Conceptual plans approved to replace city’s busiest fire station

 

One of Columbus’ oldest and most visible fire stations could be coming down this year.

 

Conceptual plans for the new Fire Station No. 2 downtown at 150 E. Fulton St. were approved this week by the Columbus Downtown Commission, putting the aged building one step closer to demolition.

 

“The site just isn’t big enough,” he said. “It’s a postage stamp.”

 

To free up a little more space, Engler Street will be closed between Fourth and Lazelle streets and converted to parking for the station

 

I really don't think that site is as small as that guy is making it out to be. If they put the living quarters above the truck bays they would free up a lot of space.

^ I like the Commission's idea to make the tower taller.

Some news about a modest building with a great location.  The Keyes Plumbing building is a 9,900-square-foot former warehouse at 111-115 W. Vine Street, located just north the Arena District and just west of the North Market.  It's also only a couple of blocks west of Barley’s Brewing Co., who operates a restaurant at 467 N. High Street. 

 

Barley's Brewing Co. is still working out a lease with the building owner, but the Downtown Commission approved its plans a renovate the building into a new brewing facility for the long-time Columbus microbrewer.  Below is a rendering of what the former Keyes Plumbing building would look like after the Barley's renovation:

The renovation would allow Barley's to triple their current brewing capacity.  Below are links to some recent articles about this proposed project:

 

-- Barley’s Brewing close to long-awaited expansion at Keyes Plumbing site: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/03/23/barley-s-brewing-close-to-long-awaited-expansion.html

 

-- Barley’s expansion would add silo to Keyes Plumbing building, but fill in the pool: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2015/03/barley-s-expansion-would-add-silo-to-keyes.html

 

-- Barley’s Expansion Would Triple Brewing Capacity: http://www.columbusunderground.com/barleys-expansion-will-triple-brewing-capacity

PHOTO TOUR: Preferred Living debuting 3 upscale apartment complexes this summer:  http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2015/03/photo-tour-preferred-living-debuting-3-upscale.html

 

Business First had a profile and slideshow on Preferred Living, an active high-end apartment developer in the region over recent years.  This summer Preferred Living plans to open these three developments:

 

-- Berkley House - 255-unit apartment development at the southeast corner  of Bethel Road and Riverside Drive

-- Trotters Park - 144-unit apartment development with retail in Harrison West

-- Stafford House - 96-unit apartment development at Huntington Park Drive in northern Columbus

 

Last year, Preferred Living opened these two developments:

 

-- 325-unit Taylor House Apartments on the site of a former K-Mart at Olentangy & Bethel

-- 528-unit Boulevard Apartments near New Albany

Impressive as the number of Preferred Living units are, it's just a fraction of the apartment development boom occurring in Columbus and Central Ohio.  The Dispatch updated their previous apartment projects map recently in the below linked article:

 

Apartment construction in Central Ohio catching up to changing demand:  http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/03/29/rental-boom.html

 

Still too much on the edge of the urban area.

Still too much on the edge of the urban area.

 

Meh. They're clustered in major business areas. A plus to me.

 

ETA: They're missing a large apartment complex that was recently completed (or very near completion) at the SE corner of 161/Sunbury Rd. Anybody see any others missing? They're missing the proposed White Castle, Taco Bell, the conversion just south of the Taco Bell, the building taking over the 2 set-back buildings north of Donatos, the apartments on Prescott alley behind the Hub garage, and the Aston Place apartments just off the top of my head.

 

Renovation of Historic Carlile Building Completed

By Walker Evans, Columbus Underground

April 30, 2015 - 1:19 pm

 

It might not look too different from the outside, but the historic Carlile building at 445 North High Street has recently undergone a major renovation to the interior of the building by The Pizzuti Companies.  The five-story brick structure is probably best known for housing Cameron Mitchell’s Martini Modern Italian restaurant on the ground floor and nightclub Sway around back and in the basement, but now boasts new office spaces on the renovated upper floors.

