December 21, 20168 yr Business First is reporting HERE that the State has awarded historic tax credits to the Downtown YWCA: Griswold Memorial YWCA Address: 65 S. Fourth St. Project cost: $20 million Tax credit: $440,000 Description: Converting single rooms into full apartments (37 efficiencies and 54 one-bedroom units) http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2015/03/photo-tour-inside-the-20m-renovation-of-ywca.html The Dispatch had a recent article and video of this now completed renovation to the YWCA's Griswold Building in Downtown Columbus: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/11/16/renovated-ywca-offers-safe-space-for-formerly-homeless-women.html
January 24, 20178 yr Columbus Underground looks at 32 urban development projects that were completed in 2016, ranging from the red-hot Downtown and Short North to the University District (both north and south of OSU) to other neighborhoods like Weinland Park, Grandview Yard, the King Lincoln District, Parsons Avenue, Bexley and Clintonville: http://www.columbusunderground.com/32-urban-development-projects-completed-in-2016-bw1
January 24, 20178 yr CU's look at 55 urban development projects that were under construction throughout Columbus in 2016, but have not yet been completed: http://www.columbusunderground.com/55-urban-development-projects-under-construction-in-2016-bw1
January 24, 20178 yr CU's look at 65 urban development projects that were announced in 2016 but have not yet started construction: http://www.columbusunderground.com/65-urban-development-projects-announced-in-2016-bw1
January 25, 20178 yr Some miscellaneous residential development news: NW CBUS: http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/northwest/news/2016/01/18/braxton-on-bethel-hotel-among-slew-of-new-residential-developments.html SW CBUS: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/03/17/developer-seeking-funding-for-8m-supportive.html DOWNTOWN: http://www.columbusunderground.com/downtown-apartment-market-remains-strong-with-96-percent-occupancy-rate
January 25, 20178 yr ^ And in two news items from CU, not unrelated to the above development(s): Columbus Region Grows to 2 Million Population Milestone Growth Has Columbus Region on Track to Hit 3 Million Mark by 2050
January 30, 20178 yr East Main property owners might unite to fund improvements By Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch Posted: August 22, 2016 - 12:01 AM Tired of thefts, prostitution and blight plaguing the worn-looking area of East Main Street between Bexley and Whitehall, neighborhood leaders are pushing for a special-improvement district to pay for bike patrols, litter cleanup and beautification. ... Owners of at least 60 percent of the frontage along that section of East Main must sign a petition if the district is to move forward. The property owners agree to be assessed to pay for the services. Herb Talabere, the former president of the Eastmoor Civic Association and Block Watch, who is helping to lead the effort, said the group is about halfway to its goal is to collect enough signatures to present to the Columbus City Council by December. If that goal is achieved, the district would begin providing services in 2018. The Columbus Foundation awarded an $11,000 grant for the effort, and the Eastmoor civic group has contributed $5,000. Talabere hopes the bike patrols will be similar to those provided by the Community Crime Patrol, which patrols neighborhoods such as the Hilltop and University District and calls police when a crime is spotted. MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/08/22/east-main-property-owners-might-unite-to-fund-improvements.html
January 30, 20178 yr http://www.columbusunderground.com/sidewalk-clocks-return-downtown Two sidewalk clocks are returning to the entrances of Pearl Alley and Lynn Alley in Downtown. Members of the Downtown Residents Association (DRAC) set out five years ago with a mission to repair and restore the two Downtown clocks as a gift to the City of Columbus during its bicentennial celebration in 2012. The clock being reinstalled on High Street at Lynn Alley was originally set up around the year 1915, making it just over 100 years old. The clock going in on Gay Street at Pearl Alley was first installed in front of that building in 1920.
