October 7, 200816 yr Author Arena District might add tenants Apartments, grocery part of $2 million deal between city, Nationwide Realty Tuesday, October 7, 2008 3:09 AM By Robert Vitale THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH An agreement between Columbus officials and Nationwide Realty Investors would put into place one of the final pieces of the Arena District. Mayor Michael B. Coleman sent legislation to the Columbus City Council yesterday to sell the Arena District's developers a 2.5-acre city-owned parcel straddling Vine Street on the west side of Neil Avenue that is slated for apartments and a Giant Eagle supermarket. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/10/07/Council07.ART_ART_10-07-08_B8_2KBHLHR.html?sid=101
October 8, 200816 yr Yay! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
October 18, 200816 yr This is huge news for Columbus. To see $250 million in private investment in downtown development during the current economic issues is highly impressive. I'm very excited about the new apartments and offices. I'm not too sure about the Giant Eagle anymore. I've heard some weirdness coming down the pipeline with how it's being pitched against the North Market, and it's leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I hope everything shakes out ok in the next few months.
October 20, 200816 yr Arena District Restaurants Pin Hopes On Blue Jackets Friday, October 17, 2008 - 3:23 AM COLUMBUS, Ohio — Restaurants and bars in the Arena District are hoping a winning Blue Jackets team will improve what has been a dismal year for business. The worsening economy has thinned the crowds dining in the downtown entertainment district, 10TV's Kevin Landers reported. "Everyone is claiming 15 to 20 percent loss over last year," said Brad Thacker, general manager of the Frog Bear & Wild Boar. The Blue Jackets play their first home game of the season Friday night, and Thacker can't wait for hockey fans to come through his front door. Both Mongolian Barbecue and Frog Bear & Wild Boar are running promotions during hockey season to entice fans to spend time and money in their restaurants, but managers said a winning Blue Jackets team will help business most of all. "I think in this economy it's going to take something special for (the public) to come out and spend their money," Thacker said. MORE: http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2008/10/17/arena.html?sid=102
October 22, 200816 yr Council approves Arena District land sale Monday, October 20, 2008 - 11:05 PM By Robert Vitale THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Columbus City Council members gave their blessing tonight to a plan that will develop one of the final corners of the Arena District. But their approval came with a few conditions. To get nearly 2.5 acres of city-owned land at the district's northern edge, developers must agree to four council demands, including opening up a planned parking garage to anyone who needs a space. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/10/20/council21.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=101&title=Council+approves+Arena+District+land+sale
November 24, 200816 yr More Arena District devlopment news: Project draws state funds Columbus has secured a $750,000 Clean Ohio Assistance Fund grant to help clean up the former Jaeger Machine Co. near Huntington Park, the new Arena District baseball stadium. Plaza Properties plans to transform the 23-acre industrial site into a mixed-use development with residences, offices and stores. First, contaminated soil and groundwater must be addressed at two buildings along Nationwide Boulevard, and remaining buildings must be torn down. Sam Van Landingham, Plaza's chief of development, said in May that a 7.7-acre part of the property requires cleanup work costing $1.4 million. He said an initial development phase, which would cost $37 million, would result in 243 condominiums and 15,000 square feet of retail space. A Plaza spokeswoman said the development timetable will not be set until cleanup work is completed next year. Read more at http://dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/11/24/ZONE1124.ART_ART_11-24-08_C12_U6BV18C.html?sid=101
November 25, 200816 yr City set to accept Clean Ohio grant for housing project Business First of Columbus, November 24, 2008 Columbus City Council on Monday night is scheduled to vote on accepting state funding that will pave the way for a residential community west of the Arena District. On the table is emergency legislation to accept a $750,000 grant from the state’s Clean Ohio Assistance Fund to help clean up a 7.7-acre portion of the 22-acre site where the Union Fork and Hoe Co. and Jaeger Machine Co. had manufacturing operations. Developer Plaza Properties Inc. is planning to build 243 housing units on about 4 acres in the first phase of development that could get under way as early as 2010. The city applied for the grant in the summer and received approval from the Ohio Department of Development last week. The state Controlling Board is scheduled to give the final OK to the funding before the end of the year. Plaza Properties officials told Columbus Business First earlier that the first section of the development is expected to cost about $36 million, which will include about 15,000 square feet for retailers. The developer sees having as many as 1,000 housing units on the site.