 

MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/renovation-of-historic-carlile-building-completed

 

New home on North Side will give SEA Ltd. visibility

By Steve Wartenberg, The Columbus Dispatch

Saturday, May 16, 2015 - 5:20 AM

 

SEA Ltd. is building its new headquarters on a 48-acre site it bought for $4.9 million from the Anheuser-Busch brewery near the southwest corner of I-71 and I-270.  SEA’s current headquarters is near the site, on the north side of I-270, and the company also has a laboratory in Plain City.  “We’re bursting at the seams,” said Jason Baker, CEO of the company, which performs the federal safety tests for all vehicles sold in the U.S.

 

SEA was established in 1970 and has grown steadily.  SEA also does safety tests for other products and works for lawyers, insurance companies and the government in product-liability cases, Baker said.  SEA, short for Scientific Expert Analysis, has 225 employees in 10 U.S. offices.  SEA will add 30 jobs with an average salary of $102,000 in Columbus, raising the local total to about 130.

 

Despite the company’s growth and international clientele, Baker said most central Ohio residents have not heard of SEA.  “We’re kind of a secret here, but having frontage on 270 and 71 will make us more visible,” he said.  SEA is constructing a four-building campus and outdoor vehicle test pad at this new location, with an opening set for spring or summer 2016.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2015/05/16/new-home-on-north-side-will-give-sea-ltd--visibility.html

Interesting report from Columbus Underground about the Day Companies renovating the ground floor of a three-story brick building they own at 55 E. Spring Street in the downtown.  Here's the report at http://www.columbusunderground.com/day-companies-looks-to-fill-unique-downtown-storefronts-bw1

 

After an arts supply business closed in 2012 after decades of operation, Day Companies decided to completely gut the first floor and put in a new storefront.  According to the CU report, they will also be exposing the brick walls, refinishing the original floors and restoring the original tin ceiling in the space.  The second and third floors currently house artist studios and there are no plans to change this.  Below is a look at the renovation of the first floor of 55 E. Spring Street in progress.

 

 

Here's news about another small but significant retail project Downtown from Day Companies.

 

I really like how Day isn't shying away from little projects like these that other developers probably wouldn't be interested in. They add up, preserve the historic building stock we have left, and really have a big impact on improving the surrounding area.

 

New Retail and Restaurant Space on Tap for E Chestnut St Downtown

http://columbusight.com/2015/05/26/new-retail-and-restaurant-space-on-tap-for-e-chestnut-st-downtown/

Here's news about another small but significant retail project Downtown from Day Companies.

 

I really like how Day isn't shying away from little projects like these that other developers probably wouldn't be interested in. They add up, preserve the historic building stock we have left, and really have a big impact on improving the surrounding area.

 

New Retail and Restaurant Space on Tap for E Chestnut St Downtown

http://columbusight.com/2015/05/26/new-retail-and-restaurant-space-on-tap-for-e-chestnut-st-downtown/

 

Yes, the Day Companies has been a really good developer of smaller urban projects.  And they've been pretty consistent over the past 20 years in renovating buildings, leasing them, and then moving on to other buildings.  Like you said, they add up:

 

http://daycompanies.net/live-available/

http://daycompanies.net/work-available/

http://daycompanies.net/upcoming-projects/

Here's news about another small but significant retail project Downtown from Day Companies.

 

I really like how Day isn't shying away from little projects like these that other developers probably wouldn't be interested in. They add up, preserve the historic building stock we have left, and really have a big impact on improving the surrounding area.

 

New Retail and Restaurant Space on Tap for E Chestnut St Downtown

http://columbusight.com/2015/05/26/new-retail-and-restaurant-space-on-tap-for-e-chestnut-st-downtown/

 

Yes, the Day Companies has been a really good developer of smaller urban projects.  And they've been pretty consistent over the past 20 years in renovating buildings, leasing them, and then moving on to other buildings.  Like you said, they add up:

 

http://daycompanies.net/live-available/

http://daycompanies.net/work-available/

http://daycompanies.net/upcoming-projects/

 

Bit more about the Day Companies and their three current projects in Downtown:  http://www.columbusunderground.com/day-companies-working-on-trio-of-mixed-use-projects-downtown

South Fourth Street between Rich and Main has become a lively downtown bar/restaurant area in recent years with the addition of Little Palace, El Camino, Dirty Frank's and the 16-Bit Barcade.  More about these and other surrounding developments was posted here in this thread.

