Columbus State’s Delaware campus popular with OSU students, especially the price tag

By Charlie Boss, The Columbus Dispatch

Sunday, September 18, 2011 - 10:30 AM

 

Columbus State Community College’s Delaware County campus begins its second year on Wednesday with more students, more courses and a new partner that can give students a jump-start to their bachelor’s degrees.  “Our hope is, students persist with us and other students see what’s happening and want to come here,” said Pat Fabrisi, the campus’s assistant director.

 

Enrollment numbers indicate the school is on the right course.  As of Thursday, more than 1,331 students had signed up for at least one course — almost double last year’s figure.

 

Joining them on the campus are 582 students from Ohio State University’s Marion branch, which has linked offices with Columbus State to serve students in Delaware and northern Franklin counties.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/09/18/a-collegial-partnership.html

South-Western has new plan for revamping buildings

By Charlie Boss, The Columbus Dispatch

Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - 4:27 AM

 

South-Western schools leaders are revisiting plans to rebuild or renovate schools with the state’s help, about three years after voters turned down a similar effort to overhaul the district’s schools.  Unlike the plan that involved a $262 million bond request in 2008, this plan could revamp some district buildings without raising taxes, officials said.

 

Board members gave leaders the go-ahead last night to start work with the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission, the state agency that would help pay for construction.  Under the 2008 bond request, the state had promised to cover 47 percent of the $439 million project.  Taxpayers were to foot the other 53 percent.

 

Now, school leaders will work with the facilities commission to update the district’s master facility plan from 2008.  It called for the construction of 13 elementary schools, four middle schools, a new Franklin Heights High School and renovations of 11 other buildings — all of which were part of the district facility project.

 

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/09/13/south-western-has-new-plan-for-buildings.html

Future growth in watersheds mapped

Public to first be shown development, conservation plans along Olentangy

By Allison Manning, The Columbus Dispatch

Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 7:34 AM

 

The expected population explosion along the Olentangy watershed has residents and community leaders planning for the future.  In the next 25 years, more than 100,000 people are expected to move into communities along the watershed, which stretches 93 miles from its northernmost point of Claridon Township in Marion County down to Columbus.

 

The watershed is the first of five in central Ohio that is in line for “balanced growth planning,” where the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission asks local officials, residents and business owners to create maps identifying areas for development, conservation and agriculture.

 

The expected population surge, mostly in the southern Delaware County part of the watershed, is the reason Olentangy was tackled first.  To follow are Big Walnut, Upper Scioto, Walnut Creek and Whetstone Creek.

 

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/09/20/future-growth-in-watersheds-mapped.html

This building's '70s interior sure made me think of people smoking joints and listening to the Black Sabbath album Sabotage while working on projects when I'd pick up my buddies from class there in the late '90s.  Shame to see it gutted. Stuff gets remodeled a lot in Columbus, so even most '90s stuff is gone.

Benchmark Apartments Planned for Kenny Road Corridor

By: Walker Evans, Columbus Underground

Published on November 2, 2011 11:00 am

 

The iconic building that was once home to an open multi-level market bazaar and one of the most well known Max & Erma’s locations will be razed this month to make way for a new apartment development next year.

(. . .)

This building, located at 4550 Kenny Road, opened in 1973 as the Colony Bazaar marketplace.  It was later occupied by Whites’ Furniture Store, Whispers Night Club, Benchmark Outdoor Outfitters, The Ski Shack and several other businesses.

(. . .)

ZBP Properties is planning to redevelop the land into a multi-family apartment concept known as Benchmark Apartments, which is scheduled to open in the Fall of 2012.

 

MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/benchmark-apartments-planned-for-kenny-road-corridor

Two reports about the venerable Columbus Athletic Club building being placed the National Register of Historic Places.  The six-story club is located downtown at 136 E. Broad between 3rd and 4th Streets, one block from the Ohio Statehouse.  The 1915 building was formerly a men's-only club until the 1980's - and was once of the prime spots in Columbus for state government "back-room deals" in those famous "smoke-filled rooms". 

 

According to the Dispatch article, "The designation recognizes the club’s place in the city’s history and helps clear the way for a new nonprofit foundation that hopes to fund future preservation and restoration efforts."  Below are articles from the Columbus Dispatch and from Columbus Underground:

 

COLUMBUS DISPATCH: Athletic Club now on landmarks list - 1915 building has always been club

 

COLUMBUS UNDERGROUND: The Athletic Club of Columbus Added to National Register of Historic Places

 

Code issues that hampered Pearl Market resolved

Vendors will be allowed back on sidewalks, officials say

By Dylan Tussel, The Columbus Dispatch

Friday, October 28, 2011 - 7:14 AM

 

As Pearl Market’s turbulent year that was marked by city code violations nears its end, organizers say there is a silver lining.  “We have worked out the issues.  The market will be permitted back onto the sidewalks this upcoming year,” said Cleve Ricksecker, executive director of the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District, which organizes Pearl Market.

 

Pearl Market was forced to scale back this summer after Columbus cracked down on vendors spilling out of the Downtown alleys between Broad and Gay streets, citing a 1959 city code that allows only pushcarts with permits to set up shop on sidewalks.  “Prior to the market opening in the spring, we will have the code issues resolved,” said George Speaks, deputy public-safety director.  “We will amend the code allowing the setup on Broad Street and/or Gay Street."

