, the idea of demolishing a 20-year old multi-million structure did strike many as wasteful. So there were efforts to examine if the CCM could be renovated for other uses. Maybe with a partial demolition. What ultimately nixed any CCM renovation concept was the very suburban and single-use nature of the mall's design. Plus, the expense of a renovation with no guarantee that it would be "less suburban". Plus, the current glut of downtown office space and the current economy. Plus, the neighboring RiverSouth neighborhood development, the renovation of the Lazarus Building and other downtown projects led the City and the lease holder Capitol South to look at reimagining the CCM site as something that would be more urban and fit better with these new developments. I'm leaving out much of the details of this story - but that's the cliff notes version. Basically, I think the City & Capitol South felt they could do something better and more urban on the CCM site by starting over and then better integrating the new development into the surrounding city blocks.
October 3, 200915 yr How would this be a missed opportunity? It's rather simple to build here around a new park. As long as there are plenty of patios from various new businesses fronting the park, it will provide the kind of urban atmosphere that you can only get from a Spanish plaza or Italian piazza. This would be the only counterpart in the entire state of Ohio, likely much of the rest of the country, that would likewise not be cut off by roads and would have restaurants, bars, etc right up against all sides of a public space.
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