 

CU is also reported last year here in the restaurants thread that the owners of The Olde Towne Tavern on Oak Street in OTE are planning a similar venue, to be called the Walrus at 143 E. Main Street, a half-block south of the above mentioned S. Fourth Street bar/restaurant cluster.  The Walrus would be located in a block of renovated buildings near Fourth & Main - 143 E. Main Street is immediately west of the Hawk Galleries at the corner of Fourth & Main.  It is also across Main Street from the historic Hartman Hotel that was renovated into condos and from the Sidebar 122 restaurant that is located in the former Out on Main building at 122 E. Main Street.

 

Now the Walrus has opened at 143 E. Main Street.  CU has an interior and exterior photo-tour of this newest venue in this thriving bar/restaurant cluster in downtown Columbus:  http://www.columbusunderground.com/photos-the-walrus-opens-downtown

 

View of the Walrus looking east toward the Hawk Galleries at the corner of Fourth & Main:

 

View looking west toward the renovated block of E. Main Street that has ground floor retail and upper story condos:

 

View looking north from the sidewalk dining area toward downtown and across Main Street from the Hartman condo parking lot and the Sidebar 122 building:

News about this project was previously posted HERE and HERE in this thread:

 

Future of Franklin County garbage sorting facility unclear

By Rick Rouan, The Columbus Dispatch

Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 5:37 AM

 

The company that plans to build a multimillion dollar garbage sorting and recycling facility at the Franklin County landfill has paid its bills, but the future of the project still is unclear.  The $110 million facility would be built on land leased from the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, but Florida-based Team Gemini still doesn’t have financial backers, and work on an access road to the site was halted in October, said Ty Marsh, SWACO’s executive director.

 

SWACO has been locked in a dispute with the company since work stopped on the access road in October.  Team Gemini had stopped paying for its share of the road, which SWACO is under court order to complete by the end of this year.  It also wasn’t paying rent or taxes on about 370 acres it is leasing from SWACO, Marsh said.  The company owed SWACO about $389,000, and it was about $1.1 million behind on its share of the costs for the access road.

 

Team Gemini paid those bills before the May 15 deadline that SWACO had imposed, but it still hasn’t resumed construction on the access road.  Letters SWACO’s attorneys sent to Team Gemini also say it hasn’t complied with a request for information about its efforts to land financing for the project.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/05/23/future-of-sorting-facility-unclear.html

CitySpace gets council approval for King Avenue student housing despite objections

 

 

Developer Dan Schmidt’s CitySpace affiliate has gained approval to build a 48-unit student housing complex on the Church of the Nazarene site at 142-176 King Ave. at Highland Avenue.

 

Columbus City Council members at their Monday night meeting approved variances for the $10 million rental housing project earlier this week after neighborhood panels split on approving the complex, which will offer about 150 beds for graduate and undergraduate students and others in the Dennison Place residential neighborhood just south of Ohio State University.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2014/07/16/dan-schmidt-s-cityspace-gains-council-approval-for.html

 

This project looks to be moving forward:

 

Developer buys Nazarene church property for OSU student housing project

By Brian R. Ball, staff reporter - Columbus Business First

Updated: Mar 4, 2015, 3:16pm EST

 

Developer Dan Schmidt has pulled the trigger on purchasing the former Church of the Nazarene at 142-176 King Avenue south of the Ohio State University campus.  Schmidt's CitySpace affiliate paid $2.15 million to the South Central Ohio District Church of the Nazarene Advisory Board through its 160 King LLC real estate affiliate for the 1.5-acre site between Neil Avenue and North High Street.

 

The $10 million, 50-unit student housing complex will have a combined 150 beds.  Construction should begin in the spring.  "We are planning to commence construction in the next several weeks and anticipate the project being completed in the summer of 2016," Brian Wilmers, managing director of Schmidt's JDS Cos. umbrella organization, said in an email.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/03/04/developer-buys-nazarene-church-property-for-osu.html

 

The church is history

 

That's kind of far South for a new development for undergrads, but then again I always considered King to be the unofficial border.

That's kind of far South for a new development for undergrads, but then again I always considered King to be the unofficial border.

 

I really don't think it's that far. In the picture of the tower you can see the medical center in the background.

That's kind of far South for a new development for undergrads, but then again I always considered King to be the unofficial border.

 

I really don't think it's that far. In the picture of the tower you can see the medical center in the background.

