This seems like a very decent project that came in under the radar.  Looks to be a well designed addition to the Jefferson Avenue Historic District on the eastern edge of downtown.  

 

Addicts find homes filled with hope

Recovering single women have place to transform lives in town houses on Jefferson Avenue

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - 2:51 AM

By Gina Potthoff, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The Jefferson Avenue Apartments, which looks like four old-styled brick town homes from its Jefferson Avenue entrance, houses single women - all clients of the Amethyst Inc. treatment program - and their children for up to five years in 39 units.  Located off Broad Street just west of I-71, the Jefferson Avenue Apartments were a first-time collaboration of Amethyst, Community Housing Network Inc. and the Jefferson Center for Learning and the Arts.  The nonprofits get tax incentives for offering low-income housing in the $7 million project, partly funded with government subsidies. 

 

In addition to providing low-income housing, the apartments fill a hole in the historic district.  Before the apartments were built, a parking lot and a building not in conformity with the historic neighborhood sat on the edge of the block.  Now, all 11 buildings along that stretch of Jefferson are honoring the historic atmosphere of the neighborhood with their high windows, intricate trim and brick facades.  "The challenge was trying to put that large of a building into a historic setting," said architect Dean Berlon of Urban Order Architecture in Columbus.  The building also essentially needed "two fronts," Berlon said, because the nonprofits wanted the apartments to have an entrance visible on either side in anticipation of more visibility along I-71.

 

LOCATION MAP

 

PHOTO OF THE BUILDING FROM JEFFERSON AVENUE

 

Full article: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/06/22/addicts-find-homes-filled-with-hope.html?sid=101

New Delaware campus opening next month as Columbus State’s enrollment swells

Monday, June 21, 2010 - 2:52 AM

By Encarnacion Pyle, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Columbus State Community College is about to open its new Delaware County campus after more than eight years of planning and anticipation.  The timing couldn't be more perfect.  For the past two years, Columbus State has struggled with unprecedented growth.  Last school year, about 4,300 more students enrolled.  That pushed enrollment to more than 28,000.  Campus officials hope to draw about 900 students to the new campus when classes begin Sept. 22.

 

It will be the college's first free-standing campus outside Downtown, but the Delaware County site will feature most of the same services as the Downtown campus.  The Delaware County campus will open July 7 so the public can learn about it.  Registration will begin July 26.

 

Full article: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/06/21/just-in-time.html?sid=101

Former Brice mall to transform into flea market

Vendors of all sizes hope to revitalize area plagued by closings

Tuesday, July 6, 2010  02:50 AM

By Marla Matzer Rose THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

 

If the once-bustling Brice Road retail corridor on the Far East Side regains some of its former vibrancy, many smaller efforts probably will fill in the bigger picture.

 

Consider some of the activity stirring: A taxi driver is starting a lingerie business, a young man is looking for a busy location to cut hair, and one guy sees the shuttered Skyline Chili transformed as a '50s-style diner.

 

These are examples of the types of businesses planning to move into the former Brice Outlet Mall, which is aiming to reopen Labor Day weekend as Marketplace of the Americas after a major overhaul.

 

Entire article @:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2010/07/06/former-brice-mall-to-transform-into-flea-market.html?sid=101

2010 Downtown Columbus Strategic Plan

Jeffrey Pongonis’ blog, MSI Design – Beyond the Studio, is chock full of urban issues ranging from new green initiatives to schematic designs for new developments.  What attracted our attention was the strategic plan for Columbus Ohio, an initiative to restore Downtown’s vitality by building upon the area’s success from the 2002 Strategic Business Plan for Downtown Columbus.

 

http://www.archdaily.com/68909/2010-downtown-columbus-strategic-plan/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ArchDaily+(Arch+Daily)

 

http://www.msidesign.com/blog/

 

Wow, what a great blog! Thx for posting this yanni_gogolak!

Columbus commits to solar power at city fleet maintenance facility

Business First of Columbus - by Jeff Bell

Friday, July 30, 2010

 

Columbus City Council members are hoping their commitment to a solar energy project at one of the city’s vehicle maintenance garages turns out to be a bright idea.  The project, planned with Westerville-based SolarVision LLC, should help the city save money on electricity while demonstrating its support for green energy, said Councilman Andrew Ginther.

 

Council recently passed legislation that calls for SolarVision to install and operate solar panels on the roof of the city’s fleet maintenance center off Groves Road.  SolarVision will bear the $2.5 million cost of the project in return for the city’s commitment to buy the electricity generated by the solar panels for the next 10 years.  SolarVision executives and city officials estimate the 440-kilowatt solar installation will provide about a third of the fleet maintenance facility’s electricity.

