Jump to content

Featured Replies

  • Replies 826
  • Views 64.4k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Most Popular Posts

  • VintageLife
    VintageLife

    Four-Story Building Proposed for Clintonville Site   A revised development proposal for a used car lot on High Street is set to be heard by the zoning committee of the Clintonville Area Comm

  • From the article:   “It was 100% driven by the commission,” Higgins said, when asked about the project’s reduction in size. “They made it very clear that they would not support a five-story

  • There are so many spots on literally every little side street right in that area. People are just so afraid of walking for whatever reason. When I have friends visit who don't live in the city I want

Posted Images

Organic grocer Lucky’s Market coming to Clintonville

 

Lucky’s Market is making a big leap into Ohio.

 

The 10-year-old organic and specialty grocer has two stores in its native Colorado but has picked Clintonville for its first out-of-state expansion. The store at 2770 N. High St. is scheduled to open Oct. 23.

 

Owners Bo and Trish Sharon said in a press release their goal is to provide a “foodie” experience for the shopper.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2013/10/organic-grocer-luckys-market-coming.html

"You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers

  • 2 weeks later...

I live near this new store and have been watching the progress, but I didn't really know what Lucky's Market was. I'm glad I'll have another shopping choice in walking distance. They have a lot of work to do if they are to open in 2 weeks though.

 

Here is a picture from early September.

  • Author

As of today, they look not too far from opening. The outside is almost ready, and there appears to be a lot of merchandise already on the shelves.

 

I couldn't tell anything for certain though (as the automobile-parking lot is between the building and street), while I was looking towards it from the sidewalk.

  • 2 weeks later...

Couple more "why did Lucky's open in Clintonville" articles.  The one from Business First is subscriber-only for the full article unfortunately.  Actually, the Dispatch is too - if you're not a subscriber and are over the 10 free articles per month limit with them.  But if not, then the Dispatch article is viewable:

 

Business First: Lucky’s another chain in organic wave

 

Columbus Dispatch: Natural-foods grocer Lucky’s likes Clintonville vibe

  • 2 weeks later...

- I previously posted a month ago some articles speculating about development impacts from the "infamous left-turn lane" at the High & Broadway intersection in Clintonville.  Today, Columbus Underground is reporting about some development at a different Clintonville intersection some six blocks south at High & California.

 

- This is the location of a previous failed development effort from 2009 to build a 3 to 4-story building that would have had up to 26 apartments - previously reported here in this thread.  This High & California corner is one block north of a similar 3 to 4-story condo building that was built in 2010 at High & Weber called the Terraces at Wahalla - previously reported here in this thread.

 

- The new development at High & California is a one-story, 7,200 sq. ft. retail building.  The best aspect of this new building is that it will be built up to the High Street property line.  The worst aspect of this new building is, unfortunately, everything else.  The developer even says in the CU article that they are looking to do "multi-story mixed use" projects in the Clintonville area.  But for this site, the support from neighboring property owners and the Clintonville Area Commission for that type of project was not there.  So, here's the report from CU:

 


Retail Center Coming to Long-Contested Corner in Clintonville

By: Brent Warren, Columbus Underground

Published on November 7, 2013 - 8:00 am

 

A 7,200 square foot retail center is currently under construction at the corner of North High Street and East California Avenue in Clintonville.  The single-story building will be built up to the street and feature space for three tenants.

 

A previous proposal for the parcel generated some controversy four years ago, when developer Don DeVere sought to build a three-story building along High Street with a four-story building behind it.  His project, which consisted of 26 apartments and 6,000 square feet of retail space, was rejected by the Clintonville Area Commission.

 

Stephen Brothers-McGrew, Marketing Manager for developer Crawford Hoying, confirmed that Wright-Patt Credit Union will be opening a branch in the center.  No leases have been signed for the other two storefronts, which include a potential restaurant space with room for patio seating along California.