 

This King Avenue student housing sort of "is" and "isn't" too far south for this kind of development.  It's close enough to OSU's southern boundaries (about 2-3 blocks) that student housing makes sense.  But it's far enough away that existing homeowners get concerned that too many students are moving into the area.  Basically, it's a transition area from the university-adjacent neighborhoods north of King Avenue to the Short North-adjacent neighborhoods south of King Avenue.

 

The above building at 99 E. Main Street (southwest corner of Third & Main) 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. (More about that in this earlier post in this thread)

 

Next year, it looked like the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) would purchase the building and move their offices there.  But a change in leadership at MORPC caused them to reconsider and they stayed in their Brewery District offices.  Now, a rapidly growing tech startup CrossChx Inc. will be moving into the former Karlsberger building at 99 E. Main Street.  CrossChx is currently located in Chase Tower and is set to move in July: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/06/15/former-karlsberger-building-to-house-fast-growing.html

 

According to the above linked Business First article, CrossChx is a maker of patient identity software that guards against duplicates, errors and fraud in healthcare and is tripling its workforce to more than 100 employees.  The firm said "the loft-like 30,000-square-foot building has the right layout and look for a software company".

Columbus community development fund awarded $55M from federal program

By Evan Weese, Columbus Business First

June 15, 2015, 3:49pm EDT

 

The Columbus-based Finance Fund has been awarded $55 million from a federal program to help economically distressed communities attract private investment capital.  The U.S. Department of Treasury on Monday allocated funds from its New Markets Tax Credit Program to 76 community development entities, including the Finance Fund and five other Ohio organizations.

( . . . )

The Treasury’s New Markets Tax Credit Program has leveraged investment in a number of high-profile Columbus projects, including Cristo Rey’s rehabilitation of the Ohio School for the Deaf in the downtown.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/06/15/columbus-community-development-fund-awarded-55m.html

^That may best be posted here: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,8521.35.html

 

More ‘micro’ apartments for budget living planned downtown

 

 

Last week dumpsters appeared outside and there is something happening on the roof of the corner building. It looks like this project is moving forward.

Columbus Underground article about a new report on the downtown housing market, released July 29th by the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District:

 

Downtown Apartment Market Maintains 95% Occupancy Rate:  http://www.columbusunderground.com/downtown-apartment-market-maintains-95-occupancy-rate

 

This very high occupancy rate comes even though a steady stream of new downtown apartment units are being added to the market area.  Plus, since the Capital Crossroads SID began tracking the downtown housing market in 2002, the total number of housing units has more than doubled.  In 2002, the downtown area had 2,251 housing units and less than 3,500 residents.  As of July 2015, the downtown area now has 5,250 housing units and almost 7,500 residents.

Columbus Underground also had a separate article about Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District data which focused on the downtown office market:

 

Downtown Office Vacancy Rate Holds Steady as New Tenants Move In:  http://www.columbusunderground.com/downtown-office-vacancy-rate-holds-steady-as-new-tenants-move-in

 

Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District reported that the Downtown office vacancy rate held steady at 13.6%, up slightly from the 13.2% rate reported in the fourth quarter of 2014, but lower than the 15.1% office vacancy rate reported in the first quarter of 2014.

 

The fact that the vacancy rate held steady is encouraging because Columbia Gas moved into its new Arena District headquarters building during this recording period.  Columbia Gas completely vacated its former 14-story home on Civic Center Drive - which is currently being renovated by new owners.  The CU article notes that several new office announcements have occurred since the release of this report.

I think it is time to convert the Chase Building into residential--very similar to the East Ohio Building in Cleveland.

Yea, this happened last month.  And yea, I'm just getting around to posting this now.  However, this is a big moment in this long and expensive environmental project that will stop overflows from combined sewers in the downtown and older core neighborhoods.  Between this project, and the downtown Scioto Greenways river restoration project (to be completed this year) and the Olentangy River restoration project (completed last year), the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers will be much cleaner - and the 'overflow odor' will be also be a thing of the past:

 

---

Underground Sewer Project Completes Excavation Work

By Walker Evans, Columbus Underground

September 10, 2015 - 2:58 pm

 

The acronym-laden Olentangy Scioto Interceptor Sewer (OSIS) Augmentation Relief Sewer (OARS) tunnel project is quite a mouthful, which is appropriate seeing as it’s the largest capital project in the history of the City of Columbus.  And after five years of ongoing work, the tunnel excavation is officially complete.  Local leaders gathered today to celebrate the milestone at the tunnel’s north entrance at the edge of the Arena District.