 

MORE: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/08/02/story9.html

This topic has been moved to City Life.

 

[iurl]http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=24177.0[/iurl]

This topic has been moved to Forum Issues/Site Input.

 

[iurl]http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=24279.0[/iurl]

Merion Village updates:

 

 

A big gateway treatment is underway for High St. A scary bar on S 4th (Old Bow Wow) is now a gay bar. Another iffy-looking bar on S High is a hetero-friendly gay pub and an empty restaurant space just down the street is going to be Coyote Jane's Saloon, a restaurant-bar serving Santa Fe influenced fare that will be up and running later this year. My criticism on the lack of attention given to getting more entrepreneurs to open shop in the neighborhood has been addressed. This has been a revolutionary year for Merion Village which is now on its way to becoming a premier Columbus neighborhood.

 

<b>Neighborhood Gateways Proposed for Merion Village</b>

By Walker | September 9, 2010 12:00pm

 

<img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/archives/mv2.jpg">

 

Last night, the Merion Village Association hosted a special meeting to unveil the details of a new Gateway Signage and Streetscape Beautification Plan. Community input was sought for the plan, which was put together by the Neighborhood Design Center over the past year at the request of the Merion Village Association.

 

“This is an idea we’ve kicked around for a number of years,” said Bill Doughton, a Merion Village resident who sits on The Merion Village Gateways Workgroup.

 

READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/neighborhood-gateways-proposed-for-merion-village

Delaware campus off to ‘robust’ start

Columbus State satellite has 859 students for fall

Sunday, September 19, 2010

By Encarnacion Pyle

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

With classes just three days away, Columbus State Community College is poised to welcome nearly 900 students to its new Delaware County campus — and nearly half are new to the school.  As of Friday, 859 students had signed up for at least one class at the campus, which is at the northwest corner of Rt. 23 and Greif Parkway — 7½ miles north of the Franklin County line.  And more than 31,700 students had registered at all of its campuses, including Delaware — a 7.8 percent increase over last year at the same time.

 

The Delaware County enrollment figure is in line with the school’s goal of attracting 800 to 900 students.  Going in, Columbus State had hoped to tap into recent graduates from Olentangy and other nearby school districts, as well as working adults from the area who had never been to college or wanted to expand their training.

 

Full article: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/09/19/delaware-campus-off-to-robust-start.html

 

Columbus State enrollment on track to break 30,000

Business First of Columbus

Wednesday, September 22, 2010, 11:47am EDT

 

First-day enrollment figures at Columbus State Community College show the school is poised to break the 30,000-student mark, a record high helped by the opening of its Delaware campus.  Enrollment at Columbus State’s main campus and newly opened Delaware campus hit 30,955 Wednesday, a figure that includes 835 students at the satellite campus.

 

Final fall enrollment figures won’t be determined for another two weeks and the tally could vary by hundreds of students.  Wednesday’s first-day figures are 7 percent ahead of last year’s first-day head count and 26 percent ahead of 2008.

 

Full article: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/09/20/daily19.html?surround=lfn

City offers green-development grants, loans

Thursday, September 30, 2010

By Robert Vitale

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Columbus has chosen incentives - grants and loans totaling $2 million - rather than requirements to push developers and building owners toward greener, more energy-efficient operations.  Mayor Michael B. Coleman announced two new programs yesterday to reward businesses that clean up polluted land, build or renovate in older neighborhoods, or adopt energy-efficient features.

 

The Green Columbus Fund, modeled after the statewide Clean Ohio program, will offer grants to help developers and nonprofit groups reclaim former gas stations, factories and other polluted sites.  Coleman said the city also will create the Green Switch Loan Fund to offer low-interest loans for commercial-building owners who want to install better windows, furnaces, air conditioners or other energy-saving equipment.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/09/30/copy/city-offers-green-development-grants-loans.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

Umm, how about grants for entrepreneurs to move into empty storefronts on W Broad, Parsons, E Main, etc? And then worry about green building. Jesus, this city is really starting to piss me off to no end!

Tenant deal at TechSouth no earth-shaker, but may create momentum

By Brian R. Ball, Business First

Date: Monday, October 18, 2010, 12:00am EDT

 

Redevelopment of the former Techneglas Inc. industrial complex on Columbus’ south side took a big step forward in late September, when International Technical Coatings Inc. agreed to buy the southern half of the complex for a manufacturing operation.  Public records show Phoenix-based International Technical Coatings paid $1 million for the buildings that give it a combined 667,000 square feet of manufacturing, warehouse and office space.