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/10/28/code-issues-that-hampered-pearl-market-resolved.html

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) has been without a permanent home in downtown Columbus since 2007.  MORPC sold its former headquarters at 285 E. Main Street for $2.9 million to the adjacent and growing Franklin University and moved to leased space in the Brewery District.  MORPC currently leases 22,000 square feet at 111 Liberty Street for its approximately 90 employees according to a previously published Nov. 4, 2011 article from Business First.

 

Business First now reports that MORPC intends to purchase the Karlsberger Building at the southwest corner of Third and Main.  This two-story building was originally built in 1918 as a Ford showroom.  In 1986, it was purchased by the architecture firm Karlsberger Companies and renovated with a small addition for their offices.  The architecture firm ceased operations in June, 2011.  Below is an excerpt and link to the Business First article about MORPC chosing the Karlsberger building for their new downtown HQ.  Also below is a photo of Karlsberger building and a scan from a 2003 article that shows what the building looked like before the 1986 renovation.

 

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MORPC decides on Karlsberger offices for new HQ

By Adrian Burns, Business First staff reporter

Date: Friday, December 2, 2011, 2:48pm EST

 

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission has decided it wants acquire the Karlsberger Cos. building at 99 E. Main Street for its new headquarters.

 

The board of the transportation and infrastructure planning organization is expected to consider a resolution next Thursday to pay $2.6 million for the building and two nearby parking lots.  The resolution also sets out a timeline to close on the purchase Feb. 9 after a due diligence period, with plans calling for MORPC to move there in November 2012.  MORPC signed a letter of intent to purchase the building last month, the resolution said.

 

MORPC leases about 22,000 square feet at 111 Liberty Street in the Brewery District.  The Karlsberger building is about 30,000 square feet, MORPC said.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2011/12/02/morpc-decides-on-karlsberger-offices.html

 

 

Vacant houses swamping city Official suggests neighborhood leaders help find new owners

Jeff Hinckley | Dispatch

 

By  Mark Ferenchik   The Columbus Dispatch Friday January 6, 2012 7:38 AM

The message that Columbus officials gave last night on the crisis of vacant and abandoned homes plaguing city neighborhoods was clear: We don’t have enough money to solve this mess ourselves.

So they’re asking neighborhoods for help.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/01/06/vacant-houses-swamping-city.html

 

Of course, the problem is that I don't see any neighborhood stabilization dollars being spent on commercial properties in respective "downtowns". No one is going to move to Linden, Southern Orchards, etc, because some blighted homes were torn down or repaired on streets they never see. The city knows that these homes aren't going to fix themselves and have people move in without any investments put into them, so why is the city doing just that to its several struggling commercial districts? Instead of learning from what a concentration of destinations did for German Village, Short North, and more recently Downtown, they are doing nothing to plant the seed for more quality businesses to move in, which would in turn lead to even more quality businesses and residents, followed by developers who would have never touched these neighborhoods with a ten-foot pole beforehand. Spending funds to attract destinations to the best urban corridor contenders for revitalization would be paltry compared to the future investment made by the surge in customers, more businesses, new residents, and developers. German Village and the Short North show that waiting for small, individual investments to revitalize neighborhoods is the exception, not the rule, as evidenced by most Columbus neighborhoods which are losing significant numbers of residents and where there's barely any businesses worth a trip out there.

 

That could change, but there is no indication that city council or anyone associated with them understands the draw and necessity of attracting more desirable businesses to rather down-and-out neighborhoods. City efforts in Milo-Grogan have paled tremendously in the past almost 20 years when compared to the one lone destination, the reggae bar Skankland, single-handedly attracted more visitors to the neighborhood and raised more awareness of its existence than official city efforts in the last 20 years. 20 years, and they can't replicate the success of one single business that has been closed for two entire decades. Just let that sink in. When Skankland closed in the early 90s, a light-bulb did not pop up in the minds of the leadership back then that, "Hey, if one destination attracted visitors to an otherwise undesirable neighborhood, just think what incentivizing a mere handful more would do?" Instead, they did nothing of the sort; the neighborhood has sat dormant and lost more and more residents and sees no where near as many visitors as it did back then including many out-of-towners: it has sunken back into obscurity. Its concentration of retail today would be a quirky, but still working-class alternative to the gentrified Short North business district if only city leadership understood the impact of destination retail and had invested in attracting more similar businesses to the neighborhood.

 

Also worthy of note is Hal & Al's which is the only new destination on an entire 2 mile stretch of Parsons Ave that draws lots of non-area residents to Parsons Ave south of Livingston. If it were to go under, God forbid, Parsons would instantaneously be back to square one. Almost three years after it debuted, not a single other similar destination spot has moved into this 2 mile long corridor. As many visitors as this venue attracts, including out-of-state tourists for the unique live music venue with vegan bar food concept, one destination alone is not enough of a sell to get people moving in to the area: neighborhoods on both sides of Parsons experienced some serious losses in population. City Council hasn't noticed that this place is the glaring exception to the rule and also fail to see what more of Parsons could look like if they helped nudge it along. Yet there is no talk of doing such a thing here or in other struggling business districts which dominate the city and the city government expects people to move into neighborhoods simply because there are a few less blighted properties today, which will be negated anyway by the other blighted properties that take their place, because  they think "cheap" is all you need to sell homes in Hilltop, etc. For the rest of us over here in reality it most certainly is nowhere near compelling enough and demonstrably so.

