Nationwide Realty buys Spring Street office building downtown

 

 

Nationwide Realty Investors Ltd. has acquired a 116-year-old office building along a stretch of Spring Street marked by several surface parking lots.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/01/28/nationwide-realty-buys-spring-street-office.html

^Interesting acquisition for Nationwide. Hopefully they have big plans for the block.

This is pretty cool...

 

Crane Watch, an interactive guide to what’s new in Central Ohio

 

 

**CLICK HERE --> http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/datacenter/crane-watch.html **

 

With all the development going on around Central Ohio, I'm sure I'm not alone in seeing some construction project or a new hole in the ground and wondering, "What's going on there?"

 

Well, we hope to help answer that question whenever it arises with Crane Watch, our guide to development around the region.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2016/02/introducing-crane-watch-an-interactive-guide-to.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

 

Construction pic of the King Avenue rowhouses from http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-november-2015-part-2

 

 

Downtown Alley Renovations Planned for Summer 2016

By Walker Evans, Columbus Underground

January 19, 2016, 10:54 am

 

A long awaited improvement to a Downtown section of Pearl Alley and Lynn Alley will finally come to fruition this summer.  Streetscape enhancements that were originally announced in late 2012 have been approved for construction this Spring, with a grand opening slated for June.  The Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District is overseeing the project, and Executive Director Cleve Ricksecker said that although delayed, the purpose of the project remains the same.

 

“We want to encourage the development of small scale permanent retailing in Pearl and Lynn Alleys,” he stated. “There are very few places in Downtown where one can create clusters of starter spaces for retail. The improvements will help encourage development of the alley system. It’s designed to draw people through.”

 

The project’s footprint would stretch on Pearl between Gay Street and Broad Street, and on Lynn between High Street and Third Street.  The site hosts the Pearl Market during the summer months, and is already home to a handful of small businesses including Si Senor, Oliver’s, The Alley Bar and El Arepazo.

 

MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/downtown-alley-renovations-planned-for-summer-2016

Now THAT is great news!

The Metropreneur (formerly Metropreneur Columbus website) has been running a regular series that profiles local small companies and their urban office spaces.  Lots of neat photos of places we don't normally get to see.

 

First up is Best Light Video, a video marketing business located at 51 N. Pearl Street.  Their minimalist office is on this downtown alley next to the El Arepazo restaurant and located in the ground floor of a renovated apartment building at the corner of Pearl & Gay:

 

 

 

More photos at http://www.themetropreneur.com/columbus/work-best-light-videos-minimalistic-space-downtown/

Another urban office space profile from the Metropreneur.  This one is RAVE, an advertising agency located on the second floor of 399 E. Main Street in downtown:

 

 

 

More photos at http://www.themetropreneur.com/columbus/at-work-rave/

One more urban office space profile from the Metropreneur.  This one is Geben Communication, a PR firm that located on the second floor of 143 E. Main Street in downtown, above the recently opened Walrus bar/restaurant shown in the exterior photo below:

 

 

 

 

More photos at http://www.themetropreneur.com/columbus/at-work-geben-communication-cool-office-spaces-columbus/

White Castle considers development options for HQ site

 

 

Apartments, offices and retail space could take the place of White Castle’s iconic headquarters building as the company considers options for its 18-acre headquarters site at 555 W. Goodale St.

 

White Castle, which also is undertaking a major redevelopment project on High Street in the Short North, has engaged Columbus-based Elford Construction as its partner in the project.

 

More below:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2016/04/06/white-castle-considers-development-options-for-hq-site.html

Everything's on the table for White Castle HQ redevelopment (except a McDonald's)

 

 

White Castle System Inc. is finally receptive to redeveloping its headquarters near downtown after years of inquiries from developers.