 

The accord for International Technical Coatings should make it easier to sell or lease the remaining 480,000 square feet north of Markison Avenue to smaller distribution and wholesale operators.  “It’s an opportunity to create some momentum for the rest of the TechSouth redevelopment and the (city’s) south side,” said Justin Schultz, Greystone asset manager.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/10/18/newscolumn1.html

Boathouse nearly ready for rowers

But neighbors still churning about structure along Griggs Reservoir

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

By Frank Thomas, The Columbus Dispatch

 

A boathouse being built on the western shore of Griggs Reservoir is nearly complete, a year after the Columbus City Council approved it.  Despite the time that has passed, tempers that flared during the debate over the project are still running hot.

 

Ohio State University says the 22,000-square-foot boathouse on the Northwest Side will be ready for use by December, with work continuing into January to add final touches.  The building, going up in the 17-acre Duranceau Park, will be used by the OSU women's rowing team, the Greater Columbus Rowing Association and the city's Indian Village Outdoor Education Center.

 

OSU paid $4.4 million for construction of the boathouse, but it will be owned by the city's Recreation and Parks Department.

 

PHOTO OF THE BOATHOUSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/10/27/nearly-ready-for-rowers.html?sid=101

Rickenbacker-area growth bypasses tiny Lockbourne

Monday, November 22, 2010

By Elizabeth Gibson

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

For years, the residents of Lockbourne have watched neighboring communities prosper with the development of the area around Rickenbacker Airport.  Their village, meanwhile, has the same eight streets, the same five churches and nearly the same 280 residents.  It has never managed to take part in southern Franklin County's development.  But for the first time in decades, Lockbourne has claimed a victory in its quest for improvement.

 

With the annexation of nearly 500 acres, Lockbourne has more than tripled in size in the past year.  The new territory isn't prime land for development, nor is it all the land that village leaders would like to acquire, but they said it's a first step.

 

Lockbourne is the smallest of Rickenbacker's neighbors.  Groveport, Obetz, Canal Winchester and Grove City all have prospered from their proximity to the airport.  Columbus has stretched down Rt. 23 all the way to Lockbourne's border, just shy of the Pickaway County line.  While Obetz has built subdivisions and set records for tax revenue because of its warehouse district, Lockbourne's population has barely budged, and Cline's Corner, a gas station and convenience store, is the only business in town.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/22/rickenbacker-areagrowth-bypasses-tiny-lockbourne.html?sid=101

Families at home in the heart of the city

More people are moving Downtown and singing its praises. The next step: more retailers.

Monday, November 22, 2010 

By Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Downtown isn't one neighborhood.  It's a neighborhood full of neighborhoods.  Take the Town Street-Franklin Avenue area, a pocket neighborhood of brick apartment buildings, lush trees and well-kept century-old homes nestled between the heart of Downtown and I-71. 

 

It's here where Andy Henn manages 193 apartments and tends to his own contributions to the neighborhood: ground-hugging monkey grass, towering pampas grass and flowering pear trees that line the street.  The Belmont Apartments that Henn manages reflect that.  Students at the nearby Columbus College of Art & Design and Franklin University rent units for $275 a month.  And there are older people with modest incomes.

 

In other areas, it's well-to-do professionals buying upscale condominiums or paying pricey rents near Capitol Square.  Mayor Michael B. Coleman lives Downtown.  So does Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.  And while Miranova and Waterford Tower might dominate the residential skyline, there are subsidized high-rise apartments for older residents along Rich Street as well as the Commons at Grant, 100 apartments for poor and formerly homeless residents tucked into Downtown's southeast corner.

 

Ten years ago, 3,662 people lived Downtown.  Today, the estimate is approaching 5,000.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/22/at-home-in-the-heart-of-the-city.html?sid=101

 

 

Rickenbacker-area growth bypasses tiny Lockbourne

Monday, November 22, 2010

By Elizabeth Gibson

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

For years, the residents of Lockbourne have watched neighboring communities prosper with the development of the area around Rickenbacker Airport.  Their village, meanwhile, has the same eight streets, the same five churches and nearly the same 280 residents.  It has never managed to take part in southern Franklin County's development.  But for the first time in decades, Lockbourne has claimed a victory in its quest for improvement.

 

With the annexation of nearly 500 acres, Lockbourne has more than tripled in size in the past year.  The new territory isn't prime land for development, nor is it all the land that village leaders would like to acquire, but they said it's a first step.