 

MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/retail-center-coming-to-long-contested-corner-in-clintonville-bw1

This is so disappointing -- a failure on so many levels. The city's Urban Commercial Overlay zoning a dozen or so years ago was intended to have mixed-use buildings on major corridors build right up to the sidewalk -- but it has never actually required mixed-use or multi-story. As a result, there are all sorts of single-story, single-use commercial buildings up and down High Street in the last decade or so.

 

The Clintonville Area Commission seems to think it's making decisions for a 1970s suburb instead of a 21st Century urban enclave. The DeVere project a few years back was for a four-story mixed-use building on High Street with a connected three-story townhouse complex up the hill on California. It was rejected by the Commission because it was eight feet higher than zoning allowed and needed a variance. Commissioners called it too dense, but the real opposition came from neighbors who complained that 26 housing units translated into 52 parking spaces -- more than the lot could accommodate. Of course, they were blind to the fact that people attracted to a mixed-use urban building next to a bus stop would not be two-car families, but urbanites who use buses, bikes and scooters. The Board of Zoning Adjustment fell in line and backed the Commission's rejection, despite arguments from the only Clintonville representative on the Board -- 80-year-old Realtor Paul Love, who was the only one looking ahead and embracing the urban future.

 

And then there's the "retail" in this bland building: a credit union and two unleased spaces. Ah! Just what Clintonville needs. Maybe we can persuade Hustler Hollywood to give Clintonville another chance! A few blocks to the south, a car wash is being proposed for the former White Castle site. That's the kind of retail attracted to Clintonville. And we're not going to get much more until we get more density.

 

Between 1960 and 2000, Clintonville lost 27 percent of its population as households got smaller. The only ways to regain that population -- and the retail that it will lure -- are to 1) encourage Clintonville couples to have bigger families or 2) add new households by increasing density along certain corridors.

 

Don't hold your breath.

And that's why I never moved there. When compared to actual urban areas, it's still more like one of those far-flung 'burbs people who work in NYC have to settle for because they can't afford anything closer. The kind where you have to commute 90 minutes in each direction -- except there's no rail transit.

  • Author

 

The CAC seems to believe it is in 1970s, like UrbanSurfin said... I'd say they don't think of themselves as an urban neighborhood (even though it is along High St.), but pretend to be a tiny little great-lakes-style or New-England village.

 

If they repudiate long enough, they can become the showcase of Columburb.

I personally don't expect anything worth existing to happen north of maybe Weber Road or that area for quite some time, if ever.

 

////

 

A few blocks to the south, a car wash is being proposed for the former White Castle site.

 

That parcel is under the University Area Commission. Based on recent decisions by them, I remain hopeful that they will inform them to get lost.

Are you sure that site is UAC? I believe the check-cashing joint (formerly Hustler Hollywood, formerly tanning salon) was CAC.

Son of a gun. Thanks.

  • Author

Interesting about that 2725 N High location... On November 4th they were in the University Area Commission Zoning agenda, and November 5th they were in the Clintonville Area Commission. ( http://www.clintonvilleareacommission.org/index.php/documents-minutes-agendas/cat_view/44-variance-and-zoning.html?orderby=dmdate_published )

 

Whichever, the plans have been rejected and withdrawn.

 

The only other mention for the future of the site I have heard is a park connecting the the river and the ravine, and the plan includes buying the Tim Horton's plot. ?

  • 2 weeks later...

Interesting about that 2725 N High location... On November 4th they were in the University Area Commission Zoning agenda, and November 5th they were in the Clintonville Area Commission. ( http://www.clintonvilleareacommission.org/index.php/documents-minutes-agendas/cat_view/44-variance-and-zoning.html?orderby=dmdate_published )

 

Whichever, the plans have been rejected and withdrawn.

 

The only other mention for the future of the site I have heard is a park connecting the the river and the ravine, and the plan includes buying the Tim Horton's plot.