February 2, 20178 yr Time Running Out for Local Group to Transform Abandoned Livingston Avenue Theatre Just after Rodney Grist and his group, Livingston Cultural Arts Theatre (LCAT), appeared on the scene to revitalize the abandoned Livingston Avenue Theatre, Westerville developer The Woda Group swooped in with a $12 million check to fund a low-income senior housing project. Grist, a 20-year Columbus City Schools educator and relatively new resident of Old Oaks, started seeking support for his idea in August. Since then he’s bounced between area commission members, city council members and developers, unsuccessfully selling his dream of a civic engagement center with space for forum theater, musical performances, dance and art studios and gallery space. More below: http://www.columbusunderground.com/time-running-out-for-local-group-transform-livingston-avenue-theatre-ls1 "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 13, 20178 yr Condos planned on long-vacant site on East Broad Street A long-vacant site on East Broad Street in Eastmoor is being targeted for a condo complex. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/02/13/condos-planned-on-long-vacant-site-on-east-broad.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 16, 20178 yr Back in 2015, I posted an article about SEA Ltd. building a new headquarters on a 48-acre site it bought from the Anheuser-Busch brewery near the southwest corner of I-71 and I-270: https://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,419.msg757525.html#msg757525 The SEA headquarters and testing facility was finished last year. Below are some photos of the finished SEA building (or nearly finished in the case of a July 2016 Google aerial image). SEA is short for Scientific Expert Analysis. Business First also has a 16-image photo-tour of the work done at the new facility. Work that includes everything from household appliance testing to candle testing (yes, that's a thing and apparently a big business) to setting fire to a pickup truck to reverse engineering an accident claim for an insurance company: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/10/28/inside-sea-the-columbus-product-testing-giant.html July 2016 Google aerial image: The SEA building is built out, but some surrounding site work still remains unfinished in this image. The Anheuser-Busch brewery can be seen in the background. Worthington Industries can also be seen, unlabeled, at the bottom of this aerial - directly across I-270 from the new SEA headquarters and testing facility: Aerial photo of the completed SEA facility from a drone video produced by SEA. Full video at https://vimeo.com/165005368: View of the completed SEA facility, as seen from I-270: More info about the new SEA headquarters and testing facility from their website: http://www.sealimited.com/news.html#S-E-A Settled into New Headquarters
February 17, 20178 yr They forgot the "*R" and "*S" at the end of that company logo/name. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 18, 20178 yr The Downtown Special Improvement Districts (Capital Crossroads & Discovery District) issued their annual 'State of Downtown Columbus' report this week at a Columbus Metropolitan Club forum: - BUSINESS FIRST ARTICLE: State of Downtown Columbus: ‘Undoubtedly strong,’ but with pockets of weakness - FULL REPORT PDF: State of Downtown Columbus - Year End 2016
February 21, 20178 yr Video of the annual 'State of Downtown Columbus' report presentation at a Columbus Metropolitan Club forum:
February 21, 20178 yr Highlights from the annual 'State of Downtown Columbus' analysis (which defines downtown as bounded by Interstates 670, 71 and 70, and the CSX railroad tracks running through the Scioto Peninsula) that was issued last week: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/02/15/state-of-downtown-columbus-undoubtedly-strong-but.html Major investments $1 billion proposed. $734 million under construction. $116 million completed in 2016. Housing and residents 8,100 residents, up from 3,619 in 2002. 97 percent apartment occupancy rate. Employment and office 84,367 workers. 12 percent office vacancy rate, down from 12.1 percent at the end of 2015. Retail 7 net new retailers in 2016. More than 240 retail goods and services businesses. Hospitality and attractions 556 hotel rooms proposed or under construction. 70.4 percent hotel occupancy rate. Transportation 87 cars per 100 workers downtown. 3 percent growth in ridership for COTA's free downtown circulator CBUS. Education 5 colleges and universities. 33,000 college students. Full report: http://downtowncolumbus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/State-of-Downtown-2016-Year-End.pdf
February 21, 20178 yr Are the boundaries of downtown actually what we would think of it? Or does that include SN and Arena District? That's a huge increase in residential population and a 97% occupancy rate seems really healthy. When I moved to Cleveland and we were looking at downtown apartments, they were at a 98% occupancy rate downtown last year and we had to get on waiting lists for units, behind 40-60 people for each place we looked at.
February 21, 20178 yr ^ Those stats use the official city definition of downtown, which is everything east of the river bounded by 670, 70, and 71 plus the scioto peninsula. So the arena district is included, but the short north is not.