 

Lockbourne is the smallest of Rickenbacker's neighbors.  Groveport, Obetz, Canal Winchester and Grove City all have prospered from their proximity to the airport.  Columbus has stretched down Rt. 23 all the way to Lockbourne's border, just shy of the Pickaway County line.  While Obetz has built subdivisions and set records for tax revenue because of its warehouse district, Lockbourne's population has barely budged, and Cline's Corner, a gas station and convenience store, is the only business in town.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/22/rickenbacker-areagrowth-bypasses-tiny-lockbourne.html?sid=101

 

Lockbourne's layout doesn't really lend itself to expansion. Much of the land around it is flood plain, historic canal R/W or is fenced off by Rickenbacker.

Families at home in the heart of the city

More people are moving Downtown and singing its praises. The next step: more retailers.

Monday, November 22, 2010 

By Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Downtown isn't one neighborhood.  It's a neighborhood full of neighborhoods.  Take the Town Street-Franklin Avenue area, a pocket neighborhood of brick apartment buildings, lush trees and well-kept century-old homes nestled between the heart of Downtown and I-71. 

 

It's here where Andy Henn manages 193 apartments and tends to his own contributions to the neighborhood: ground-hugging monkey grass, towering pampas grass and flowering pear trees that line the street.  The Belmont Apartments that Henn manages reflect that.  Students at the nearby Columbus College of Art & Design and Franklin University rent units for $275 a month.  And there are older people with modest incomes.

 

In other areas, it's well-to-do professionals buying upscale condominiums or paying pricey rents near Capitol Square.  Mayor Michael B. Coleman lives Downtown.  So does Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.  And while Miranova and Waterford Tower might dominate the residential skyline, there are subsidized high-rise apartments for older residents along Rich Street as well as the Commons at Grant, 100 apartments for poor and formerly homeless residents tucked into Downtown's southeast corner.

 

Ten years ago, 3,662 people lived Downtown.  Today, the estimate is approaching 5,000.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/22/at-home-in-the-heart-of-the-city.html?sid=101

 

 

 

Meanwhile thousands more have left the neighborhoods to the northeast, east, southeast, south, and west of Downtown, negating any population increase there for the urban core as a whole. How about doing something about that instead of pretending that Columbus is just High St and Downtown? City leaders like to mention how Downtown generates a vast amount of revenue for the city and only makes up %1 of the city's area. They don't talk about the lack of investment in other inner-city neighborhoods which get negligible investments at best under past and current city leadership: these could be assets for the city, but instead they're allowed to deteriorate and sit half empty. If you're not a "name-brand" neighborhood, then you'll continue to be ignored. City leaders and residents alike should be focusing on independent retail on every major street that is not High St.

^ A lot of those areas people left are suburban-style developments even though they are in the city proper. Suburban-style development with few amenities that lack "good schools" and still are perceived to have "big city problems" are never going to be in high demand.

:? The neighborhoods I'm talking about were built up around 1900 and have urban business districts. Which of these areas is suburban-style development: Cleveland Ave (Linden & Milo-Grogan), Livingston Ave (Driving Park, Old Oaks, etc) Parsons Ave (Merion Village, Vassor Village, Reeb-Hosack, etc), East Main St (Olde Towne East, Franklin Park, etc), West Broad St and Sullivant Ave (Franklinton & Hilltop)? In other cities outside of Ohio they invest in neighborhoods located on several different urban business districts, not just downtown. Minneapolis is a great example of what happens when you invest in urban business districts surrounding the downtown area; formerly undesirable neighborhoods saw revived business districts and residential streets.

 

What Coleman and other myopic city leaders forget is that you need healthy urban neighborhoods to help move Downtown further ahead. They like to think that it's just the opposite, but that is clearly not the case. Growing the populations in these neighborhoods vs rapid and significant population loss which has taken place would have resulted in lots more people who would be likely to patronize downtown retail.

I agree. It's just that you weren't all that specific about which neighborhoods you felt deserved help in your initial post -- so I wasn't sure if you were talking about the types of places you mentioned in the second post or stuff like the Far East Side, Linden and parts of the SE side that have much less potential.

Gotcha. I wish I had to be specific about which parts of those streets listed were good and which parts are bad, but by and large in they're in poor shape. The Far East Side is definitely going to see further decline (I guess these kind of areas are "outer city" in Columbus' case what with the annexed outlying suburban ring of development). Linden really should be in much better condition, at least the urban section north of Hudson. Same goes for the SE side near Parsons.