 

The family-owned burger chain recently sold off a piece of its manufacturing operation, which took up more than half the 18-acre site at 555 W. Goodale St., and executives decided it was time to make better use of the increasingly attractive real estate, Vice President Jamie Richardson said.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/04/07/everythings-on-the-table-for-white-castle-hq.html

Some potentially great news about THE WORST downtown parking garage!!!  Actually, the worst parking garage in the whole city too - but most parking garages are in the downtown.  For some truly troubling interior pics of the garage, go to the CU article link at the end of this post:

 

 

Crumbling Marconi Parking Garage Announces Closure

By Walker Evans, Columbus Underground

April 29, 2016 - 12:18 pm

 

The parking deck located at 170 Marconi Boulevard has been rapidly deteriorating in recent years, and monthly permit parking customers were informed this morning that the garage will be ceasing operations as soon as May 31st. ... No official reason was provided as to why the garage will be closing, and no future plans for the garage have been announced as of yet.

 

The 177,000 square foot building was constructed in 1961, and primarily serves monthly parking customers in nearby office buildings during workday hours.  The building is currently owned by Marconi Garage LLC, a business registered to James Petropoulos, who has owned the garage since at least 1998.  Some city officials have speculated off the record that the garage may likely be in the process of being sold for demolition and redevelopment.

 

MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/crumbling-marconi-parking-garage-announces-closure

More about the Marconi Parking Garage closure from Business First:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/04/29/downtowns-marconi-garage-closing-taking-650-spaces.html

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/04/29/columbus-not-forcing-closure-of-crumbling-marconi.html

More downtown parking garage news.  But this one is better news than the crumbling Marconi Parking Garage.  Although you wouldn't know it from the below linked Dispatch article:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/05/01/century-old-parking-garages-costs-soar-for-columbus-since-2010-purchase.html

 

This article is a typical "government-wasting-taxpayers-money" piece.  Here is the background.  In 2010, the city of Columbus purchased an existing 6-story, 312-space parking garage at 98 N. Front Street for $3 million.  This garage is located across the street from the long-planned site of an 8-story city office building that began construction last year.  This long-planned construction removed a large surface parking lot reserved for city use.  The city needed to find a suitable replacement for those spaces to allow this downtown campus project to move forward.

 

The 98 N. Front Street Parking Garage is a ideal location for the city.  It is located one block away from City Hall, the Police HQ Building, the renovated Old Police Building, as well as temporary office space in the Beacon Building that city employees are using while the new 8-story city office building is being built across the street. (Photo of that in the City Downtown Campus thread.)

 

Since the 98 N. Front Street Parking Garage was purchased in 2010, the city spend an additional $7.3 million to renovate and upgrade the 312-space garage, which reopened in 2012.  Below are three streetviews of the parking garage at 98 N. Front Street:

 

2009 (pre-city ownership)

 

2011 (during renovation)

 

2014 (post-renovation)

 

There will always be people who disagree with the way some funds are used.  The Dispatch article cited a $33,000 per parking space cost for the 312-spaces in the 98 N. Front Street Parking Garage and further noted that the city is building a parking garage nearby for $22,500 per space.  They are referring to a 700-space parking garage being built diagonal from this 98 N. Front location at the northwest corner of Long & Front, this is part of the City Downtown Campus project - (more about that here).

 

The city's finance department estimated a $22,000 per space cost for the 98 N. Front Parking Garage because it also includes 5,000 square feet of ground floor office space which was renovated along with the garage.  But even if the higher Dispatch estimate is correct, the city still made a wise investment.

 

The immediate need for structured parking to get the campus project underway is obvious.  The ideal location of these structured spaces at 98 N. Front Street is also obvious.  Plus, the cited lower per space cost was for new garage construction on an entire quarter-block site.  The 98 N. Front site takes up most - but not all - of its quarter-block site.  The remaining properties on the 98's quarter-block are three historic commercial buildings facing Long Street.  Three buildings that are part of a nearly $19 million renovation project to convert them into 40 apartments with ground floor retail space - rendering and more info about that at this link.

 

So I think it should be argued that the Dispatch's 'government-wasting-taxpayers-money" piece got it wrong.  The city is not only spending this money wisely for a valid purpose, but they are spending it on the type of downtown development that we encourage here at UO.  I would call that the opposite of wasting money.