( . . . )

The tunnel measures 20 feet in diameter, runs 4.5 miles to the Jackson Pike Wastewater Treatment Plant on the city’s South Side, and sits as deep as 190 feet under ground.  The total cost of the project is $371 million.

 

MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/underground-tunnel-columbus

 

Sampling of photos from Underground Sewer Project Completes Excavation Work

 

 

 

 

 

Many more photos at http://www.columbusunderground.com/underground-tunnel-columbus

If only that machine were used for a subway...

^ I was wondering who would be the first to mention this.

City of Columbus Announces Plans to Plant 300,000 New Trees by 2020

By Walker Evans, Columbus Underground

September 14, 2015 - 4:28 pm

 

When it comes to urban revitalization, there are many different ways to go about building (or rebuilding) a community.  Nearly every idea comes with its share of proponents and detractors, with some ideas being more controversial than others.  But there’s one form of community enhancement that few people would argue is problematic for a neighborhood: planting trees.

( . . . )

To that end, Columbus city and civic leaders will gather tomorrow afternoon to announce “Branch Out Columbus” — a new program that will oversee the goal of planting 300,000 new trees throughout the city by the year 2020.  While over 20 local nonprofits will assist with the new program, it’s being kicked off tomorrow in Weinland Park to also announce a pilot project known as the Weinland Urban Tree Nursery, where neighbors can pick up trees, as well as information packets on caring for them.

 

http://www.columbusunderground.com/planting-trees-in-columbus-ohio

Here is one of those smaller residential projects that didn't make the above listing of "12 More New Apartment Developments Around Columbus".  It's a small project, but it's pretty nice.  And it will be replacing a surface parking lot that's on the edge of a nicely preserved older residential enclave in downtown.  It's actually part of an Olde Towne East neighborhood that was split up by I-71 many years ago.  This residential enclave is on the downtown side of that larger neighborhood and visually holds together quite well.  This Rich Street project should only strengthen this area.

 

Hawthorn Grove Apartments on Rich Street Moving Forward

By: Brent Warren, Columbus Underground

Published on November 26, 2013 - 8:00 am

 

The Community Housing Network (CHN) is moving forward with plans to build a 40-unit apartment building on an empty lot at 546-558 East Rich Street Downtown.  The $6 million project, called Hawthorn Grove, was given the go-ahead last week by the Historic Resources Commission.

 

CHN Development Manager Ryan Cassell said that they plan to take it to the December Downtown Commission meeting for final approval.  The next step, he said, is to finalize financing, then hopefully start construction in the spring with the goal of completion by spring of 2015.  CHN will also manage the property once it is completed.

 

MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/hawthorn-grove-apartments-on-rich-street-moving-forward-bw1

 

 

More about the 40-unit Hawthorn Grove apartment building being built on a parking lot at 546-558 East Rich Street on the southeast edge of downtown.  Above is a rendering of the 3-story building and the previous report on the project from CU.  Below is an update from Business First and an aerial view of the parking lot that Hawthorn Grove Apartments is being built on:

 

Hawthorn Grove Apartments construction getting underway downtown

By Brian R. Ball, Staff reporter

Columbus Business First - June 23, 2014, 10:46am EDT

 

The nonprofit Community Housing Network is developing the project on a vacant lot at 550 E. Rich Street.  The $6 million, three-story project will offer 39 one-bedroom apartments to those disabled by mental illness.  It also will have a unit for the apartment community’s resident manager. ... Delivery is expected in July 2015.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2014/06/23/hawthorn-grove-apartments-construction-getting.html

 

 

The Hawthorn Grove apartment building at 550 E. Rich Street was recently completed and now open.  The 3-story, 40-unit building replaces the surface parking lot formerly on the site and does look like the above posted rendering - as can be confirmed by this August 2015 Google Streetview of the location.