 

Other cities have seen people move in to live and run businesses in neighborhoods as bad or worse than these, resulting in some major transformations. They don't have much less potential: they lack the people to tap into the potential that exists. I really can't put my finger on why that is, since urban Columbus has a cross section of residents from cities like NYC, San Fran, and it's even somewhat common to run into Brits here and there. But it seems like no matter who it is or where they're from, where do entrepreneurs open their shop? It's almost always in one of these locations: Short North, Short North,  Short North,  Short North,  or the Short North. In other cities these entrepreneurs would have already moved into a business district in a neighborhood with higher-crime and cheap housing just like Linden or Southern Orchards (east of and including the east half of Parsons). People would already be venturing out to these places for their restaurants, shops, galleries, bars, etc: if it wasn't Columbus. I don't know why that makes such a big difference, but I can't deny that it does. Heck, even S High in Downtown is far behind where it should be and is treated as though it were in Linden or even Olde Towne East with so many empty storefronts, despite the city government's focus on Downtown.

The problem with everyone thinking "Short North -- the only place to start a business" is that it's not always the best place for every type of business, especially someone's first business. The rent can be high and it's not the place to sell certain product lines. That's why there are always quite a few empty storefronts there -- it's easy to throw a gutter ball there. It's myopia -- people don't know that there's money to be made elsewhere.

I can understand that myopia if it were just Columbus natives who aren't familiar with what cities around the country are doing, but these are people from all parts of the country who should be able to see an empty urban strip as an opportunity. But I guess having a store in the SN that will be closed permanently in a few months is preferable to them. Hell, the rent for those empty spaces on S High Downtown are a steal in comparison.

Wesley Glen breaks ground on new center

By KATHLEEN L. RADCLIFF

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 9:43 AM EST

 

Gigi, the 10-year-old black labrador in residence at Wesley Glen Retirement Community, will have a new building to roam in the near future.  Fifty or so residents, community members and leaders, as well as staff and board members, didn't let gray skies and a late autumn chill in the air stop them as they gathered to celebrate groundbreaking for the Wesley Glen Wellness Center Thursday, Nov. 18.

 

Once complete, the 20,000-square-foot center will have an aquatic pool with locker rooms, therapy pool, multi-purpose room and vestibule, lobby, juice bar, health clinic, conference room, fitness center with a cardiovascular component, and physical and occupational therapy, according to information from Wesley Glen.  "We will definitely include a lot of additional programming for our residents," said Methodist ElderCare Chief Operating Officer Dawn Schaffner.

 

MORE: http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2010/11/25/multiple_papers/news/allbowesle_20101123_0937am_7.txt

Franklin University lease lifts East Town building

 

Franklin University has signed a five-year lease at 363 E. Town St. following a restructuring of the downtown Columbus building’s ownership in August.

 

The college in February will take nearly 12,000 square feet of the building after renovations.  Franklin will have offices on the second and third floors and a bookstore sharing the ground floor with a credit union branch.

 

Real estate consultant Ken Danter owned and occupied the building before financial troubles tied to his of out-of-town condominium investments prompted the Danter Co. principal to leave and stop paying on the loan.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/print-edition/2010/11/26/market-at-mill-run-shopping-center.html

Custom suit maker Astor & Black finds perfect fit in new showcase off Capitol Square

 

Astor & Black Custom Ltd. has settled on a new downtown Columbus headquarters and showroom.  The custom clothier said it will be moving to 81 S. 5th St., a couple blocks east of Capitol Square, as early as January.  Public records show an Astor & Black affiliate paid $589,500 on Nov. 18 for the 12,000-square-foot building, built in 1956.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/print-edition/2010/11/26/custom-suit-maker-finds-perfect-fit-in.html

Rehabilitated Nazareth Towers Presented to Low-Income Seniors in Ohio

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Writer

Multi-Housing News Online

 

Columbus, Ohio – With a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Nazareth Towers, a 208-unit affordable housing property in Columbus, Ohio, officially emerges from a makeover, providing its tenant roster of seniors with a modernized residential community.  Spearheaded by Inner City Catholic Parishes Inc., redevelopment of the apartment complex cost an estimated $16 million to complete.

 

An urban property with the address of 300 East Rich St. in downtown Columbus, Nazareth Towers is subsidized under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 program.  The 14-story structure was originally erected in 1968.

 

MORE: http://www.multihousingnews.com/featured-content/rehabilitated-nazareth-towers-presented-to-low-income-seniors-in-ohio-2/

 

Arena District, Neighborhood Launch honored

Business First - by Brian Ball

Monday, December 6, 2010, 2:56pm EST

 

The city’s Downtown Commission has (announced) its first inaugural Harrison Smith Awards for urban design.  The downtown planning panel recognized the downtown’s Arena District and the Neighborhood Launch condo neighborhood on East Gay Street before a packed house of more than 200 guests during a luncheon presentation at the Columbus Metropolitan Club.