 

Spending money only to fix up homes in places where there is almost nothing to walk to is a disturbingly suburban solution being applied to an urban environment: the same applies to the American Addition neighborhood where they are building 150 homes on blighted lots, but no urban amenities to draw people seeking urban living to this industrial neighborhood: every one of those residents will be expected to drive to the nearest urban amenities and this is strangely not a concern for the city leadership. There may have been some old commercial buildings on Joyce or E 5th Ave nearby, but those are long gone and now are car-oriented/suburban. The people who are happy having a home with nothing to walk to tend to be parents with kids who are moving out of the urban core to suburban developments and a restored home in Linden or the Hilltop with horribly performing schools is not going to persuade them to stay. The people who want to move to an urban setting for city living are not going to be able to live a very urban lifestyle when they always have to leave the neighborhood for a walkable setting with restaurants, bars, cafes, you name it. If money was spent to get entrepreneurs to fix up dense business districts in Hilltop, North Linden, and Parson-area neighborhoods identified in the article, it would go much further in attracting new residents than residential-only policy.  It's a lesson long-overdue and a visit to any of these areas bear that out.

As tempting as it might be to refute Keith M.'s above lecture point by point, I would ask posters not to do so.  Urban Ohio was formed to provide a forum to celebrate and promote appreciation for all of Ohio's urban areas.  It is not intended to be a forum for one person's grievances (whether they be real or imagined).  It is not intended to be a forum for one person's campaign to prove his supposed superiority in urban thinking.

 

Keith M. is basically talking to himself.  Ignore him and he will likely find some other corner of the web to rant.  As tempting as it is to react to Keith M.'s provocations, we can't keep letting him hijack thread after thread.  Please follow the below advice when Keith M. tried to do the same thing in a Cleveland development thread.

 

Can we ignore Keith M and his uneducated post?! Seriously.

 

Lets not let one disgruntled person throw this thread off track.  Especially since he does not really have his facts straight, and is just throwing a bunch of complaints against the wall, hoping some are true and will stick.

 

As tempting as it might be to refute Keith M.'s above lecture point by point, I would ask posters not to do so.  Urban Ohio was formed to provide a forum to celebrate and promote appreciation for all of Ohio's urban areas.  It is not intended to be a forum for one person's grievances (whether they be real or imagined).  It is not intended to be a forum for one person's campaign to prove his supposed superiority in urban thinking.

 

Keith M. is basically talking to himself.  Ignore him and he will likely find some other corner of the web to rant.  As tempting as it is to react to Keith M.'s provocations, we can't keep letting him hijack thread after thread.  Please follow the below advice when Keith M. tried to do the same thing in a Cleveland development thread.

 

Can we ignore Keith M and his uneducated post?! Seriously.

 

Lets not let one disgruntled person throw this thread off track.  Especially since he does not really have his facts straight, and is just throwing a bunch of complaints against the wall, hoping some are true and will stick.

 

I know this was probably aimed at me (or maybe not), and I agree with you.  I would rather not let someone like Keith ruin real debate and discussion about projects and the future of urban development here.  Columbus (and Ohio) has many flaws.  I think we can all agree on this point.  I would rather, however, discuss how we can improve them in a constructive manner than to be constantly dragged down into what I have allowed myself to be dragged into with Keith.  I wish him well where he is and respect that he has many opinions, but Columbus is a signifantly better city and Ohio is a significantly better state than the ideas he throws upon us. 

Thanks for the reply jbcmh81.  You have the right idea as to the type of discussion we try to encourage here at Urban Ohio. 

 

There are plenty of message boards that allow these "throw everything against the wall" rants that Keith M. has been focusing on lately.  Urban Ohio has never been one of them.  This site's owners empower this site's moderators to keep news and discussion on-topic and productive from everyone. 

 

In the past two months, Keith M. has been crossing the line from constructive criticism into knee-jerk ranting.  Urban Ohio encourages the former and discourages the latter.  If Keith M. cannot see the difference between the two, then he may not have a future here at Urban Ohio.

 

---

On another moderator note: I moved two jbcmh81 posts and one subocincy post about COTA's Cleveland Avenue BRT proposal over to the COTA News & Discussion thread in the Mass Transit section of the Transportation board.

Thanks for the reply jbcmh81.  You have the right idea as to the type of discussion we try to encourage here at Urban Ohio. 

 

There are plenty of message boards that allow these "throw everything against the wall" rants that Keith M. has been focusing on lately.  Urban Ohio has never been one of them.  This site's owners empower this site's moderators to keep news and discussion on-topic and productive from everyone. 

 

In the past two months, Keith M. has been crossing the line from constructive criticism into knee-jerk ranting.  Urban Ohio encourages the former and discourages the latter.  If Keith M. cannot see the difference between the two, then he may not have a future here at Urban Ohio.

 

---

On another moderator note: I moved two jbcmh81 posts and one subocincy post about COTA's Cleveland Avenue BRT proposal over to the COTA News & Discussion thread in the Mass Transit section of the Transportation board.

 

I was just wondering this when I read some of his recent undertones in another thread; how much longer do you deal with posters like this on UrbanOhio. 

 

Anyway, was down in Columbus last weekend and had a great time in a lot of areas in the city.  Saw a lot of Minnesota cars, too.  Imagine that!

^ The vikings have swept in from the bitter North to plunder our treasure.

I've always given constructive criticism and simply pointed out that for urban revitalization to occur you need to address both residential and commercial spheres: that is an uncontentious point agreed upon by urban planners everywhere. Please visit, as I have, the neighborhoods where homes are being fixed up or demoed and their business districts. Walk, like I did, from Wheatland to Warren on W Broad, Parsons to Seymour on Livingston, and Parsons from Livingston to Hosack. You'd be hard-pressed to say that you wouldn't want to see some money spent on improving these business districts.  I see it's perfectly acceptable to sling personal attacks on UO, but a no-no to offer verifiable criticism.