 

More about this from ThisWeekNews - with a rendering of the park proposal at the link below:

 

Car wash out; arboretum dreams of walking trail

With Goo-Goo's withdrawal, group has eye on former White Castle property

By KEVIN PARKS, ThisWeek Community News

Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - 2:05 PM

 

With the Clintonville Area Commission's recommendation against a proposed car wash for a former White Castle site on North High Street and the developer's subsequent withdrawal of that proposal, Lower Olentangy Urban Arboretum officials are moving forward with efforts to acquire the property.

 

The goal would be to make the site part of the arboretum, as well as to eventually uncover a stream that runs underneath it.  In fact, arboretum President Mike McLaughlin said, board members have decided to embark on an even more-ambitious project to create a walking trail from Glen Echo Park to the Olentangy River.  "It's going to be challenging," McLaughlin said.

 

Such a project would mean not only obtaining the property at 2725 N. High St., currently for sale at $750,000, McLaughlin said, but also eventually acquiring the Tim Hortons restaurant almost directly across the street.

 

MORE: http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/clintonville/news/2013/11/19/car-wash-out-arboretum-dreams-of-walking-trail.html

  • 5 months later...

The new High & California development. If only this were a multi-story building.

 

Construction seems to be stalled. Not much going on there for weeks.

 

There were a couple of guys in there working when I took that picture. It is going slow for such a small building though.

  • Author

^I like the brickwork.

 

I like most of it...but I think the stack of 6 high (4 high in some places) soldier bricks starting from ground level is very unpleasant.

The worst part is that it's one story, after the community rejected a four-story mixed-use building there a few years ago.

  • 4 weeks later...

Interesting about that 2725 N High location... On November 4th they were in the University Area Commission Zoning agenda, and November 5th they were in the Clintonville Area Commission. ( http://www.clintonvilleareacommission.org/index.php/documents-minutes-agendas/cat_view/44-variance-and-zoning.html?orderby=dmdate_published )

 

Whichever, the plans have been rejected and withdrawn.

 

The only other mention for the future of the site I have heard is a park connecting the the river and the ravine, and the plan includes buying the Tim Horton's plot.

 

More about this from ThisWeekNews - with a rendering of the park proposal at the link below:

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/clintonville/news/2013/11/19/car-wash-out-arboretum-dreams-of-walking-trail.html

 

Couple of new reports about that 2725 N. High Street location from CU today:

 

1) It could get opened up to Glen Echo Creek that currently flows below: http://www.columbusunderground.com/study-to-look-at-glen-echo-trail-restoring-ravine-along-high-street-bw1

 

2) Or not: http://www.columbusunderground.com/restaurant-and-retail-planned-for-former-white-castle-site-in-clintonville-bw1

 

Couple of new reports about that 2725 N. High Street location from CU today:

 

1) It could get opened up to Glen Echo Creek that currently flows below: http://www.columbusunderground.com/study-to-look-at-glen-echo-trail-restoring-ravine-along-high-street-bw1

 

2) Or not: http://www.columbusunderground.com/restaurant-and-retail-planned-for-former-white-castle-site-in-clintonville-bw1

 

If they do a development on that site I really want to see at least a 2-story building there. No more of this 1-story crap. The only positive thing I can say about those renderings in that second article is the buildings are built up to the sidewalk.

Still not much going on with this boring little building, but I live nearby so here are some more pictures anyway.

 

  • 4 weeks later...

You have to marvel at Clintonville.  Somehow, nearly every commercial development gets embroiled in controversy.  The latest one is the construction of a single-story fast-food restaurant at 5132 N. High Street.  This is a far north part of Clintonville, on a very auto-oriented section of High Street close to the Worthington-Columbus boundary.  Below is a google aerial of the area.