December 3, 200816 yr Author From The New York Times: A Waterfront Revival in Columbus, Ohio By KEITH SCHNEIDER Published: December 2, 2008 COLUMBUS, Ohio — A decade ago, a 75-acre area along the Scioto River less than a mile west of this capital city’s downtown was an industrial no man’s land, consisting of barren railyards, old warehouses and a shuttered 19th-century penitentiary. But that was before Nationwide Realty Investors, an affiliate of Nationwide Mutual Insurance, turned the area into the Arena District. The district, a $750 million mixed-use neighborhood of housing, offices, retailing and entertainment, has attracted some of the city’s most prominent architecture, law, real estate development and advertising firms and is regarded as one of the Midwest’s most successful urban redevelopment projects. Late in October, the Columbus City Council approved the development plan for the Arena District’s final phase: a $250 million project to add 450 units of housing, 300,000 square feet of office space in two buildings, an 80,000-square-foot grocery store, an eight-level garage with 1,600 spaces and as much as 40,000 square feet of retail space. Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/business/03columbus.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
December 4, 200816 yr You know the Urban Land Institute has the Arena District as one of their "case studies" available to the membership as an example of how to do these things.
April 7, 200916 yr Clippers fever on tap across Arena District Bars, restaurants batting out special promotions for stadium debut Tuesday, April 7, 2009 - 10:01 AM By Bill Chronister, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Tommy O'Shaughnessy's taking an irreverent path to welcoming the Columbus Clippers to the new Huntington Park in the Arena District. "Just like Pete Rose, I'm betting on baseball" -- to be a big draw for his O'Shaughnessy's Public House at 401 N. Front St., the pub owner said. O'Shaughnessy will be running a 12-passenger van from his door to the main gate at Huntington Park throughout games, starting with the triple-A minor league team's home opener starting at 4:05 p.m. April 18. If getting to the stadium from another part of the district is an issue and the O'Shaughnessy Shuttle isn't your style, the three-wheeled two-seaters of the Columbus Pedicab Co., led by Casey Bellman and Bill Carnes, also will be circulating through the area. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/04/07/rest0407.ART_ART_04-07-09_A6_JDDFN92.html?sid=101
April 11, 200916 yr House of Crave gets a facelift, new name - A&R Music Bar BY ERIC LYTTLE, THE OTHER PAPER Published: Thursday, April 9, 2009 - 11:49 AM EDT Central Ohio baseball fans are awaiting the 2009 Clippers season with more than the usual amount of anticipation. Not only are the Clippers kicking off a relationship as the Cleveland Indians’ top minor-league franchise; they’re marking that new era with the opening of the $56 million Huntington Park. But baseball fans aren’t the only ones looking forward to the upcoming season. The new ballpark, located in the heart of Columbus’s Arena District, is a summer business generator, capable of bringing some 10,000 fans to the area for each of the Clippers’ 71 home dates. And in these difficult financial times, the prospect of all those new faces walking past your front door is an economic stimulator of Obama-esque proportions. Read more at http://www.theotherpaper.com/articles/2009/04/09/arts/doc49dd0780cca30787431197.txt
April 21, 200916 yr Events Give Downtown Businesses A Shot In The Arm Sunday, April 19, 2009 - 8:16 PM WBNS 10TV COLUMBUS — The downtown economy likely received a shot in the arm this weekend. Despite an ongoing recession, businesses in the city's Arena District have made out recently, thanks to the Blue Jackets' playoff run and the unveiling of Huntington Park. The Clippers sold out their home opener on Saturday as fans waited in line all morning to snag about 1,500 standing room-only tickets that were available. Even though the Blue Jackets played in Detroit this weekend, fans packed downtown bars and restaurants to watch the game on television. Managers at The Rise and Dine Cafe said they have seen business double recently. "Between the opening of the ballpark and the Blue Jackets we made sure we had a lot of eggs," said cafe manager Mike Stasko. The wait for a table at Boston's tripled Saturday night when Fleetwood Mac performed at Nationwide Arena. "A normal wait for a Saturday evening is about an hour," said Boston's supervisor April Norris. "(Saturday) we were on a solid wait for three-and-half to four hours." SLIDESHOW: Images From Report Read more at http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2009/04/19/story_biz.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=102&title=Events+Give+Downtown+Businesses+A+Shot+In+The+Arm