While we're still on the topic of downtown parking ... this fun little reddit post:

 

For those that park downtown in this lot...how do you work this out, logistically???

 

 

The parking logistics get answered in the reddit thread.  For context, this small surface lot is located immediately west of 55 E. Spring Street - a 3-story that was recently renovated and later purchased by Nationwide Realty Investors - and across the street from 60 E. Spring Street (a very nice early 2000's renovation of a warehouse building).

One more about downtown parking garages.  Joe Blundo had a recent column about the Vine Street Garage.  This garage is one of three owned by the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority that features 34 artworks created by people ranging from elementary school students to professional artists.  The Vine Street artwork featured in his column is from Sunapple Studios, which produces work by adults with developmental disabilities.

 

Creations by other artists can be seen at the Goodale Street and Convention Center South garages.  The newly opened Goodale Garage murals are shown in this thread: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,29158.msg795226.html#msg795226

 

Below is a video the Sunapple Studios tile mural in the Vine Street Garage, just south of the North Market in the Arena District:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2016/05/08/1-joe-blundo-column-a-parking-garage-mural.html

260 S. Fourth St. micro apartments ready for move-in

 

 

With the popularity of urban living surging, one Columbus developer is finding demand for residences as small as 253 square feet.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/07/07/photo-tour-260-south-fourth-micro-apartments-ready.html

^ The Dispatch also ran a feature about those 260 S. Fourth Street micro apartments:  http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/home_and_garden/2016/07/10/01-downtown-adding-micro-apartments-some-less-than-300-square-feet.html

 

 

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/home_and_garden/2016/07/10/01-downtown-adding-micro-apartments-some-less-than-300-square-feet.html

 

That piece also contained information about other micro apartments proposed for downtown and near downtown - in addition to the 51 units (all under 300 square feet) available in the 115-year-old building converted into Microliving @ 260 S. 4th Street:

 

• A second Microliving project, on Long and Front streets, that will include six micro-units and several studios of less than 460 square feet among its 36 apartments.

 

• The Millennial Tower proposed by Arshot Investment Corp. for Downtown’s RiverSouth District that is expected to include micro-units among its 100 apartments and condominiums.

 

• A 75-unit apartment building, also in the RiverSouth neighborhood, that is proposed by Borror Properties and would include studios ranging from 351 to 490 square feet.

 

• A large mixed-use project by Kaufman Development on W. Broad Street in Franklinton that will include micro-units among its 241 apartments.

 

• A six-story building being built by Stonehenge at 3rd Avenue and N. High Street in the Short North that will include 32 apartments, all of them 540 square feet.

Yearly report from the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District on the state of downtown projects and residents:

 

- Business First:  http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/07/26/state-of-downtown-columbus-population-nearing-8k.html

 

- Columbus Underground:  http://www.columbusunderground.com/over-500-million-in-new-construction-under-way-in-downtown-columbus

 

- PDF of the report:  http://downtowncolumbus.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/SID-2016-Mid-Year-Report-Web.pdf

^ Slideshow of the projects contained in the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District's yearly update:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2016/07/slideshow-500m-of-development-projects-underway.html

The former NAPA Auto Parts Store at 162 N. Sixth Street is being renovated by the artists group, Tacocat Cooperative, which is relocating from its Grandview Yard location, and being renamed 'Blockfort':  http://www.columbusunderground.com/blockfort-art-studio-and-gallery

 

In addition to galleries and studios, 'Blockfort' will also contain co-working space:  http://www.themetropreneur.com/columbus/blockfort-coworking/

Report on affordable housing projects recently completed in Columbus by Homeport:  http://www.columbusunderground.com/affordable-housing-hilltop-university-district-bw1

 

- Update on a 60 affordable unit, five-story apartment building proposed for 562 E. Main Street in downtown.  Homeport reports that this project is currently on hold after it was not selected by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency to receive affordable housing tax credits this year.