In this thread there have been two previous attempts to moderate Keith M.'s behavior:

 

Urban Ohio was formed to provide a forum to celebrate and promote appreciation for all of Ohio's urban areas.  It is not intended to be a forum for one person's grievances (whether they be real or imagined).  It is not intended to be a forum for one person's campaign to prove his supposed superiority in urban thinking.

Thanks for the reply jbcmh81.  You have the right idea as to the type of discussion we try to encourage here at Urban Ohio.

 

There are plenty of message boards that allow these "throw everything against the wall" rants that Keith M. has been focusing on lately.  Urban Ohio has never been one of them.  This site's owners empower this site's moderators to keep news and discussion on-topic and productive from everyone. 

 

In the past two months, Keith M. has been crossing the line from constructive criticism into knee-jerk ranting.  Urban Ohio encourages the former and discourages the latter.  If Keith M. cannot see the difference between the two, then he may not have a future here at Urban Ohio.

 

And then Keith indicates that he does not want to moderate his behavior with his reply.

 

I've always given constructive criticism and simply pointed out that for urban revitalization to occur you need to address both residential and commercial spheres: that is an uncontentious point agreed upon by urban planners everywhere.  Please visit, as I have, the neighborhoods where homes are being fixed up or demoed and their business districts.  Walk, like I did, from Wheatland to Warren on W Broad, Parsons to Seymour on Livingston, and Parsons from Livingston to Hosack.  You'd be hard-pressed to say that you wouldn't want to see some money spent on improving these business districts.  I see it's perfectly acceptable to sling personal attacks on UO, but a no-no to offer verifiable criticism.

 

Keith M. has refused to follow Urban Ohio discussion standards in this thread and in the German Village thread and the Short North thread and the Discovery District Commons thread.  Unfortunately, the advice of "ignoring him and he will move on" has been ineffective.  Unfortunately, the site moderators multiple attempts to guide his behavior have been ineffective.  This site moderator must now appeal to this site's administrators for relief.

Nationwide blue coming to High Street skywalk

By Doug Buchanan, Business First managing editor

Date: Friday, December 23, 2011, 6:00am EST

 

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. wants to continue its brand-building campaign in downtown Columbus by painting the skywalks connecting its headquarters to the convention center Nationwide blue.  The company got approval for the project from the Columbus Downtown Commission Dec. 20.

 

The plan includes installing an LED display in front of Sensenbrenner Park, at the corner of High Street and Nationwide Boulevard, that could be used to promote community events such as Columbus’ bicentennial celebration, the annual Komen Race for the Cure and Red White & Boom, said spokeswoman Gayle Saunders.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/print-edition/2011/12/23/nationwide-expanding-branding.html

 

 

The above Business First article also mentioned that Nationwide finished their sign installation at the top of their 40-story HQ Building at Nationwide & High.  Columbus Underground posted some night-time views of the new signage at Nationwide Building - New Sign?.  The night photos show the different lighting effects that can be done with the new signage. 

 

The default condition is for the Nationwide lettering to be the standard "Nationwide Blue" color along with the Nationwide box logo to the left.  In the other photos, the Nationwide box logo remains the same, while the Nationwide lettering changes color.  One option is pink for the Race for the Cure event that Nationwide sponsors.  Another option is red, white and blue for display during downtown's Red, White & Boom.  The last photo shows a red and green option for the holiday season.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, someone posted a YouTube video of the sign being installed.  Which give you a daytime view of it.  Word of warning about the video, you might want to turn down the volume before viewing it if you are at work.  Might want to turn down the volume if you're at home too - the music's a little annoying. :wink:

 

^^If you're not gonna tear it out, might as well spruce it up. Ingenious use of a skywalk doubling as a "welcome" gateway to a downtown I have to say and will probably help increase foot traffic down towards Gay St.

Fortuno cuts deal for office building after TechSouth

By Brian R. Ball, Business First staff reporter

Date: Friday, January 6, 2012, 6:00am EST

 

An investor in the TechSouth redevelopment project on Columbus’ industrial south side has bought a mostly vacant office building in northeast Columbus, its first step in a planned effort to find and buy poorly performing office properties in the region.

 

Fortuno Management Inc. affiliates Chou Katella Partners LLC and Corex Partners LLC paid $1.85 million to an affiliate of the Joseph Skilken Organization in late December for the Corporate Exchange IV building at 2400 Corporate Exchange Drive.  The three-story, 93,000-square-foot building, one of several in an office park at Cleveland Avenue and Interstate 270, has about 60,000 square feet sitting empty.

 

“We’ve been looking for office product in Columbus for awhile,” said Fortuno CEO Ed Savoy. “I had looked at other buildings in the Corporate Exchange Plaza when I heard Skilken was looking to sell 2400 (Corporate Exchange Drive).”  Fortuno in December 2010 bought a 484,000-square-foot portion of the former Techneglas Inc. complex south Columbus for $1 million, but Savoy, who relocated his company to Columbus from California, emphasizes buying and reviving underperforming office buildings.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/print-edition/2012/01/06/fortuno-cuts-deal-for-office-building.html

Columbus Underground reported on MadLab Theatre's new signage at their downtown building in the article "MadLab Theatre Lights Up Building".

 

MadLab has an interesting history in their brief existence downtown.  They started about 10 years ago in a small building at 105 N. Grant Avenue.  Interesting side note about the previous MadLab location.  It is located next to the Hills Market which will be opening this year.  The Grant Avenue building MadLab used to occupy has been purchased by Liz Lessner's restaurant group to become a Tiki-themed restaurant & bar.