April 22, 200916 yr Arena District scores $2B for region in past decade Blue Jackets, Nationwide Arena, Destroyers responsible for half that, study says Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 10:55 AM By Tracy Turner, The Columbus Dispatch The Columbus Blue Jackets -- and the NHL team's success and advancement to the Stanley Cup playoffs -- have brought more than visibility to Columbus. The team and Nationwide Arena, the Jackets' home ice as well as a concert and event venue, are the centerpieces of the Arena District. And that district has generated $2 billion for the central Ohio economy in the first decade of its existence, according to a study released today. "With the opening of the new Huntington Park and with the team making the playoffs, we realized what a step this city is taking and that it's a direct result of where this whole thing started 10 years ago," said Blue Jackets President Mike Priest. "Each year the (economic impact) continues to rise with continued investment in the area. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/04/22/blue_dollars.html?sid=101
April 23, 200916 yr Yea, I know this is the same Arena District economic impact study that was reported yesterday from the Dispatch. But here is the Business First article. And I included the OSU/John Glenn Institute link to the full report for all the ED policy wonks who read UrbanOhio. Enjoy. :-D LINK: ARENA DISTRICT REPORT FROM THE JOHN GLENN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY Study: Blue Jackets, arena generated $2B for economy Business First of Columbus Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 10:52am The Columbus Blue Jackets and Nationwide Arena have had an economic impact of more than $2 billion since their debuts in 2000, according to a study released Wednesday. The National Hockey League team and arena also have served as a catalyst for development of downtown Columbus and the Arena District, where 7,000 people work, the study said. Conducted by the John Glenn Institute of Public Affairs at Ohio State University, the study was commissioned by the Blue Jackets, Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority and Nationwide Realty Investors, developer of the Arena District. The findings are being shared at a time when the Blue Jackets are in the NHL playoffs for the first time and after last weekend’s opening of Huntington Park, the new home of the Columbus Clippers in the Arena District. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/04/20/daily22.html?surround=lfn
May 1, 200916 yr Offices on tap for High and Nationwide? Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball Friday, April 24, 2009 Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and its realty development business could fill the gap between Nationwide Arena and the Hyatt Regency hotel with office buildings and a park as plans get under way for a 500-room hotel on North High Street. But any development on the site divided by a Norfolk Southern Corp. rail line could take years to get started. The Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority revealed the conceptual site drawing as part of a bid package sent out April 20 to architects interested in designing the hotel. The drawings show three mixed-used properties with a combined 290,000 square feet of offices and 58,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space. Nationwide Realty Chief Operating Officer Brian Ellis could not be reached for comment before deadline. The MSI Design landscape architecture company’s conceptual design calls for a park over the Norfolk Southern rail line that cuts through the Arena District. Jennison expects Nationwide Realty to add 600 parking spaces on the top and to the south of the Convention Facilities Authority’s 900-slot parking deck on Vine Street. Jennison said the authority would like Nationwide to look at expanding the garage while the hotel gets built. The authority hopes to open the hotel by late 2012, the year the city marks its bicentennial. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/04/27/story9.html
May 1, 200916 yr Offices on tap for High and Nationwide? Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball Friday, April 24, 2009 http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/04/27/story9.html I was expecting this for years. It is very strange that corner of High and Nationwide is not developed. It really creates a big lag in retail space between the Short North and Downtown's northern border. However, the area already has lag from the bridge to the north and the Nationwide Plaza to the south. These other factors contribute to state to create a dearth of lost energy. However, with the bridge getting a hotel at its sidewalk level, the CAP built over the I670 highway (to the north), this plot of grassy land seems perfect for office with street retail. I would love to see something tall on this spot as the land is a smaller parcel. Maybe this is why Nationwide has waited. It is only cost effect to really build on the site when you can built the largest amount of density out of it.