 

The Arena District plaque honored developer Nationwide Realty Investors Ltd.; master planner MSI Design; and building architects 360 Architecture, NBBJ, Lupton Rausch Architecture and Design, Sullivan Bruck Architects, URS Corp; and Meleca Architecture.

 

Columbus developer Jeff Edwards of the Edwards Cos. and the condo designers at Brian Kent Jones Architects Inc. and Lupton Rausch were recognized for the Neighborhood Launch condo project on East Gay between North Fourth and North Sixth streets.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2010/12/arena-district-neighborhood-launch.html

Rehabilitated Nazareth Towers Presented to Low-Income Seniors in Ohio

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Writer

Multi-Housing News Online

 

Columbus, Ohio – With a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Nazareth Towers, a 208-unit affordable housing property in Columbus, Ohio, officially emerges from a makeover, providing its tenant roster of seniors with a modernized residential community. Spearheaded by Inner City Catholic Parishes Inc., redevelopment of the apartment complex cost an estimated $16 million to complete.

 

An urban property with the address of 300 East Rich St. in downtown Columbus, Nazareth Towers is subsidized under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 program. The 14-story structure was originally erected in 1968.

 

MORE: http://www.multihousingnews.com/featured-content/rehabilitated-nazareth-towers-presented-to-low-income-seniors-in-ohio-2/

 

 

It's too bad the only thing within walking distance on this side of Downtown for seniors is getting hit by a car.

The empty lot on the NW side of the E Broad & Nelson intersection bridging the Near East and Bexley is now home to a big parking lot with a gas station-car wash set way back. That's actually a step down from the proposed strip-mall planned here, but I can't say I'm surprised. The city government allows developers to shit all over the city except for High St, i.e. where most people are looking, and local residents give no noticeable resistance.

Walker Evans of Columbus Underground posted an outstanding comprehensive list of Columbus area urban developments from the past year.  It may not have been the busiest development year in Columbus history - but it was still an impressive list of projects.

 

2010 Year in Review: Urban Development

By Walker | December 24, 2010

Columbus Underground

 

2010 may not immediately spring to mind as a great year for urban development projects in Columbus, but if you’ll take a moment to reflect with us, you might be surprised to see how much was actually going on throughout the city this year.  A few signature projects like the Main Street Bridge and Phase 1 of Grandview Yard were completed while others like Columbus Commons and the Scioto Mile continue with construction into 2011.  This year we also saw numerous projects announced, including Wonderland in Italian Village and the Pizzuti Hotel in the Short North.

 

Below is a rundown of all of the major urban development projects that were completed, under construction, or announced in 2010:

 

Projects Completed in 2010

 

• Grandview Yard - Phase One Redevelopment
  
• Main Street Bridge (Downtown - Scioto River)
  
• The New Ohio Union (Ohio State Univeristy)
  
• Jackson on High Condo Building (Short North)
  
• Kingsdale - Giant Eagle Market District (Upper Arlington)
  
• Fourth & Elm Parking Garage (Downtown)
  
• Commons at Buckingham (Downtown)
  

 

Projects Under Construction in 2010

 

• Flats on Vine Apartments (Arena District)
  
• Hilton Convention Center Hotel
  
• Columbus Commons (former City Center Mall site)
  
• Scioto Mile riverfront park (Downtown)
  
• RiverSouth District (Downtown)
  
• Hollywood Casino (West Side)
  
• Weinland Park - High Street Kroger redevelopment
  
• Neighborhood Launch Condos - Bishop’s Walk on Gay Street
  
• The Abigail Loft Building (Downtown - Gay Street)
  
• Children’s Hospital Expansion Projects
  
• Windsor Building on Grandview Avenue
  

 

Projects Announced in 2010

 

• 2010 Downtown Strategic Plan
  
• The Pizzuti Hotel in The Short North
  
• Wonderland (Wonder Bread Factory redevelopment in Italian Village)
  
• OSU Master Plan
  
• Cooper Park Racetrack (Cooper Stadium redevelopment)
  
• Weinland Park Food Campus
  
• West Side Redevelopment
  
• Near East Side Renovations
  
• Downtown Police Headquarters Renovation
  
• NoBo on Long
  
• Franklin Park Trolley Barn
  
• Merion Village Gateways
  
• Wall Street Retail Alley
  

 

MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/2010-year-in-review-urban-development

*yawn* Just about everything is High St-oriented as always. Show me a similar list for W Broad, Parsons, etc, and then I'll be impressed. There are other American cities working aggressively to revitalize as many downtown-area neighborhoods as they can and they have a lot more to show for it.