 

- Update on a project located north of the Short North but south the University District.  Two buildings at the northeast corner of Clark Place and Dennison Avenue, built in 1901, were rehabbed to hold eight two-bedroom townhomes:

The State granted Historic Tax Credits to renovate this building at 100 Jefferson Avenue in Downtown Columbus:

 

 

From https://development.ohio.gov/files/media/pressrelease/2016.6.28%20-%20Release%20-%20Ohio%20Historic%20Preservation%20Tax%20Credit%20Round%2016.pdf

 

100 Jefferson Avenue (Columbus, Franklin County)

 

Total Project Cost: $1,370,864

Total Tax Credit: $133,155

Address: 100 Jefferson Avenue, 43215

 

100 Jefferson Avenue is part of the Jefferson Center for Learning and the Arts, a campus of buildings in the neighborhood that house a variety of nonprofit organizations.  Built in the late 1870s, this Italianate style house has been vacant for more than 10 years.  The project will rehabilitate the space for office use.

Another state tax credit recently issued.  This one is for the Green Lawn Abbey mausoleum building.  This building was built in 1929 along the entrance to the massive Green Lawn Cemetery on the city's near west side:

 

 

From https://development.ohio.gov/files/media/pressrelease/2016.6.28%20-%20Release%20-%20Ohio%20Historic%20Preservation%20Tax%20Credit%20Round%2016.pdf

 

Green Lawn Abbey (Franklin Township, Franklin County)

 

Total Project Cost: $184,263

Total Tax Credit: $98,000

Address: 700 Greenlawn Avenue, 43223

 

The Green Lawn Abbey rehabilitation project will renew a historic mausoleum building for continued use as it was intended, but also new use as unique special event space for rental and cultural programming.  Nearly abandoned and suffering from damage caused by vandalism, the building is now secure and ready to be restored.  The building will undergo modern upgrades such as improved entrances and restrooms.

Columbus Monthly had a lengthy November 2015 story about the long and interesting history of Green Lawn Abbey:  http://www.columbusmonthly.com/content/stories/2015/11/resurrecting-green-lawn-abbey.html

 

Although the Green Lawn Abbey mausoleum building was built along the entrance to the Green Lawn Cemetery, it was not affiliated with the cemetery.  It was built by the Columbus Mausoleum Company and opened in 1929.  After its opening, ownership of the Green Lawn Abbey transferred from the Columbus Mausoleum Company to those who owned mausoleum crypts within the building.  This resulted in the formation of an entity called the Columbus Cemetery Association, with an elected board of trustees.

 

As the decades passed, activity in the Columbus Cemetery Association dwindled away to almost nothing and no money was being invested into routine maintenance of the building.  Local volunteers and the Columbus Landmarks Foundation started to take an interest in the building and the Green Lawn Abbey Preservation Association was formed in 2006.  They got the mausoleum added to the National Register of Historic Places and were awarded $74,000 from the National Historic Preservation Fund to restore the Spanish tile roof restoration.

 

This latest State Historic Tax Credit award will go toward entrance and bathroom upgrades plus the creation of a terrace designed to make the mausoleum more attractive for private-event rentals, which would provide on-going revenue toward the upkeep of the Green Lawn Abbey.

Preferred Living, a developer and manager of apartment communities in Central Ohio, relocated its headquarters from Westerville to Northwest Columbus near the intersection of Bethel Road and Olentangy River Road.  They renovated an existing office building for their new HQ office.  Business First has a slideshow of the newly remade building:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/07/29/slideshow-preferred-living-renovates-new-hq.html

 

Office building before renovation:

 

Preferred Living HQ after renovation:

Wow.