May 4, 200916 yr Offices on tap for High and Nationwide? Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball Friday, April 24, 2009 http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/04/27/story9.html MORE ABOUT THIS SITE - PART ONE A very interesting undeveloped parcel. Its development will greatly impact the future of downtown Columbus and the Nationwide Arena District. Columbus Underground has started a discussion on this parcel at this url: http://www.columbusunderground.com/nri-plans-more-office-space-at-nationwide-high Just wanted to add some information and context about the parcel. Here are two maps of the showing the parcel itself and the surrounding streets. First is the street and building footprint map, second is an aerial map pulled from the county auditor gis website. Disregard the yellow line on the aerial map-it's the shape of one of the tax parcels that make up the entire site: That's the parcel discussed in the Business First article. It is mostly square and located immediately south of the Convention Center Hotel proposed location on N. High Street that was discussed in separate project thread here. In that thread, WalkerEvans posted some great on-site photos here that show both the proposed hotel site and this proposed development site. The streets surrounding the site are Nationwide Blvd to the south, Front Street to the west, High Street to the east and Convention Center Drive to the north. It is divided by railroad tracks that run diagonally thru the site and run underneath both High Street and Nationwide Blvd. There is also a set of tracks that run parallel to Convention Center Drive at the top of the site. Both are very active rail lines. There is also a surface parking lot accessible from Front Street and a triangular landscaped grass parcel at the corner of Nationwide & High. That's the horizontal layout. There is also a vertical layout to this site (which is rare for Columbus). The site is mostly level and at grade with Nationwide Blvd, Front Street and High Street. The previously mentioned parking lot and grass parcel at Nationwide & High are also at this vertical level. The previously mentioned two railroad lines and Convention Center Drive are located about 20 feet below Nationwide Blvd, Front and High Streets, as well as the parking lot and the grass parcel at Nationwide & High. Tree lined hillsides slope from the parking lot down to the two railroad lines. I'll post some additional maps that show the surrounding context and some further information in PART TWO.
May 4, 200916 yr Offices on tap for High and Nationwide? Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball Friday, April 24, 2009 http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/04/27/story9.html MORE ABOUT THIS SITE - PART TWO Here are two additional maps that show the surrounding context a little better. Again, the first is the street and building footprint map and the second is an aerial map pulled from the county auditor gis website. Again, disregard the yellow line on the aerial map-its just a stray tax parcel on the site. If I had a working knowledge of Photoshop or some program like that, I could label the surrounding buildings on the maps. However, I don't. So I'll try to verbally decribe the buildings surrounding this site. North of the site (direction up on the maps): The Convention Center Hotel proposed location on facing High Street that was discussed in separate project thread here. It is currently a parking lot. The building next to it is the Convention Center Parking Garage which faces Front Street and Vine Street, which is off the map. You can also see part of the Convention Center located east of High Street and you can see the Arena Crossing Apartments located west of Front Street. East of the site (direction right): Hyatt Hotel (20-story tower) and the original 1970's convention center (formerly called the Ohio Center). The older convention center is connected to the newer Eisenmann-designed Convention Center via a bridge that spans a below-grade freight railroad line. The newer convention center was built at the location of the previously demolished Union Station that accessed those same railroad lines for passenger use. South of the site (direction down): One Nationwide Plaza (34-story tower) which is the headquarters of Nationwide Insurance. Note that the railroad tracks which run diagonally thru the undeveloped site also run thru this parcel. About the same time that Nationwide Arena was built, these below-grade tracks were capped by a paved plaza that leads to a rear entrance to One Nationwide. West of the site (direction left): Brick-paved entrance plaza to Nationwide Arena at the northwest corner of Nationwide and Front. Nationwide Arena itself is set back from this corner (you can see the curving roofline of the main seating bowl). Going north from the brick plaza at the corner is first the Moline Plow building. The Moline Plow building is a four-story brick warehouse building circa built 1900's. It is owned by Nationwide and was renovated concurrent with the construction of the Arena. It contains ground floor restaurants/bars (Frog, Bear and Wild Boar Bar and Buco di Beppo restaurant are here) and upper floor offices. The building immediately north of the Moline Plow building is 401 N. Front Street. It is also owned by Nationwide and was a new building built concurrent with the construction of the Arena. It is also a four-story brick building and also contains restaurants/bars on the ground floor and offices above. Although roughly twice the size of the neighboring historic Moline Plow buildling, it is visually divided into two separate masses viewed from Front Street. So it appears like two four-story brick buildings next to the Moline Plow building. North of the 401 N. Front building is the Arena Crossing Apartments, which completes that description of the surrounding context. PREVIOUS POST: MORE ABOUT THIS SITE - PART ONE
May 4, 200916 yr Here's two recent photos I took in the area a few months ago, which might give some more context to the great maps and descriptions above: Taken from the NE corner of the parking lot on this site facing NE towards the railroad tracks, Ohio Center Way, and the future site of the new hotel building: <img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/hotel6.jpg"> Taken from the sidewalk on Nationwide Blvd directly above where the rail crossing sits below grade looking NE towards High Street. You can see the two grades pretty clearly here with the tracks down below and the High Street bridge going over top. <img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/hotel7.jpg"> I'll try to take some more soon. I was mostly taking these of the new hotel site when that was announced and don't have too many looking at the parcel as a whole.