 

WWtmI2I.jpg?1

 

The 5132 N. High Street property is located across High Street from the massive Graceland Shopping Center and next to a smaller shopping center on the east side of High Street.  There is also an apartment complex immediately east of this property.  The restaurant parcel abuts the Bill Moose Ravine - a wooded ravine that contains the Bill Moose Run waterway which flows into the Olentangy River.  However, the Bill Moose Run waterway abutting this parcel was enclosed in a large pipe during the 1960’s to improve water quality in the overall Bill Moose Run. 

 

Apparently the restaurant started construction site prep on this commercially zoned parcel last week.  This included the removal of a grass lot that abuts the Bill Moose Ravine, as well as numerous trees next to and within the ravine.  This work caught the Clintonville community by surprise and led to the current controversy.

 

And what is the name of the restaurant whose construction is causing this controversy?  RAISING CANE'S

Here's more about the Raising Cane's/Bill Moose Ravine development controversy from multiple sources:

 

- Business First's recap from Monday morning at http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/morning_call/2014/08/morning-roundup-tap-a-stone-day-gets-brewers.html

 

"Raising hackles in Clintonville:  Some Clintonville residents are upset about construction of a Raising Cane's that took out several large trees on a lot on North High Street across from Graceland Shopping Center, the Clintonville Booster reports at http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/clintonville/news/2014/07/28/cleared-land-at-raising-canes-site-frustrates-environmental-groups.html.  The land was part of the Bill Moose Ravine, the paper said, so they felt the property should have been overseen by the Ohio EPA or the Clintonville Area Commission.  "It kind of snuck under our radar. We’re heartbroken that damage like this was caused," Friends of the Ravines board member Alice Waldhauer said.  The EPA said it wasn't a wetland so it wasn't an issue for them and the former residential property already had been rezoned for fast food so it didn't need to go before the area commission."

 

- More about it in a discussion thread at Columbus Underground at http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/bill-moose-ravine-unexpectedly-destroyed.  Raising Cane's responded to the controversy at the bottom of the first page in this thread.

 

- CU report: http://www.columbusunderground.com/portion-of-clintonville-ravine-cleared-for-new-restaurant

 

- 10TV report: http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2014/08/01/columbus-ohio-raising-concerns-new-chicken-restaurant-irks-some-clintonville-residents.html

 

- The original notice on the Friends of the Ravines website at http://www.friendsoftheravines.org/uncategorized/bill-moose-ravine-unexpectedly-destroyed/

I don't drive on that part of High often, but I did yesterday. I was wondering what was going on there.

  • 1 month later...

The cleared site for the Raising Cane's. I didn't know there was an old house back there.

 

Also, the second image is of a new Wright-Patt credit union across the street in the Graceland Shopping Center. It seems they are moving into the Columbus market in a big way.

  • 4 weeks later...

The building at High & California is complete. The tenants are Local Cantina, Snap Fitness, and Wright-Patt Credit Union.

 

 

Also, while the California & High building was under construction the auto parts store next to it closed. It would be a good spot for a 3-story mixed-use proposal later to be reduced to 1-story due to NIMBYism.

  • Author

The building at High & California is complete.

 

Really? It looks like they have only finished the first floor. 

  • 2 months later...
  • Author

As part of the Columbus UIRF (Urban Infrastructure Recovery Fund), the CAC approved a few projects:

 

-2 Planted Medians for south Clintonville... one on High St. and one on Indianola.

-Road Diet and bike lanes on Indianola between North Broadway and Morse.

-Road Diet for W. North Broadway between High and the river

-New sidewalks on parts of Indianola

-A new north/south bike connector

 

Implementation will happen sometime between now and 2019.

  • 1 month later...

Might something be going into to the Clinton Theater site?  There's a community meeting set up for a developer with a project.  And it sounds like a 5-story, mixed-use project.  Which means that it will likely get 'Clintonvilled' down to a single-story project.  But for now, here's the news:

 

clintonville-broadway-high*304xx5184-3456-0-0.jpg

 

Developer moving closer to project at Broadway & High in Clintonville

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

Updated: Mar 11, 2015, 5:53pm EDT

 

A proposed mixed-use project in Clintonville will be the subject of an upcoming community meeting.  Northstar Realty LLC will present plans for the complex at North High Street and West North Broadway during the March 30 meeting at the Clinton Heights Lutheran Church, starting at 6:30 p.m.