More about the Hawthorn Grove apartment building at 550 E. Rich Street:

 

-- CU has a little more about the Hawthorn Grove Apartments - including a couple during-construction photos:  http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/hawthorn-grove-apartments

 

-- One of the project's funders, the Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing, has an article about Hawthorn Grove:  http://www.occh.org/newsarchive/Hawthorn%20Grove.html

 

-- The project developer, the Community Housing Network, posted a video tour of Hawthorn Grove:

 

I am a big fan of the quality infill Columbus has been building across the city.

OhioHealth is looking to consolidate its administrative operations and possibly add more people to its current HQ in the 34-story Continental Plaza tower (formerly the Borden Building) at Fourth & Broad:

 

Hospital system looking at HQ options, may consolidate administrative operations

By Brian R. Ball, Staff Reporter - Columbus Business First

Updated: Aug. 11, 2015, 3:50pm EDT

 

OhioHealth Corp. has started a search for more administrative office space nearly nine years after consolidating its headquarters at the Continental Plaza skyscraper at 180 E. Broad Street.

( . . . )

The process likely will lead to consolidation of more back-office operations scattered at several sites around the region into the headquarters.  OhioHealth has 2,000 non-clinical workers, including 600 on 5½ floors within the Continental building and another 100 within the PNC Bank tower at 155 E. Broad Street across from the headquarters.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/08/11/ohiohealth-looking-at-hq-options-as-demand-for.html

City transfers ownership of properties near Rickenbacker house

By Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch

Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 11:46 AM

 

The city is transferring ownership of a house and garage near Eddie Rickenbacker’s boyhood home to a nonprofit group that still plans on converting the Rickenbacker house into a museum.

 

The city transferred the house at 1324 E. Livingston Ave., next to the Rickenbacker house, to the Rickenbacker-Woods Technology Museum and Historic Park group.  The city also transferred to the group the garage behind the Rickenbacker house.  The properties are being transferred for $1.

 

Rickenbacker-Woods will lease those properties to Buckeye Community Forty Four LP, which will use the house as a leasing office for the 50 to 53 lease-to-own homes the affiliated Buckeye Community Hope Foundation is building in the neighborhood.  Buckeye Community Forty Four will convert the garage behind the Rickenbacker House into a community center.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/07/14/City-transfers-ownership-of-properties-near-Rickenbacker-house.html

 

 

More ‘micro’ apartments for budget living planned downtown

By Brian R. Ball, Staff reporter - Columbus Business First

UPDATED: Feb 20, 2015, 4:59pm EST

 

A developer of so-called "micro living" apartments has a second project planned for downtown Columbus.  Connect Realty LLC's complex would offer a mix of 34 one-bedroom, studio and "micro" apartments of 300 to 870 square feet of living space, as well as street-level office and storefronts at West Long and South Front streets.

 

The $11 million proposal would be built under the city's work-force housing initiative.  The key is a $2 million pledge in a city grant mentioned in Mayor Michael Coleman's State of the City address Thursday.

( . . . )

Connect Realty gained control of three buildings at 31-55 W. Long St. and a single-story property at 114 N. Front St. last spring when it acquired Long Street Associates.  Connect Realty in 2014 started construction of another complex under its Micro Living brand at 260 S. Fourth St., where it plans to complete the first of 52 micro apartments in August.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/02/20/more-micro-apartments-for-budget-living-planned.html

 

The above posted project at Long & Front in downtown received state historic tax credits:  http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/12/16/drexel-theatre-microapartments-among-5-projects.html

 

Micro Living at Long Street (Columbus)

 

- Project cost: $18.78 million

- Tax credit: $1.38 million

- Address: 31-55 W. Long St. and 56-62 E. Long St.

 

Includes two historic buildings and two non-historic buildings at North Front and West Long streets where developer Connect Realty plans 40 micro apartments and a retail and restaurant component.  The tax credit also covers rehabilitation of a parking garage at 56-62 E. Long Street.

^ The above tax credit also mentions the "rehabilitation of a parking garage at 56-62 E. Long Street".  That would this parking garage listed below and previously posted in the Demolition thread at http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,8521.msg698005.html#msg698005

 

Downtown panel to rule on garage demolition

By Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch

Thursday, February 13, 2014 - 6:33 AM

 

The owner of a Downtown parking garage that city inspectors deemed unsafe and closed in September want to demolish the structure and replace it with a 107-space surface parking lot.