May 13, 200916 yr I know this site was once considered as a potential site for a new rail station, and I think it still may be.
May 13, 200916 yr I know this site was once considered as a potential site for a new rail station, and I think it still may be. I think that might be right. And it could explain why such a prime site hasn't been developed yet. From years back I seem to remember this Nationwide & High parcel as a future COTA multimodal location. Someone more knowledgable than me on transit issues might be able to confirm or correct this.
May 13, 200916 yr I know it's seriously (as serious as they can) being considered. There's also the potential hotel taking up a block fronting High next to Char Bar adjacent to the convention center. Their location makes it seem they're holding on to that space for future use.
May 14, 200916 yr That is actually the original site for what was to be COTA's multi-modal transportation center back in 1999-2000. It was also designed to eventually accomodate intercity passenger rail, but the plan got shelved when COTAbacked off on its North Corridor light rail plan. It is a site that still has great potential.
May 19, 200916 yr Thanks for the background information about this site. Wouldn't it be great if a light rail stop was part of these developments? Both the proposed Convention Center Hotel and this NRI development near Nationwide Arena could access it. We can't tell from the previously posted article quoted below. But you would think that a rail stop could be built at the lower railroad level with commercial buildings built above at the street level. Offices on tap for High and Nationwide? http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/04/27/story9.html Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and its realty development business could fill the gap between Nationwide Arena and the Hyatt Regency hotel with office buildings and a park as plans get under way for a 500-room hotel on North High Street. The Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority revealed the conceptual site drawing as part of a bid package sent out April 20 to architects interested in designing the hotel. The drawings show three mixed-used properties with a combined 290,000 square feet of offices and 58,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.
May 19, 200916 yr Author But you would think that a rail stop could be built at the lower railroad level with commercial buildings built above at the street level. It's my sincere hope that is all taken into serious consideration as the design and construction phases of the aforementioned projects progress.
May 29, 200916 yr Nationwide Arena sale under discussion Business First of Columbus - by Jeff Bell The Columbus Blue Jackets are leading discussions about the possible sale of Nationwide Arena to Franklin County, using higher taxes on alcohol and cigarettes to help fund the deal. Preliminary talks have been held between Blue Jackets and Franklin County officials, state legislators and Nationwide Insurance executives over helping the National Hockey League club solve its economic problems, Columbus Business First has learned. One option under discussion calls for the county to buy the 18,000-seat arena from Nationwide so the team can work toward getting a better lease. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/05/25/daily25.html
May 29, 200916 yr Thanks for the post sheady. I added the direct url link to your post. This story was also in today's Dispatch... Proposal calls for county takeover of Nationwide Arena By Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch Twelve years after Franklin County voters rejected a temporary tax increase to pay for a new downtown arena, a new plan has emerged to increase local beer, wine, liquor and cigarette taxes to allow the county to purchase Nationwide Arena. The plan is being floated around the Statehouse by Matthew Kallner, a lobbyist who represents Worthington Industries, whose CEO, John P. McConnell, also owns a majority stake in the Blue Jackets. Kallner reportedly wants language inserted into the new two-year state budget that would allow Franklin County commissioners to increase taxes for the arena purchase. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/05/28/arena.html?sid=101
May 30, 200916 yr Saturday follow-up article about the Nationwide Arena sale proposal... A tough sell? County officials are cool to the idea of bypassing voters to impose $13 million a year in 'sin taxes' to buy Nationwide Arena Saturday, May 30, 2009 - 3:01 AM By Bill Bush and Doug Caruso, The Columbus Dispatch Two of the three Franklin County commissioners would reject any financial rescue of the Columbus Blue Jackets that doesn't go before voters, even though a plan being pushed by the team would give that option. "This is the wrong approach at the wrong time," Commissioner Marilyn Brown said. "Voters deserve an opportunity to weigh in on this as they have in the past." Commissioner Paula Brooks said: "In these tough times, I think that'd be extremely tough to justify." Team officials have been shopping a proposal in which the county or the Convention Facilities Authority would buy Nationwide Arena with $13 million a year from new taxes on alcohol and cigarettes. The plan would require a change to state law that would give the commissioners the choice of levying new taxes without a vote or putting the question on the November ballot, said Blue Jackets President Mike Priest. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/05/30/arena_MAINBAR.ART_ART_05-30-09_A1_3AE188N.html?sid=101
June 2, 200916 yr Sin-tax idea likely being put on shelf Lawmakers seek other ways to help the Blue Jackets Tuesday, June 2, 2009 - 3:06 AM By Jim Siegel and Doug Caruso THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Local opposition and a less-than-stellar lobbying effort helped doom a plan to aid the Blue Jackets through increased sin taxes, but state lawmakers continue to search for ways to help the financially challenged hockey franchise. Democratic lawmakers from Franklin County are expected to meet today with Blue Jackets majority owner John P. McConnell to discuss the team's situation. They likely will be searching for plan B, as the team's tax proposal appears all but dead. "I don't know that it has any supporters," said Rep. Tracy Heard, D-Columbus. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/06/02/arena_news.ART_ART_06-02-09_A1_F0E24PQ.html?sid=101
June 2, 200916 yr Background history on the support (or lack thereof) for public financing of sports facilities in Central Ohio and the current Nationwide Arena proposal from the above article: Sin-tax idea likely being put on shelf.