 

Dana Bagwell, zoning committee chairwoman for the Clintonville Area Commission, posted the meeting on her community Facebook page.  The meeting will be sponsored by the community group Positively Clintonville.  "The developer will be on hand to discuss the plan and answer questions," Bagwell wrote.

 

Pressed by residents, she revealed a few details.  "It's a multi-use development, with retail/restaurants on the first floor, parking on the second, and three stories of apartments above," she wrote. "The total number of apartments, I think, is planned to be 60."

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/03/11/developer-moving-closer-to-project-at-broadway.html

  • 3 weeks later...
  • Author

From the presentation:

Thanks for sharing! What reception did it get? Were there people out front protesting such high density?

  • Author

After the developers gave the presentation, they allowed people to ask questions and give comments. (They had time to do about a dozen.) A few people voiced concerns on how they thought it was too dense. Some people thought there wasn't enough parking. Some wanted a shorter building. Some were concerned about traffic patterns on Brighton and the alley.

Following each question/comment, the host asked for a show of hands from the crowd about whether they felt the same way. Of the probably 50 people there, there were probably 30 or so that raised their hand with each concern. One lady spoke highly in favor of it, and she received clapping equal to the guy that said it would ruin the small town feel of Clintonville.

///

 

5 floors. Retail, appx 17,000 sq ft total on the first. Third through fifth are apartments, twenty on each floor. Parking garage on second floor and behind building. Walkway through the middle. (Think of the Bank Block in Grandview Heights, but taller.)

62 ft planned, which requires a variance for the last 27 feet. Height was mentioned to be about the same as school across street.

About 160 parking spaces planned, which needs a variance from 200 minimum. Variance also needed for triangle sight lines in the alley.

Little abandoned shack behind the old Clintonville Electric space could not be purchased(next to Brighton). (The developers were sad that they couldn't include that parcel in the plans. They tried, and owner refused to sell at any price.)

Parking is accessed from that point on Brighton, and also from the alley off Broadway. The alley would be widened and repaved.

Rent prices were unknown they said.

The cylinder shaped corner piece isn't for sure what they want to do in the corner.

The city needs to use eminent domain to take that small house.  Holds out are absolutely ridiculous, I almost want to buy it just to sell it to the developer.

Thought for sure that CU would have an April Fools Day article about this proposal.  (They've got a bunch of other ones over at http://www.columbusunderground.com)

 

Instead, CU had this non-April Fools Day article about this week's presentation to the neighborhood:  http://www.columbusunderground.com/plan-for-north-broadway-development-presented-to-neighborhood-bw1

A project that was previously "Clintonvilled" is ready to break ground.  A developer originally proposed building five 3-story brownstones on a 1.2 acre lot at the southwest corner of High and Croswell.  However, after getting the "Clintonville treatment", a single-story 4,500 sq. ft. restaurant with surface parking and a 'nature preserve' on 1/4 of the lot was all that was approved:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/03/31/rusty-bucket-in-clintonville-gets-april.html

A project that was previously "Clintonvilled" is ready to break ground.  A developer originally proposed building five 3-story brownstones on a 1.2 acre lot at the southwest corner of High and Croswell.  However, after getting the "Clintonville treatment", a single-story 4,500 sq. ft. restaurant with surface parking and a 'nature preserve' on 1/4 of the lot was all that was approved:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/03/31/rusty-bucket-in-clintonville-gets-april.html

 

I saw yesterday that they had cleared the site.

Yuck.

^ That's not a proposal -- that's a schematic, a conceptual drawing to illustrate the scale.  The final design will probably still be "meh," but still ...