February 21, 20178 yr As the annual report stated, the downtown district is defined as bounded by Interstates 670, 71 and 70, and the CSX railroad tracks running through the Scioto Peninsula. "Downtown" is generally inside the downtown innerbelt freeway system (I-670, SR-315, I-70, I-71) with the exception of the Franklinton neighborhood. So the downtown boundaries are as follows: - North Boundary: I-670 - East Boundary: I-71 - South Boundary: I-70 - West Boundary: CSX elevated railroad tracks If you look at whether some of well-known districts and near downtown neighborhoods are considered "downtown" for the purpose of the annual report: - Arena District: YES, south of I-670 - Short North: NO, north of I-670 - German Village/Brewery District: NO, south of I-70 - Olde Towne East/King-Lincoln: NO, east of I-71 - Scioto Peninsula: YES, east of CSX rail tracks - Franklinton: NO, west of CSX rail tracks EDIT: Thanks casey, the map helps.
February 22, 20178 yr Over $1 Billion in New Development Proposed in Downtown Columbus The Downtown real estate market shows few signs of slowing down, according to the latest report from the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District. Even though $116 million in new development projects were completed in 2016, there’s a collective $734 million still under construction at this moment, and another $1 billion in development still in the pipeline. “The development in Downtown Columbus — as I think everyone can see — is very strong right now,” stated Marc Conte, Deputy Director of Research, Planning & Facilities at Capital Crossroads. “We’re seeing a lot of new residential, we’re seeing a little bit of new office, and we’re seeing quite a few boutique hotels proposed and under construction.” More below: http://www.columbusunderground.com/over-1-billion-in-new-development-proposed-in-downtown-columbus "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 23, 20178 yr YWCA's $25M transformation of the historic Griswold building downtown YWCA Columbus is taking the wraps off a transformative renovation of its home in the historic Griswold building downtown. The nonprofit organization has completed a $25 million project to remake the women’s housing facility from dorm-like units with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities to 91 independent apartments. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/02/23/photos-ywcas-25m-transformation-of-thehistoric.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 7, 20178 yr Many of these 19 downtown housing projects have their own construction thread. But this compilation from Business First was too good to go unshared: SLIDESHOW: Downtown Columbus – here’s every housing project under construction (PHOTOS/RENDERINGS)
March 17, 20178 yr East Main Street Business Owners Seek Neighborhood Improvements There’s a one mile stretch of East Main Street between the cities of Bexley and Whitehall that some know as being a part of the Eastmoor neighborhood, but most people simply confuse it as being a part of one of those two separate municipalities. The City of Columbus could soon be changing that with the creation of a new Special Improvement District on East Main Street. The initiative, spearheaded by former Eastmoor Civic Association president Herb Talabere, would place a self-appointed assessment on area businesses within the boundaries drawn for the new district, which would allow for streetscape improvements, beautification, safety enhancements, signage and other related projects. More below: http://www.columbusunderground.com/east-main-street-business-owners-seek-neighborhood-improvements "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 17, 20178 yr It's very dramatic how the trees and other flair just disappear the second you cross the line back into Columbus from Bexley. Something needs to be done to help the transition.