 

MadLab purchased their current building at 227 N. Third Street in 2009 and moved there in 2010.  This new exterior signage is their next step in raising their profile downtown.  The new signage spells out "MADLAB" facing Third Street, but adds a twist with an optical illusion.  Head-on the "MAD" in the sign is visible, but the "LAB" that follows is recessed and obscured.  When viewed from an angle, both the "MAD" and the "LAB" are visible.

 

 

 

More about the renovation of the MadLab building at http://www.madlab.net/MadLab/building.html

First Look: Benchmark apartments at Henderson and Kenny

 

 

 

More photos below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2012/01/first-look-benchmark-apartments-at.html?s=image_gallery

 

The redevelopment of the former Benchmark retail center into an apartment complex will not result in the blossoming of green industry retailers and service providers as first envisioned three years ago.

 

But developer Elizabeth Buchenroth of Zettler Properties insists the Jonathan Barnes Architecture and Design Ltd. design firm’s vision shares the environmentally friendly values expressed in the defunct G Living idea.

 

Buchenroth said the 108-unit, nine-building complex at Henderson and Kenny roads will incorporate timbers and other recycled materials from the 38-year-old retail center demolished late last year. It also puts the 3.6-acre parcel back to productive use while building a more dense development – at 30 apartment units per acre – than typically built in Columbus.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2012/01/first-look-benchmark-apartments-at.html

Report from ThisWeekNews about a panel discussion on land-use issues sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Columbus that featured the Columbus Development Department Planning Division administrator Vince Papsidero and the executive director of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission Chester R. Jourdan Jr.

 

ThisWeekNews: Changing land-use issues affect development

Columbus Underground had an excellent report on real estate and urban development trends in Columbus.  They reached out to several local real estate and development experts for their opinions, insight and predictions about what 2012 will hold for urban development and the local real estate market.  Below are links to each of the four parts that report:

 

Local Experts Predict the Real Estate and Urban Development Trends of 2012

 

PART 1:  The Big Real Estate Trends of 2012

 

PART 2:  The Continued Upward Spiral for Downtown Columbus

 

PART 3:  To Rent or Not to Rent. That is the question

 

PART 4:  Hot Neighborhoods of 2012: Weinland Park, Franklinton & More

The Dispatch had an interesting look at the benefits and risks of developing former landfills.  The article (link below) looked at several landfill developments across the state and in Central Ohio.  Landfill developments in Central Ohio included the following:

 

- Columbus: Gowdy Field Landfill redeveloped with office buildings

- Columbus: South Side Landfill redeveloped into a golf course

- Columbus: Whittier Peninsula Landfill redeveloped into the Grange Audubon Nature Center

- Gahanna: Bedford Landfill redeveloped into a golf course and parkland

 

Building on landfills risky - Land often desirable, but rotting trash leads to troublesome gas

The part of Olentangy River Road that passes through Gowdy Field undulates quite a bit as the trash underneath rots unevenly.

Yeah, they've fixed the road through there several times already... and it continues to shift. :O

This is a small project - but it's a good trend.  The Columbus Metropolitan Club is an outstanding civic organization too.

 

Metropolitan Club moving to ground floor at Chase tower

Business First by Brian R. Ball, Staff reporter

Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 9:25am EST

 

Administrative offices of the Columbus Metropolitan Club will get a street-level pulse of downtown this month when it swaps offices on the 22nd floor of the Chase Bank tower for ground-floor space in the 100 E. Broad Street building.

 

CMC Executive Director Jane Scott said the nonprofit organization will move into about 1,600 square feet at the southeast corner of the building.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2012/02/15/metropolitan-club-moving-to-ground.html

A slightly inaccurate headline but an interesting article from the Dispatch that looks the evolving nature of development in Columbus.  By requiring annexation in exchange for connecting to the city's water and sewer system, Columbus was able to bring greenfield development sites into the City of Columbus instead of allowing them to go surrounding suburbs.  I included a 1834-2007 annexation graph that came from a 2009 article to show the city's annexation history.

 

Also included is a chart from the below article that shows annexation and new construction permits issued from 2007 to 2011.  The amount of annexation has gone way down.  Yet the number of new construction building permits has increased every year.  What the data and the article show is that infill development and brownfield sites are making up a greater and greater percentage of construction activity within the Columbus city limits.

 

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Developers in Columbus focus on apartments near Downtown

By Doug Caruso, The Columbus Dispatch

Monday, February 20, 2012 - 5:34 AM

 

Rising numbers of new-building permits and zoning applications in Columbus bode well for two things: the local economy and controversy.  Development has been rebounding since the end of the recession, officials, developers and neighborhood leaders agree, although it hasn’t come close to the boom times of the 1990s and early 2000s.

 

In 2001, for example, Columbus annexed 1,230 acres, nearly 2 square miles.  Annexations reached a low of 19.4 acres in 2009 and in 2011 edged up to 146 acres, including 108 acres for the Hollywood Casino on the West Side.  “They were taking in, back in the heyday, plots of a couple hundred lots at a time,” said Chris Presutti, the city’s chief zoning official, “and they were building the houses before they were even sold.”

 

Today, he said, most development is infill development — meaning it typically occurs inside the city, not at the edges, and in smaller batches to fill in empty spaces.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/02/20/developers-in-columbus-focus-on-apartments-near-downtown.html

 

 

A slightly inaccurate headline but an interesting article from the Dispatch that looks the evolving nature of development in Columbus.  By requiring annexation in exchange for connecting to the city's water and sewer system, Columbus was able to bring greenfield development sites into the City of Columbus instead of allowing them to go surrounding suburbs.  I included a 1834-2007 annexation graph that came from a 2009 article to show the city's annexation history.