The people behind 16-Bit Bar+Arcade are renovating a dreary former tire shop at the northwest corner of Fourth & Long into the Pins Mechanical Company - a new duckpin bowling and pinball bar:  http://www.columbusunderground.com/pins-mechanical-company-downtown

 

The renderings for the Pins Mechanical Company show the two existing parking areas surrounding the existing building at Fourth & Long being replaced with new outdoor patio/green spaces.  In this view, Fourth Street is to the right and Long Street is to the left:

 

Close-up view of the new patio at the corner of Fourth & Long:

 

View of the Pins Mechanical Company from Fourth Street looking west toward the second smaller patio facing Fourth Street:

 

Close-up view of the new patio facing Fourth Street:

 

The Pins Mechanical Company website has some construction updates for the inside of the building and shows the new trees being installed at the Fourth Street patio:  http://www.pinsbar.com/

Now THAT'S an improvement.

CU just posted a pictoral sneak-peek of the Pins Mechanical Company renovation at the northwest corner of Fourth and Long.  The posting has a brief video as well:  http://www.columbusunderground.com/pins-mechanical-co

 

Prep work for the front patio facing the corner of Fourth & Long:

 

 

Work at the side patio facing Fourth Street:

 

 

Interior renovation work at the former tire shop:

 

More photos and a video at http://www.columbusunderground.com/pins-mechanical-co

Underground vaults disrupt work on Downtown alleys

By Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch

Monday, August 15, 2016 - 10:35 AM

 

The completion of the makeover of Lynn and Pearl alleys Downtown is expected to be delayed until late fall, thanks to some unexpected history beneath the surface.  Officials didn’t know how close the ceilings of underground vaults and basements were to the bricked alleys above.

 

So when crews began to dig for the foundations for the new lights, they damaged some of the ceilings. “The vaults inhibit the ability to put light poles in because of the weight of the foundations and steel,” said Cleve Ricksecker, executive director of the Capital Crossroads and Discovery special improvement districts.  “It’s slowing the process down again,” he said. “The alleys have been a real difficult place to work.”

 

Columbus is spending a little more than $1 million to make the pedestrian alleys just northeast of High and Broad streets more attractive and safe for Downtown workers and visitors, with officials hoping to attract more small-scale retailers.  The work includes new lighting and trash-bin enclosures, reinstalling two historic clocks and replacing some of the bricks.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/08/15/vaults-disrupt-work-on-downtown-alleys.html#

Rooftop Event Venue Gets Green Light for Smith Bros. Hardware Building

 

 

Representatives from Capitol Equities and Architectural Alliance presented a slightly modified plan today to the Downtown Commission for their rooftop patio project at the iconic Smith Bros. Hardware Building.

 

More below:

http://www.columbusunderground.com/rooftop-event-venue-gets-green-light-for-smith-bros-hardware-building

The Rhodes Tower is getting a facelift

 

The state has issued a " Request for Qualifications (Architect / Engineer)" for a $19.25 million renovation of the Rhodes Tower.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/08/24/morning-roundup-where-ohio-ranks-for-womens.html

Nationwide Realty buys downtown's Marconi Garage with plans for redevelopment

 

 

One of Columbus' most-active developers has acquired a crumbling parking garage downtown, with plans to redevelop the site next to the expanded City Hall campus and just blocks from the Scioto Mile riverfront park system.

 

Nationwide Realty Investors Ltd., master developer of the Arena District, Grandview Yard and other projects, paid $4.3 million through an affiliate for the 650-space garage at 170 Marconi Blvd., public records show.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/09/06/nationwide-realty-buys-downtowns-marconi-garage.html

^Located in the heart of the Parking Garage District.

^^Good news. I hope NRI also picks up the little surface lot to the south as well, giving them the entire block of Marconi to redevelop.

I would've rather had another developer gotten the Marconi garage site than Nationwide.  Their designs are always rather bland, largely brick, and tend to max out at 5 or 6 stories.  And they're not particularly fast at getting things developed.  They seem to be buying up properties waiting for the maximum return before redevelopment, and they own a lot of property right now.  It could be years before something comes out of this.

I would've rather had another developer gotten the Marconi garage site than Nationwide.  Their designs are always rather bland, largely brick, and tend to max out at 5 or 6 stories.  And they're not particularly fast at getting things developed.  They seem to be buying up properties waiting for the maximum return before redevelopment, and they own a lot of property right now.  It could be years before something comes out of this.