 

The owner has submitted an application to the city’s Downtown Commission, said Cynthia Rickman, a development department spokeswoman.  At its Feb. 25 meeting, the commission is scheduled to take up the proposal to demolish the garage at 56 E. Long St.

 

The city ordered the garage emptied on Sept. 17 because of falling concrete.  Inspectors found cracked concrete and evidence of concrete falling on cars and walkways.  The city erected barriers and placed red “danger” placards on the garage that has more than 500 spaces.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/02/13/panel-to-rule-on-garage-demolition.html

 

 

The Downtown Commission did not approve the demolition and the property owner was still under orders to repair the parking garage at 56 E. Long Street.  Apparently this state tax credit will help fund the repair of the garage.  According to this report at http://www.columbusunderground.com/tax-credits-downtown-micro-apartments-bw1:

 

"Also included as part of the $1.3 million tax credit for the Long Street micro-apartments is the parking garage at 56 East Long Street, which has been sitting vacant since being condemned in 2013.  According to the press release issued by the Ohio Development Services Agency, the garage will rehabilitated and outfitted with glass curtain-walls that will enclose the upper garage floors."

 

The above building at 99 E. Main Street (southwest corner of Third & Main) 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. (More about that in this earlier post in this thread)

 

Next year, it looked like the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) would purchase the building and move their offices there.  But a change in leadership at MORPC caused them to reconsider and they stayed in their Brewery District offices.  Now, a rapidly growing tech startup CrossChx Inc. will be moving into the former Karlsberger building at 99 E. Main Street.  CrossChx is currently located in Chase Tower and is set to move in July: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/06/15/former-karlsberger-building-to-house-fast-growing.html

 

According to the above linked Business First article, CrossChx is a maker of patient identity software that guards against duplicates, errors and fraud in healthcare and is tripling its workforce to more than 100 employees.  The firm said "the loft-like 30,000-square-foot building has the right layout and look for a software company".

 

More about the CrossChx renovation of the former Karlsberger offices at Third & Main:  http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2015/12/columbus-coolest-offices-crosschx-trades-perks-for.html

 

 

 

Business First did a slideshow profile of Continental Office Environments' Columbus headquarters at 2671 Silver Drive.  The location is a 70,000 sq. ft. office/warehouse/showroom that is just north of the Columbus Crew's Mapfre Stadium next to I-71:

 

Columbus’ coolest offices: Continental Office Environments’ urban oasis

 

Business First did a slideshow profile of the offices of law firm Organ Cole LLP at 1330 Dublin Road.  The law firm recently finished renovations to the 1970's vintage office building just west of downtown.  Below the link is a before and after of the exterior.  Go to the slideshow to see how they dealt with the round window in their conference room interior:

 

Columbus’ coolest offices: Law firm's 'vintage industrial' home along Dublin Road

 

 

102 land-bank sales a new high for Columbus

By Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch

Saturday, October 31, 2015 - 8:44 AM

 

Columbus’ land bank has sold more houses, duplexes and other buildings this year than ever before.  Through Wednesday, the land bank had sold 102 properties for rehabilitation this year, compared to 81 for all of 2014 and 71 in 2013.

 

Of the properties sold this year, 84 were single-family rehabs, 14 were duplexes, one was a multifamily rehab and three were commercial buildings.  The land bank also sold 77 vacant lots.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/10/31/102-land-bank-sales-a-new-high.html

 

Council approves $8.9 million for new Downtown fire station

By Lucas Sullivan, The Columbus Dispatch

Tuesday, November 3, 2015 - 6:40 AM

 

Firefighters and paramedics who respond to emergencies in the busiest part of Downtown will soon have a new home.  Members of the Columbus City Council approved an $8.9 million contract at their meeting on Monday night to construct a new fire station at 150 E. Fulton Street.