 

Also included is a chart from the below article that shows annexation and new construction permits issued from 2007 to 2011.  The amount of annexation has gone way down.  Yet the number of new construction building permits has increased every year.  What the data and the article show is that infill development and brownfield sites are making up a greater and greater percentage of construction activity within the Columbus city limits.

 

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Developers in Columbus focus on apartments near Downtown

By Doug Caruso, The Columbus Dispatch

Monday, February 20, 2012 - 5:34 AM

 

Rising numbers of new-building permits and zoning applications in Columbus bode well for two things: the local economy and controversy.  Development has been rebounding since the end of the recession, officials, developers and neighborhood leaders agree, although it hasn’t come close to the boom times of the 1990s and early 2000s.

 

In 2001, for example, Columbus annexed 1,230 acres, nearly 2 square miles.  Annexations reached a low of 19.4 acres in 2009 and in 2011 edged up to 146 acres, including 108 acres for the Hollywood Casino on the West Side.  “They were taking in, back in the heyday, plots of a couple hundred lots at a time,” said Chris Presutti, the city’s chief zoning official, “and they were building the houses before they were even sold.”

 

Today, he said, most development is infill development — meaning it typically occurs inside the city, not at the edges, and in smaller batches to fill in empty spaces.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/02/20/developers-in-columbus-focus-on-apartments-near-downtown.html

 

 

Interesting annexation graph, I've never seen it before.  It certainly seems like the general pace of annexation had slowed down since about 1980, and really slowed down the last 5 years.  Hopefully, the rate of infill will continue to exceed or at least match the rate of annexation.  Columbus needs a lot of infill.  And if annexation occurs, I hope it's also in the areas that are already surrounded by the city, such as internal townships and not further out in the suburbs.  Definitely positive urban trends. 

It certainly seems like the general pace of annexation had slowed down since about 1980, and really slowed down the last 5 years.  Hopefully, the rate of infill will continue to exceed or at least match the rate of annexation.  Columbus needs a lot of infill.  And if annexation occurs, I hope it's also in the areas that are already surrounded by the city, such as internal townships and not further out in the suburbs.  Definitely positive urban trends. 

 

I'm not so optimistic, but that's based on all of the recent development in annexed Columbus which is the same as it has been for decades: more sprawl. There is absolutely no effort to retrofit any of it. There is also a very limited area in the urban core where infill is occurring, so it better be on the very dense side of things.

It certainly seems like the general pace of annexation had slowed down since about 1980, and really slowed down the last 5 years.  Hopefully, the rate of infill will continue to exceed or at least match the rate of annexation.  Columbus needs a lot of infill.  And if annexation occurs, I hope it's also in the areas that are already surrounded by the city, such as internal townships and not further out in the suburbs.  Definitely positive urban trends. 

 

I'm not so optimistic, but that's based on all of the recent development in annexed Columbus which is the same as it has been for decades: more sprawl. There is absolutely no effort to retrofit any of it. There is also a very limited area in the urban core where infill is occurring, so it better be on the very dense side of things.

 

There's ongoing or planned development in the following areas near or in Columbus (inside 270):

 

Upper Arlington

Grandview Heights

Short North

Victorian Village

Italian Village

Central Downtown

OTE

Brewery District

Arena District

University District

Weinland Park

Harrison West

Franklinton

Milo-Grogan

Parsons

American Addition (yes we know how you feel about this)

Hilltop

West Side

Worthington

Clintonville

South Side

5th by NW

 

Those are just the ones I can think of.  As usual, you have a very selective view of what's going on there.   

 

^Well compiled and very accurate.

The below two posts were originally posted in the Columbus: Demolition Watch thread when Mayor Coleman announced his war on vacant housing as part of his State of the City address last month:

 

Columbus Underground: 900 Abandoned Homes to be Demolished in Columbus

 

Dispatch: City to raze 900 vacant houses - $11.5 million project will take at least three years

Follow up to yesterday's announcement that the City will demolish 900 abandoned homes in the next three years.

 

Coleman forms unit to monitor neglected properties

By Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch

Friday, February 24, 2012 - 7:12 AM

 

Acknowledging that they haven’t kept up with blight spread by 6,200 vacant and abandoned houses, Columbus officials have created a unit to monitor the properties and crack down on bad landlords.  A main goal will be to acquire dangerous vacant houses and raze them.

 

It’s part of what Mayor Michael B. Coleman calls a “comprehensive attack” on the vacant properties that plague many of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.  The city plans to spend $11.5 million in the next three to four years to demolish 900 vacant houses it deems dangerous.  Coleman said yesterday that the city also plans to:

 

• Lend $1 million to help owners restore 36 rental houses and vacant properties.

 

• Provide $1.9 million in loans and grants to preserve and restore homes in the Old Oaks neighborhood east of Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

 

• Create a land-care program in which residents who maintain vacant lots after houses are demolished can acquire those lots through sweat equity.

 

• Compile quarterly lists of landlords who have a history of neglecting properties and publish their names in newspapers.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/02/24/a-war-on-blight.html

 

Now, there is some follow-up on what could or should occur after these vacant structures are demolished.  Here are two Dispatch articles that examine this.  The first article looks at it from the existing residents perspective.  The second article looks at the City of Columbus' existing Land Bank Program.