June 5, 200916 yr Blue Jackets wave white flag on sin tax bid for Nationwide Arena Business First of Columbus - by Jeff Bell Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 5:57pm The Columbus Blue Jackets will have to go back to the drawing board to find a solution to its lease problem at Nationwide Arena. The National Hockey League club’s proposal to have the county buy the privately owned arena appears dead for now, state and county officials told Columbus Business First on Tuesday. The Blue Jackets have been leading discussions on a plan in which the state would grant Franklin County commissioners the authority to impose or put on the ballot an increase in alcohol and tobacco sales. Money from those additional “sin taxes” would be used to finance a county purchase of the arena, which is owned by a partnership between Nationwide Arena and Dispatch Printing Co. The commissioners said they are against imposing such a tax and need more information from the Blue Jackets on what exactly is being proposed. “We don’t know what the facts are here,” said Paula Brooks, president of the county commissioners. “We all love the Blue Jackets – I’ve been a season-ticket holder since the beginning – and we’d all like to see a community-wide effort to get the facts and arrive at what needs to be done.” Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/06/01/daily22.html?surround=lfn
June 7, 200916 yr Interesting behind-the-scenes look at the recent Nationwide Arena news from Business First. Apparently, it was the Blue Jackets vs. "The Beer Lobby". And the beer lobby won. Also included with the article were graphics comparing construction cost, seating capacity and financing info for the Nationwide Arena with nine other multi-purpose arenas built for an NHL team as a primary tenant. Blue Jackets body-checked by powerful beer lobby Business First of Columbus - by Jeff Bell Friday, June 5, 2009 The Columbus Blue Jackets ran up against a lobbying team at the Ohio Statehouse with as much clout in legislative measures as the mighty Detroit Red Wings have shown them on the ice. A coalition of trade groups and companies with stakes in alcohol and tobacco sales reacted swiftly to rally opposition against a Blue Jackets proposal to increase excise taxes on alcohol and cigarettes to finance a sale of Nationwide Arena to Franklin County. Trying to stem operating losses totaling $80 million over the past seven years, the National Hockey League club thought it could get a more favorable lease agreement if the arena was owned by the county instead of the Blue Jackets’ current landlord, primarily Nationwide Insurance. The so-called “beer lobby” feared a provision allowing Franklin County to impose an excise tax would be slipped into the two-year state budget bill that lawmakers need to pass by June 30. Working behind the scenes at the Statehouse, the lobbyists drove the proposal into the public spotlight, where it drew fire from residents opposed to a government buyout of a privately owned arena during a recession and raising beer and tobacco taxes to pay for it. The proposal appears dead for now, after Franklin County commissioners and the area’s state legislators said they lack enough facts to get behind the plan. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/06/08/story3.html#
June 11, 200916 yr Diamond Hill expanding, Residential Finance staying in Arena District Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball Friday, June 5, 2009 Diamond Hill Investment Group Inc., the Columbus money management firm, has found some elbow room in an Arena District office building. The company, which fills 14,187 square feet on the second floor at 325 John McConnell Blvd., will expand into 5,067 square feet on the building’s first floor after improvements are completed in July. Diamond Hill CFO Jim Laird said the company plans to move up to 20 employees from its sales and marketing department into the new space. The firm’s 53 employees work in offices that can accommodate no more than 60. Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/06/08/newscolumn2.html
June 20, 200915 yr how about the cavs' owner moves them to columbus in return for the casino being built? that would help with the nationwide arena financing too, i'd think. if not, that parcel west of huntington park is not well suited for condos and offices, imho. it's in close proximity to open rail and two highways (315 & 670). i'd rather see a relocation of crew stadium down there, with some park space and such to tag along. since crew stadium would leave the fairgrounds area, you might as well move the ohio historical society from that abomination of a building, and combine it somehow with cosi. two lackluster "attractions" combined could help with attendance. what to do with all the land leftover in the fairgrounds area is beyond me. i'm sure they could find something to do with it though. just throwing out some ideas...