March 21, 20178 yr Safety patrols and beautification proposed for Main Street between Bexley and Whitehall Eastmoor civic leaders and businesses are mobilizing to improve East Main Street between Bexley and Whitehall. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/03/21/safety-patrols-and-beautification-proposed-for.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 22, 20178 yr 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 UPDATE: March 20, 2017 photo of renovation to the parking garage from http://www.columbusunderground.com/construction-roundup-italian-village-downtown-more
March 23, 20178 yr Huntington Bank commits $150M for affordable housing in Ohio Huntington National Bank is growing its funding commitment for affordable housing in Ohio. The Columbus bank says it will invest $150 million in new and refurbished properties by the end of 2018, bringing its program funding total to $513 million since 2010. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/03/23/huntington-bank-commits-150m-for-affordable.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 28, 20178 yr Morning Roundup: Columbus' downtown revival No. 5 in the country Columbus' downtown revival is among the most vibrant in the country. Realtor.com looked at a series of factors to calculate its top 10 cities whose downtowns have been making a comeback over the past five years. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/03/28/morning-roundup-columbus-downtown-revival-no-5-in.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 10, 20178 yr Just noticed Business First setup a "crane watch" map for Columbus, here's the link - http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/maps/columbus-crane-watch
April 12, 20178 yr Smith Brothers' 500-person rooftop event space on track for fall opening The owner of the Smith Brothers Hardware building north of downtown is adding a 500-person rooftop patio - and quickly filling reservations for events. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/04/11/smith-brothers-500-person-rooftop-event-space-on.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 18, 20178 yr More apartments targeted downtown with planned 8-story building on Long Street By Evan Weese, Staff Reporter - Columbus Business First Updated: April 17, 2017, 4:12pm EDT A Columbus developer is planning to build an eight-story apartment building blocks away from the Statehouse, in an area where surface parking is giving way to vertical development. Solove Real Estate has filed an application with the city’s Downtown Commission for a high-rise on a narrow strip of surface parking between the Buckeye Garage and Long Street. The View on Long apartment building would have 95 units - 20 studios, 48 one-bedrooms and 27 two-bedrooms - and would be connected to the 755-space parking garage of roughly the same height, according to the submission. ( . . . ) Solove has replicated “The View” concept elsewhere, building the View on Fifth near Grandview Heights, the View on High near Ohio State University and the View on Grant near Columbus State Community College. MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2017/04/17/more-apartments-targeted-downtown-with-planned-8.html
April 18, 20178 yr ^ Here are some of the visuals to go along with the View on Long project. The proposed 8-story, 95-unit apartment building would be built on the narrow parking lot in front of the Buckeye Parking Garage at 55 E. Long Street: Streetview of the proposed building site in front of the Buckeye Parking Garage on Long Street: Rendering of the proposed 8-story, 95-unit apartment building proposed to be built in front of the Buckeye Parking Garage:
April 18, 20178 yr ^^Such a good idea to 'line' the side of that garage with apts. I cannot see the article...are they planning for any ground floor retail?
April 18, 20178 yr Not in love with how it looks but what a great idea and site. This will do a lot to help Long St fill-in in that area. Hope they include some retail as well.
April 18, 20178 yr ^This. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 18, 20178 yr I was wondering when this might get developed. Any idea when that garage was built? This is one of those rare times in Columbus when a garage is built with the foresight to leave the area along the street to be developed in the future to mask it.
April 18, 20178 yr I mean.... the design is pretty terrible, like a giant white castle (though that could be fitting :laugh: ). However, this is a good sign. If we've learned anything from this developers previous builds, it's that they go big, they have clean designs, and they like to make 15 redesigns before they move forward with a project. I just hope they use better materials than the campus iterations of "The View" brand. I believe the height is appropriate, the glass is good, and the variation is good. Maybe just a bit more refined. Overall I'm glad someone is finally moving on this lot and honestly it can really only improve this pretty terrible stretch of downtown. Seriously.
April 19, 20178 yr ^^Such a good idea to 'line' the side of that garage with apts. I cannot see the article...are they planning for any ground floor retail? The article didn't mention any ground floor retail. Any idea when that garage was built? This is one of those rare times in Columbus when a garage is built with the foresight to leave the area along the street to be developed in the future to mask it. According to the County Auditor's site, it was built in 1975.
April 19, 20178 yr Across Long Street from the Buckeye Parking Garage is another parking garage at 56 E. Long Street. This garage has been closed since September 2013 since the city cited it for unsafe conditions. Eventually, a new property owner bought it and has been renovating it. Previous update in this thread: https://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,419.msg845722.html#msg845722 CU is now reporting that it will re-open on May 1 with 564 spaces and a car wash facility on the ground floor: http://www.columbusunderground.com/long-street-parking-garage-reopening-to-public-we1
April 20, 20178 yr ^^Such a good idea to 'line' the side of that garage with apts. I cannot see the article...are they planning for any ground floor retail? The article didn't mention any ground floor retail. Any idea when that garage was built? This is one of those rare times in Columbus when a garage is built with the foresight to leave the area along the street to be developed in the future to mask it. According to the County Auditor's site, it was built in 1975. The Columbus Underground article stated that the part of the ground floor not used for access to the garage will be for apartments. Who would want to live on the ground floor at that location? Ugh. They should set aside the ground floor for some other use IMO. And the other renderings of this do not make it look any more attractive. But it is better than what is there now.