There are other American cities working aggressively to revitalize as many downtown-area neighborhoods as they can and they have a lot more to show for it.

 

There are other American cities having more urban success than Columbus?  That's unpossible!

Not just a little more, "a lot", and I'm not even including cities on the coasts or Chicago. I mean really, there's a reason this thread's 2010 random developments managed to fit in pages 30-33.

I mean really, there's a reason this thread's 2010 random developments managed to fit in pages 30-33.

 

Sure there's a reason.  It's the 89 other individual project/area threads that were active in 2010.  Not every project gets dumped into the Random thread.

One of the results of the recession and this is as true in Cbus as anywhere else, is that winners in a region have only expanded the distance between themselves and everyone else. Bexley and Grandview and the High Street Corridor have done well. Westerville has been pretty dynamic. Dublin/Sawmill has treaded water at best.

I mean really, there's a reason this thread's 2010 random developments managed to fit in pages 30-33.

 

Sure there's a reason. It's the 89 other individual project/area threads that were active in 2010. Not every project gets dumped into the Random thread.

 

That I already know. It's an accumulation of the small things, like rehabbed homes and businesses, that result in the kind of change I was hoping to see in this city, but instead it's the same old same old. For some that's just fine, but not for someone who wants to live someplace and see some real changes take place. Case in point, go away from High St and tally up new development-rehabs in neighborhoods centered on streets like Cleveland Ave. There are *so* many parts of urban Columbus that are indistinguishable from what they looked like decades ago with the only tell-tale sign that it's 2011 being that there are less buildings. Columbus for many residents continues to be a been-there done-that sort of place.

I think Broad or Main haave a much better chance than Cleveland Ave. There are just too many strikes against it at this point - I'd equate to Reading Road in Cincinnati. Once great housing stock, some real potential (including formerly significant retail centers long left behind), but basically the main street of the poor corridor. Reading Rd only gets better when it actually exits Cincinnati, where you have the anchor of the city of Reading. Likewise, only Westerville's independence from Columbus will prevent the blight from continuing unabated (and I'm not particularly confident about the future of areas of the Cleveland Ave. corridor that are in Westerville schools or even the Huber areas inside of 270.

I'm not entirely convinced this is a realistic future project.  But it would be a nice addition to the downtown if it did happen.  And the story about the existing Indiana Avenue hostel located just north of the OSU campus is quite interesting.  So, for what its worth, here's the pertinent info from the Dispatch article (full article linked below):

 

His hostel home: University District venture starts simple - in one bedroom of the owner's duplex - but he has big plans for next year

 

"Having logged 65 guests since August, Mathew Dietrich, 23, is already looking ahead: He plans next year to transfer ownership of Wayfaring Buckeye Hostel to Delaware entrepreneur Ray Domire, who aims to open a 60-bed hostel Downtown - with Dietrich serving as the live-in manager.  The Indiana Avenue operation would dissolve."

 

"The two are looking at the vacant upper floors of the Swan Cleaners building at 247 S. High St., where they hope to open by summer.  Tentative plans include a rooftop garden and a hot tub.  Domire, 61, a nonprofit executive and longtime hostel frequenter, cited the venture's "great potential," but declined to provide details."

Here's some more info about the existing Indiana Avenue hostel:

 

Posting and reviews from hostelworld.com:  The Wayfaring Buckeye Hostel - 2407 Indiana Avenue, Columbus OH, USA

 

Posting and reviews from hostels.com:  The Wayfaring Buckeye Hostel in Columbus OH, USA

 

A google posting of an article about the Indiana Avenue hostel.  It appears to be an article from The Other Paper posted by the hostel manager interviewed in the Dispatch article:  Hostel takeover on Indiana Avenue

From what I hear it's quite busy. The thing is though, that for the hostel demographic the current location is much more desirable (walking distance to plenty of restaurants, bars, live music venues) than Downtown which is not so walkable, particularly in the winter. Sure, the hostel can provide info on the #2 & #21 that do up and down High, but that's expecting quite a bit more work on visitors' behalf.

 

*Just checked the precise location* This is worse than I thought; it's at Rich & High which equals a 1/2 mile walk just to Gay St for a real city street. Downtown in general isn't ready for primetime, let alone the RiverSouth location that they're planning.

 

^^^

I don't understand why everyone likes to pretend that Linden = Compton or South Central. It's not, bad as it is. The fact is that there is solid housing stock. Well, that mainly goes for North Linden. If you weren't the wiser you'd think streets like Bremen and Dresden were in some healthy urban burb, but surprise: it's Linden. There is still a foundation to build on for some revitalization. There are people who, believe or not, buy and live in homes there because of the quality of the homes and the very low price that makes them easily affordable.