June 20, 200915 yr ^ If LeBron leaves we could pull a snatch while their defenses are down. very true. it'd be cool to have him here, but as long as he keeps the team succeeding up there, i doubt they'll move down. i think the team would flourish here though. get more use out of nationwide too. speaking of that. why not move the state high school basketball playoffs to nationwide? you have a state of the art arena and you choose to play at the outdated fairgrounds coliseum? unless there's a blue jackets game or the occasional concert, nationwide arena sits empty. get more use out of it, and they wouldn't be posting such losses.
June 20, 200915 yr Please...why in the world would they move the Cavs to Columbus? I mean the franchise is one of the most successful. Columbus? I mean it would be like moving them to Zanesville. Sorry to tell you but people hardly know Columbus exists.
June 21, 200915 yr Please...why in the world would they move the Cavs to Columbus? I mean the franchise is one of the most successful. Columbus? I mean it would be like moving them to Zanesville. Sorry to tell you but people hardly know Columbus exists. Nice analogy but Columbus is only becoming more and more existent. Sure this move will not happen, but it is not absolutely impossible for Columbus to potentially show that it is big enough to land a pro basketball franchise.
June 21, 200915 yr more and more existent? Wow Columbus is trying to become existent? If you think Columbus is going to get the Cavs then your not even close to being existent. Again, no one outside of the near Columbus area even knows that Columbus exists. If you ask anyone in the West where Columbus is they say he died in Spain or something, really.
June 21, 200915 yr True, but the above posts were pretty incediary. Well, if Lebron leaves shouldn't columbus snatch thme. Come on. Its the equivalant of city bashing. Why shouldn't Cleveland try and take Cardinal Health?. Shoot, at least aim out of state!
June 21, 200915 yr Okay, we had our fun. Now its time to get back on topic in this thread, which is Arena District development. Aderwent gets a pass on the original Cavs post because he's a new poster. And he was throwing out some Arena District ideas. But he may not have known the can of worms he was opening with Cavs relocation idea. SFBOB also gets a pass because he was reacting to the post. But enough already. Point made. Move on. Everyone else did fine. But no more Cavs relocation posts or Columbus bashing posts. Keep it on topic guys.
September 27, 200915 yr Apartments near arena in works Plan calls for 232 units, rec center Saturday, September 26, 2009 5:22 AM By Marla Matzer Rose THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Plans for a Giant Eagle across the street stalled, but a 232-unit apartment project at the corner of Neil Avenue and Vine Street in the Arena District is moving forward. Nationwide Realty Investors is scheduled to unveil plans for Flats on Vine at Tuesday's meeting of the Downtown Commission. Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/09/26/Nationwide_apartments.ART_ART_09-26-09_A8_3PF6GEE.html?sid=101
September 27, 200915 yr 232 apartments? That'll literally add like another 1/4 of the current population (nearing 1,000) of the AD. (Which is a part of Downtown, but fell victim to Columbus' hard-on for "districting" Downtown, so people will refer to the Arena District as being distinct from Downtown. A real life example is the same person who said that Downtown is "dead" and later stated how much there is going on in the Arena District.) Still, there is a downside. This is attracting development away from the rest of Downtown rather than spurring more spin-off development into it, where there are already existing stores, restaurants, bars, etc amidst blank surface lots. All development in the western section of the AD needs to come from scratch since there is little there, save Betty's and the Buggyworks lofts. I would rather hear about several smaller infill developments mending the urban fabric along several blocks in the heart of Downtown rather than a huge development on just one block way out in the periphery. I know having one doesn't mean not having the other, but still, the AD is already quite healthy while much of Downtown is just as broken as it has been for decades although good things are happening on a handful of streets.
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