 

You mean like Northbank or Parks Edge? :wave:

I would've rather had another developer gotten the Marconi garage site than Nationwide.  Their designs are always rather bland, largely brick, and tend to max out at 5 or 6 stories.  And they're not particularly fast at getting things developed.  They seem to be buying up properties waiting for the maximum return before redevelopment, and they own a lot of property right now.  It could be years before something comes out of this.

 

You mean like Northbank or Parks Edge? :wave:

 

They're more exceptions to the rule.  And frankly, I think Parks Edge is underwhelming for the potential the site had. 

They're more exceptions to the rule.  And frankly, I think Parks Edge is underwhelming for the potential the site had. 

 

I think the real test with Parks Edge is what they do on the remaining parcel immediately east. I have assumed they were planning something of greater height there, using Parks Edge as a smaller buffer (to not obstruct views) between a new tower and Northbank.

They're more exceptions to the rule.  And frankly, I think Parks Edge is underwhelming for the potential the site had. 

 

I think the real test with Parks Edge is what they do on the remaining parcel immediately east. I have assumed they were planning something of greater height there, using Parks Edge as a smaller buffer (to not obstruct views) between a new tower and Northbank.

 

I hope so.  Parks Edge may also have been smaller because of how long it took for North Bank condos to fully sell.  There was probably some hesitation to go big and potentially be stuck with a bunch of unsold units.  However, the economy today and demand for sale units is drastically different than when North Bank was completed in 2007.  Hopefully, Parks Edge sells out quickly and that will be the test needed for something a lot bigger on the other site- and perhaps more similar projects around the area.

Historic Downtown Renovation Project Moving Forward

 

 

It’s been over two years in the works, but a renovation project slated for a group of four buildings at the Downtown intersection of Front Street and Long Street is finally ready to move forward. Developer Brad DeHays of Connect Realty received approval from the Downtown Commission this morning on the exterior renovation plans for the group of buildings located between 31 West Long and 55 West Long.

 

More below:

http://www.columbusunderground.com/historic-downtown-renovation-project-moving-forward

Historic Weisheimer Building Slated for Renovation

 

 

If you buy your vacuum cleaner parts and supplies from Weisheimer’s, you’ll soon need to find a new place to do so. Local real estate firm Capitol Equities is in the process of purchasing the building with plans for a historic renovation.

 

“We’re really excited about this opportunity because it’s a true historic building with wood beams, wood floors, and original brick,” said J.R. Kern, Principal at Capitol Equities. “What we’re proposing is exterior improvements, all new windows and reopening the building’s northern windows.”

 

More below:

http://www.columbusunderground.com/historic-weisheimer-building-slated-for-renovation

It will be up to Appalachia and its unlimited number of vacuum cleaner stores ("sweeper shops") to pick up the slack.

Heads up if anyone cares, Google street view looks like it was recently updated to include july, august, and september 2016 shots. lots of changes since the 2015 version.

Nationwide’s downtown HQ and skywalk getting a facelift

 

 

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. is making improvements to aging portions of its downtown Columbus headquarters.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/11/18/nationwide-s-downtown-hq-and-skywalk-getting-a.html

Fairgrounds' Celeste Center to get $9.4M overhaul, first since it opened in 1991

 

 

The Celeste Center is set to receive its first major renovation since it opened 25 years ago.

 

The $9.4 million in improvements will help modernize a facility built in 1991 to replace the Ohio State Fair Grandstand, which was demolished in 1990.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/12/13/fairgrounds-celeste-center-to-get-9-4m-overhaul.html

Good, glad to be wrong on that.

^ More about the Celeste Center overhaul in the Dispatch:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2016/12/15/celeste-center-to-be-renovated-to-meet-growing-demand-for-event-space.html

 

I was surprised to read that it seats 10,200.  I've been by it many times while at the Ohio State Fair.  And though it's a big ole barn, I never knew it seated 10,000+.  That's not insignificant!