 

The problem keeping development from happening here is very likely what is holding back other neighborhoods from Olde Towne East to Highland West: a city government that is hostile towards residents attempting to improve these areas. Residents in neighborhood organizations can confirm that the city government ignores them until they want to do something detrimental to the neighborhood, like dumping a large social services center in a struggling area or tearing down part of a budding urban business district. Not all of the blame goes to the government of course, since Columbus residents who don't live in these areas by and large don't stand up for their neighbors. I've been to city organized meetings and city council meetings sometimes waiting 3 fucking hours only to have 3 minutes to speak my piece. Their attitude is one of "we know better than you" despite them having nothing to show for it.

 

I can say that if you as an urbanite want to gauge if your city's government is pro-urban and therefore get an idea of what the next couple of years, five years, decade, is going to look like all you have to do is attend some city council meetings and neighborhood plan meetings on these matters. Not only do you see where city leaders stand, but where residents stand. In Columbus, the leadership is anti-urban, the public is apathetic and silent, and entrepreneurs and developers have some serious qualms with the city's red tape, so it's quite clear that if I want to live in a city that wants to move forward on the development front, it's beyond this state's borders.

Well, once you get to Weber it seems pretty decent. We've looked at buying there for the reasons you've noted, but the same could be said for the Reading Road corridor in Cincinnati - w/ the same pluses and minuses. For instance, if they could tear about half the cheap townhouses and apartment buildings, it would do wonder for the corridor. Nevertheless, I stand by my point that this just isn't close to being the next hot spot.

I agree with you on the crime dens/cheap townhouses/apartment buildings that some eminent domain and demolition would help drive out a good amount of criminals in any number of neighborhoods. Keep in mind that Linden is just one out of a dozen interchangeable areas near Downtown and my point is that we could focus on any one of those areas and turn it around in just a handful of years which has been done elsewhere as evidence that it can and has been done. Thing is over here, there just isn't a critical mass of urban-minded people here, particularly entrepreneurs, who understand that if they made a collective effort they could make any major urban neighborhood the next big thing, whether that's  Linden, Franklinton, or Highland West, which all have the bones for a solid urban business district with affordable good housing.

 

In other cities the residents didn't write off areas like they do here. Instead, if you go to visit their versions of Linden or Franklinton you'll find some that are much improved and offer a new good side of the city that is attractive for residents and visitors. Basically, their ratio of healthy vs. unhealthy urban neighborhoods is much more desirable than what we have. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what evidence you present to the stubborn local populace as they will just tell you that it just couldn't happen here despite everything pointing to the contrary. Even local success stories like the Short North, which was like Linden on steroids, or Harrison West, a more recent example, was a mini-Franklinton/Hilltop, but pointing that out just falls on deaf ears.

 

Olde Towne East has been moving at a snails pace as far as new businesses go on Oak and Main and Merion Village saw a handful (literally) of businesses open in the last few years, but development off of N High-centric Columbus has been abysmal in the past decade. Here's all six pages of development in Columbus' west side neighborhoods minus the casino: from 2006-present.

 

Hilltop

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,13574.0.html

 

Franklinton

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,205.0.html

 

But of course there's more (more meaning less). Linden doesn't even have it's own development page.

 

Parsons  (all two pages) from 2005-present.

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,2884.0.html

 

If you stray from N High in any direction from Downtown there's still little worth visiting even including the short list of new desirable businesses, let alone live there. I've lived and done High St; I'm ready for more, but this city isn't.

What is your take on the idea of the favored quarter theory of urban development? Clearly, Cbus has a favored corridor (and quarter - the NW side).

We're much like DC in that sense. I think there's a strong link between that and just being much too comfortable with the status quo. Would Columbus locals take a liking to the un-favored parts of town? Yes, as they already do to an extent evidenced by the ones who visit the W Broad restaurants in Franklinton, a handful of popular bars and restaurants on Parsons, etc. Once something worth visiting opens up people from around the city will go there, but it's like they expect more similar establishments to just fall from the sky.

This empty grass lot at E Broad & Nelson is now a set-back parking lot with a gas station and car wash.What a classy neighbor for the pub across the street and a shining example of what Columbus "leadership" thinks about Columbus outside of High St: just let developers sh!t out whatever they want.

There was a small market and strip center running the length of Nelson on the NW corner but if memory serves a fire took part of it out and the owner of the corner property either decided to take the insurance and run or knocked it all down to make it more marketable for the current owner to purchase.

 

According to the auditor's site, the current owner now holds all parcels between Broad & Long rather than having several owners previously.