 

What comes next after abandoned houses are demolished? If the ‘worst of the worst’ houses in Columbus’ older areas are removed, neighbors wonder what will fill the gaps

 

Banking on the future: Developers and neighbors of tax-delinquent properties buy and fix them as part of Columbus’ revitalization effort

It certainly seems like the general pace of annexation had slowed down since about 1980, and really slowed down the last 5 years.  Hopefully, the rate of infill will continue to exceed or at least match the rate of annexation.  Columbus needs a lot of infill.  And if annexation occurs, I hope it's also in the areas that are already surrounded by the city, such as internal townships and not further out in the suburbs.  Definitely positive urban trends. 

 

I'm not so optimistic, but that's based on all of the recent development in annexed Columbus which is the same as it has been for decades: more sprawl. There is absolutely no effort to retrofit any of it. There is also a very limited area in the urban core where infill is occurring, so it better be on the very dense side of things.

 

Does anyone expect you to be optimistic on anything Columbus?  Broken record....

All 216 square miles of Columbus aren't just like the Short North yet, so...

A couple of interesting news items about two smaller downtown development projects being sponsered by downtown organizations. 

 

The first project is for two historic clocks to be restored.  The first clock is in front of the Church of Scientology Building at High Street and Lynn Alley and is estimated to be about 100 years old.  The second clock is being donated by COSI and was originally installed in 1920 in front of a jewelry store at 21 E. Gay Street.  That clock will be reinstalled at that location near Sugardaddy's, the current business at that location.  The Downtown Residents Association led an effort to restore clocks and received grant funds from numerous non-profit organizations and the city.  More about this from The Dispatch: Downtown residents group to restore two clocks

 

The second project is design improvements for Lynn and Pearl Alleys.  From Columbus City Council Meeting Highlights - March 19, 2012 published by Columbus Underground:

IMPROVEMENTS COMING FOR LYNN AND PEARL ALLEYS: Councilmember, A. Troy Miller, chair of the Small & Minority Business Development Committee, is sponsoring ordinance 0482-2012 to enter into a design reimbursement agreement in the amount of $102,927.65 with Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District for the design of public infrastructure improvements for Lynn and Pearl Alleys.  Improvements will include the removal of existing vehicle barriers, concrete planters, and broken light fixtures, four architectural gateways featuring lighting and custom metalwork at each entrance to the alleys, a centerpiece suspended from the four buildings at the intersection of Lynn and Pearl Alleys, minor pavement repairs, free-standing planters and site furnishings.

Most of the above is nice but standard streetscaping stuff.  But the "four architectural gateways featuring lighting and custom metalwork at each entrance to the alleys" and "a centerpiece suspended from the four buildings at the intersection of Lynn and Pearl Alleys" sounds like something special.  Can't wait to see how that turns out.

The City of Columbus got an unexpected $1.45 million in additional Community Development Block Grant funding from the federal government due to a new formula for allocating the money.  Columbus City Council decided this week that $600,000 of that unexpected windfall will be used to fix up properties in the Old Oaks neighborhood.  The Old Oaks neighborhood is located just east of the Nationwide Children's Hospital, which is undergoing its own renovation.

 

The remaining windfall funds will go towards maintaining abandoned properties in the City's Land Bank program and for graffiti removal city-wide.  Below is the article about this from the Dispatch:

 

Extra grant money to help East Side neighborhood

Community Properties of Ohio (the organization that rehabbed many historic rowhouses and apartment buildings across Columbus from the troubled Broad Street Portfolio) has demolished the old office and hotel building at East Broad and Miami Avenue. The site will only be used for parking, but at least the dated building is gone.

 

 

 

Looks like it was one of those much-loved "crack motels" that were prolific on Broad and Main in the '50s.

Community Properties of Ohio (the organization that rehabbed many historic rowhouses and apartment buildings across Columbus from the troubled Broad Street Portfolio) has demolished the old office and hotel building at East Broad and Miami Avenue. The site will only be used for parking, but at least the dated building is gone.

 

 

 

Thanks for posting this news and the photos.  I wouldn't normally be encouraged by a demolition for a parking lot.  But this looks like an addition by subtraction.  That parking lot will support the great 9-story apartment building built in 1928 next to it.  Below is a photo of it from the County Auditor's website.

 

^The parking is actually for CPO's training center which faces the street behind that building, as I understand, although I suppose they could use some of if for the apartment building.

Earlier this month, Columbus officials showed off one of the biggest civil engineering projects in the City’s history.  It's expensive ($342 million), big (4.5 miles long) and practically invisible.  That's because its occurring about 170 feet underground.  The $342 million project is part of a massive upgrading to the oldest section of the City's sewer system.  The biggest part of this upgrade is a 20-foot diameter, 4.5-mile long tunnel currently being bored underneath downtown Columbus.

 

Due to the age of the sewer system in downtown, the sewage conveyance and the stormwater drainage conveyance are combined into one system of pipes. (Unlike newer systems which convey sewage and stormwater in seperate pipes.) Because of downtown's combined sewer/stormwater system, heavy rainfall can sometimes overwhelm the system.  When this happens, sewage-polluted water can overflow into the Scioto River before it reaches the City's wastewater treatment plant south of downtown.

 

The 20-foot diameter, 4.5-mile long tunnel currently under construction will prevent this from occurring by holding 55 million gallons of sewage and storm water for later treatment.  The underground tunnel starts at the northern end of downtown and runs to the Jackson Pike wastewater treatment plant 4.5 miles south.  The tunnel is expected to be operational by December 2014, with all work completed by June 1, 2015.