April 23, 20178 yr :| New Plan Calls for Three-Story Building on Long Street Downtown The Downtown Commission will hear two proposals for surface parking lots on Long Street this month — an eight-story apartment building at 55 E. Long and a three-story building down the street, at 274 E. Long. The three-story building is proposed for land owned by the Edwards Companies, on a parcel previously targeted by the developer for inclusion in its Neighborhood Launch project. More below: http://www.columbusunderground.com/new-plan-calls-for-three-story-building-on-long-street-downtown-bw1 "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 23, 20178 yr Ugly and too short. Edwards is so bipolar with its projects. Sometimes they're really good, sometimes they are just awful. Nothing that gets built/proposed Downtown should be smaller than what you would see in Hilliard. I think that's a good starting point for Downtown development, especially on an important street.
April 24, 20178 yr I really don't think this small lot is that big of a deal height wise-the big parking lot just west of this is much more important and should get some height at least like in the Normandy/Neilston range. However the proposal looks very ugly just like the 8 floor proposal down the street. What is up with this ugliness(at least what is depicted on these crappy renders)?Crappy renderings make me suspicious as hell also.
April 24, 20178 yr While it's great to see retail space being included, something should definitely be done to enliven the blank walls along the rest of the ground level - murals, mosaics, vines/trellis structures, etc. I agree with Toddguy[/member] that the height is not really a big deal here. This is proposed for a very tiny dirt lot on the corner of that block, not including the existing parking lots on either side. Maybe they could add another stack of units to get it to 6, but that's pushing it, especially when Edwards likes to include 2 parking spaces per unit with these... (Also this looks weird in that rendering partly because it's being shown in parallel projection, not perspective. I think in real life this will not be so bad, and actually kind of fit the site.)
April 25, 20178 yr Renovation Planned for Downtown Building at Fourth & Long New plans to renovate a six-story building located at the Downtown intersection of Fourth Street and Long Street have emerged this week, courtesy of local developer Connect Realty. Former plans to demolish and replace the building have been scrapped, and new plans call for a renovation into approximately 40 apartment units with ground-floor retail, and a new parking structure planned to replace the parking lot to the north of the building. More below: http://www.columbusunderground.com/renovation-planned-for-downtown-building-at-fourth-long-we1 "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 11, 20178 yr Another photo of the parking garage that was renovated at 56 E. Long Street - previous photo at https://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,419.msg849952.html#msg849952. This one is from today's article in the Dispatch about downtown parking: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170511/is-parking-shortage-pinching-downtown-growth
May 12, 20178 yr Residential Conversion of Downtown Building Almost Complete The conversion of a prominent Downtown office building to residential use is almost complete, with the first units expected to be available for rent starting in July. Historically known as the Mercantile Building, the structure at 309 S. Fourth St. held offices for many years, although it was built in 1902 as the home of the United States Carriage Company. More below: http://www.columbusunderground.com/residential-conversion-of-downtown-building-almost-complete-bw1 "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 20, 20178 yr An update on this project from a CU article about an another building this developer is currently renovating downtown: http://www.columbusunderground.com/residential-conversion-of-downtown-building-almost-complete-bw1 Developer Eli Adahan also provided an update on his other downtown project, a proposed mixed-use building at the southwest corner of East Town Street and Washington Avenue, across from the Topiary Park. “We’re still in the planning stages on that,” he said. “We want to build a luxurious building on the park, with retail on the first floor. In that part of Downtown, there’s hardly anything, apart from the Starbucks in the hospital.” “We need to be innovative,” he added, “it’s a beautiful, historic street, so we don’t want to propose something that will stand out too much. We hope to come back to the (downtown) commission with a proposal by the end of year.”
Create an account or sign in to comment