( . . . )

The new station will be called Station 2 and is expected to open in the first half of 2017.  The city shuttered the old Station 2 earlier this year and temporarily moved its firefighters to a new Station 3 at 222 Greenlawn Avenue.  The contract also includes the demolition of the old Station 2, with the new facility to be built on the same site.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/11/02/City_Council_fire_station.html

News about this project was previously posted HERE and HERE in this thread:

 

Future of Franklin County garbage sorting facility unclear

By Rick Rouan, The Columbus Dispatch

Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 5:37 AM

 

The company that plans to build a multimillion dollar garbage sorting and recycling facility at the Franklin County landfill has paid its bills, but the future of the project still is unclear.  The $110 million facility would be built on land leased from the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, but Florida-based Team Gemini still doesn’t have financial backers, and work on an access road to the site was halted in October, said Ty Marsh, SWACO’s executive director.

 

SWACO has been locked in a dispute with the company since work stopped on the access road in October.  Team Gemini had stopped paying for its share of the road, which SWACO is under court order to complete by the end of this year.  It also wasn’t paying rent or taxes on about 370 acres it is leasing from SWACO, Marsh said.  The company owed SWACO about $389,000, and it was about $1.1 million behind on its share of the costs for the access road.

 

Team Gemini paid those bills before the May 15 deadline that SWACO had imposed, but it still hasn’t resumed construction on the access road.  Letters SWACO’s attorneys sent to Team Gemini also say it hasn’t complied with a request for information about its efforts to land financing for the project.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/05/23/future-of-sorting-facility-unclear.html

 

It looks like the plan to build a recycling and green energy complex next to the Franklin County landfill is officially in the "stalled" category.  Here's a couple more updates from Business First:

 

-- SWACO sets deadline for details on lapsed Team Gemini green industrial park

 

-- SWACO mulling options, viability for proposed green energy park at landfill

The Blueprint Columbus plan — a city-wide stormwater and wastewater management program to reduce sewer overflow issues through modern environmental compliances and innovative green technologies — was officially approved by the Ohio EPA last month.  CU reports on this at the link below plus a city-produced video about Blueprint Columbus:

 

CU:  Columbus Water Management Plan Gains EPA Approval

 

900+ apartments targeted for Avery Road-Hayden Run area

By Brian R. Ball, Staff Reporter - Columbus Business First

December 8, 2015, 2:19pm EST

 

Columbus City Council has approved rezoning for a multifamily and retail development on 101 acres at Avery Road and Hayden Run Road in northwest Columbus.  The unanimous approval comes as plans move forward on road projects designed to improve access in that section of the city between Hilliard and Dublin.

 

DCR Commercial Development owner David Ruma said the Havery Road LLC joint venture with Robert Weiler Co. President Skip Weiler plans to build up to 915 multifamily units on about 55 acres off Avery Road, and up to 340,000 square feet of retail and other commercial space on another 40 acres.  The first 300 housing units are expected to begin construction by late summer 2016 for a spring 2017 delivery.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/12/08/900-apartments-targeted-for-avery-road-hayden-run.html

Couple of Columbus Development map links posted over at http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/columbus-development-map/page/3/#post-1085507:

 

-- https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=203844471182672114807.0004e42d101aeb0d43112&msa=0&ll=39.971003,-82.996044&spn=0.046373,0.090895

 

-- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zOq4rP72IjSk.kQhTtH9rwjHw&usp=sharing

Columbus Underground posted an excellent series of 2015 Year in Review articles at http://www.columbusunderground.com/urban-development-in-columbus-bw1 (individual articles are linked below).  Plus a really cool image montage of the projects:

 

-- Development Projects Completed in 2015

 

-- Development Under Construction in 2015

 

-- Development Projects Announced in 2015

 

Pretty neat collage.  I hope all (okay, most) of those are built!

Smith Brothers owner proposing rooftop banquet hall

 

 

The Smith Brothers Hardware building north of downtown may soon offer some spectacular skyline views.

 

Property owner Capitol Equities is proposing a rooftop banquet hall for the 580 N. Fourth St. office building, according to an agenda of projects to be considered Tuesday by the city’s Downtown Commission.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/01/25/first-look-smith-brothers-owner-proposing-rooftop.html

Vacant downtown parking garage set for renovation, with addition of car wash

 

 

A vacant garage on East Long Street may be renovated to improve the availability of parking in downtown Columbus.

 

Developer Connect Realty plans to rehabilitate the dilapidated garage at 56-62 E. Long St. between Third and Pearl streets, enclosing the 564-slot structure with glass and offering valet parking and an on-site car wash.

 

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/01/26/vacant-downtown-parking-garage-set-for-renovation.html