  • 2 weeks later...

Northstar tweaks plan for Clintonville project

 

northsta-high-and-broadway-smaller*600xx5124-3416-870-0.jpg

 

Northstar Realty LLC has altered its development plans for the southwest corner of North High Street and West North Broadway, saying it’s trying to ease concerns over the Clintonville project’s density and visual impact.

 

The revised plans filed this week call for nearly 16,000 square feet of leasable retail and restaurant space on the ground level, slightly less than first proposed, and 20 apartments each on floors three through five.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/04/16/first-look-northstar-tweaks-plan-for-clintonville.html

"You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers

  • 1 month later...

Is Clintonville finally jumping on the urban bandwagon?  First the Swim Club development gets approved.  Then, the 5-story building proposed for High & Broadway gets a reasonable reception.

 

Now a 3-story mixed-use building further north at 4560 N. High Street.  Although, the article notes that "the plan for the site utilizes existing zoning and does not require any variances, meaning it will not be going before the Clintonville Area Commission".  So, this developer is not taking any chances with the CAC!

 

timthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.columbusunderground.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F05%2Fcrawford-hoying.jpg&q=90&w=650&zc=1&

 

Mixed-Use Development Moving Forward in Clintonville

By Brent Warren, Columbus Underground

May 21, 2015 - 6:00 am

 

Local developer Crawford Hoying is moving forward with a three-story mixed-use development at the southeast corner of North High Street and Weisheimer Road in northern Clintonville.  The top two floors will contain eight market-rate apartments while the entire ground floor will be occupied by Bareburger’s second Columbus location.

 

The site, which is just over half an acre, currently holds an older single-story structure (built in 1930) that’s attached to a two-story portion added in 1978.  The building had most recently been used as offices.  A rendering of the new development shows four small balconies, outdoor seating for the restaurant along High, and parking in the rear that would be accessed from Weisheimer.

 

MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/mixed-use-development-moving-forward-in-clintonville-bw1

Awesome.

"You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers

Very interesting how the Broadway & High design invokes the facade of the old Clinton Theater that was demolished years ago to (speculatively) make way for this development. It would've been far more preferable to have saved the solid old building and incorporate it into this project, but the developers had nothing to do with those 2010 decisions. They at least paid homage to what once was there.

  • 2 weeks later...

More about the High & Broadway project.  The developer was able to get control of the former Clintonville Electric site and the proposed five-story building can now extend the full distance from North Broadway to Brighton Road.  Below is a revised site plan and article from the Dispatch:

 

18203570799_46b8a2813c_d.jpg

 

Proposed 5-story Clintonville building to grow with added land

By Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch

Monday, June 1, 2015 - 8:59 AM

 

The five-story building with apartments and stores proposed for the heart of Clintonville is growing.  Northstar Realty is in contract to acquire the former Clintonville Electric site, giving the company control of the west side of N. High Street between W. North Broadway and Brighton Road.

 

That gives the developer more room to expand the project to 66 apartments, from 60.  The original proposal called for 161 parking spaces within the building.  Now, plans call for 174, said Northstar President Tom Brigdon, who added that the retail and restaurant space is to grow a bit beyond the initial 17,000 square feet.

 

It would transform the busy intersection and has both supporters and detractors.  One of the biggest concerns among some area residents is that the building would be too tall for the neighborhood.  The first proposal called for 62 feet.  The latest plan is for 58.5 feet. ... The height still requires a variance, one of four the project needs.  The Clintonville Area Commission’s zoning and variance committee is to discuss the project at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Clinton Heights Lutheran Church, 15 Clinton Heights Ave.  The full commission is to consider it at 7 p.m. Thursday at Beechwold Christian Church, 280 Morse Rd.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/06/01/proposed-5-story-clintonville-building-adds-space.html

Create an account or sign in to comment

Recently Browsing 0

  • No registered users viewing this page.