 

Below is a link to a Dispatch article about the $342-million project.  Also below is a photo slideshow of the tunnelling project from the Dispatch:

 

Dispatch: 540-foot-long machine to bore 4 1/2-mile sewer line

 

Photo Slideshow: City shows off sewer project

A step in the right direction... now let's see this come to fruition -

Excerpt from tonight's City Council agenda

 

ENHANCING DOWNTOWN ROADWAYS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: The city of Columbus continues to implement concepts from the 2010 Downtown Columbus Strategic Plan to enhance residential opportunities, business development, job creation, transportation and entertainment options within the Central Business District.  Public Service & Transportation Committee Chair Eileen Y. Paley, is sponsoring ordinance 0720-2012, to authorize the expenditure of $515,000 from the Streets and Highways G.O. Bonds Fund for a contract modification with Burgess and Niple for the Roadway Improvements – Downtown Action Plan.  The design concepts will include providing on-street parking on High Street, converting Front Street to two-way operation north of Broad Street, reducing the number of travel lanes on Broad Street and including complete streets concepts, evaluating the one-way pairs for compete streets concepts and reviewing on-street parking throughout downtown. The 2010 Downtown Strategic Plan was developed to create an overall vision for downtown economic development for the next 10 years. 

That's some encouraging news.  It seems like the City of Columbus and their non-profit partners are really serious about implementing that 2010 Downtown Strategic Plan. (separate Urban Ohio thread for the 2010 plan located here)

 

First, there was the Scioto-Olentangy Greenway Corridor Plan (which would remove the Main Street lowhead dam, narrow the Scioto River downtown and add green space next to the narrowed river).  Then, the removal of the 5th Avenue dam that would do a similar narrowing and greening of the Olentangy River banks at OSU.  Now, this City Council action starts the engineering for the narrowing of Broad Street, which was another part of that 2010 plan.

 

Walker Evans at Columbus Underground has an excellent overview of last night's council action, which includes a comprehensive re-working of the downtown street network.  Below is a link to that overview from Columbus Underground:

 

Columbus Underground: Downtown Action Plan will review Transportation Upgrades to City Streets

 

The overview at Columbus Underground also inlcuded a rendering of the Broad Street narrowing concept from the 2010 Downtown Strategic Plan.  This is what that narrowing concept looks like:

^ narrowing and calming those downtown streets will have a tremendous positive impact. This is really a great thing to come about.

As part of Columbus' Bicentennial year, the Columbus Dispatch has been running a series of articles noting important events that occurred on each day thoughout Columbus' history.  On today's date in 1978, the 40-story Nationwide Insurance HQ Building (aka One Nationwide Plaza) was officially dedicated and opened.

 

As noted in the today's article, it is interesting to speculate what Downtown Columbus might look like today if Nationwide had made a different choice in the 1970's.  What if Nationwide had moved away from downtown Columbus - as many companies were doing in many cities back then?  Nationwide's HQ building at Nationwide & High being built in the 1970's led to two other office towers being built next to it at N. High Street in the 1980's.  Which led to Nationwide Arena being built a block west in the 1990's.  Which led to the surrounding Arena District being built in the 2000's.  And its continuing development in this decade (see this Arena District development post).

 

And to think that all this great downtown urban development owes its existence to a rather unloved 1970's tower.  Kind of fascinating and sobering.  Below is the link to the article and a photo of the 40-story HQ building under construction in 1975:

 

Columbus Mileposts | May 4, 1978: Nationwide’s Downtown bet pays off

 

This topic has been moved to City Photos - Ohio.

 

[iurl]http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=27380.0[/iurl]

This is disappointing news...

 

MORPC reconsidering its options for downtown HQ

Business First by Brian R. Ball, Staff reporter

Date: Thursday, May 17, 2012, 5:09pm EDT

 

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission has cooled on plans to buy the building at 99 E. Main Street in downtown Columbus for its headquarters, sending the property owner on a renewed search for tenants.

 

The planning agency last December approved a non-binding letter of intent that called for MORPC to pay $2.6 million for the property at South Third and East Mound streets subject to further examination of the building and negotiation.  The building once housed the former Karlsberger Cos. architecture firm.

 

But the building’s listing agent, Wayne Harer of Continental Realty, told me that the March departure of MORPC Executive Director Chester Jourdan put on hold any consideration of turning the letter of intent into a formal purchase contract.  That prompted the Joseph Skilken Organization affiliate that owns the building to pursue other buyers or tenants.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2012/05/morpc-reconsidering-its-option-for.html

First Look: Pearl Market opens as city streamlines process for others

Business First by Dan Eaton, Staff reporter

Date: Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 1:04pm EDT

 

Pearl Market is open for the summer season, and city officials are working to make it easier for other community markets to join it.  The outdoor market, situated in the alleys between Broad and Gay streets and High and Third streets, will be open Tuesdays through Fridays, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., until October.  Manager Adam Schroeder said 18 farmers are enrolled this year and the vendor roster is maxed out at 40.

(. . .)

Meanwhile, Columbus City Council has drafted new rules for community markets that will make the opening and operation easier.  Councilwoman Michelle Mills said the changes will streamline the process for sponsoring organizations, which in Pearl Market’s case is the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District, by collecting all the needed approvals from the various city departments into one packet. 

 

It also sets up operating rules, including the need for sponsoring organizations to submit a safety plan to the city.  She said the new processes would apply city-wide.  Provided there is a sponsoring organization overseeing the market, vendors would be able to set up on city sidewalks as long as Americans With Disabilities Act requirements are met.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2012/05/first-look-pearl-market-opens-as-city.html