Howdy...

 

I've just received a job offer in Columbus and accepted it. So, it looks like I'm moving from Cincinnati to Columbus.

 

One issue. I'm not that familiar with the area and I need to find an apartment ASAP.

 

The office I am working in is in the Arena district. I'm looking for an apartment in an urban area, either in the city or near it. I want something nice, a one bedroom or two bedroom, with a bit of personality .... price range is around $750-900/month, preferably a bit less.

 

Any ideas of specific buildings or where to look? Also, any online resources you can think of?

Clintonville!  (North of OSU, south of 270)

Though I don't know of any web based housing/apartment sites.  :cry:

What's special about Clintonville?

 

I was thinking about looking a bit closer to downtown / short north / german village areas

I'm not from Columbus so I don't have a clue, but give it until Monday and you'll have probably a dozen repsonses here.  Also, you could try the search feature.  I know we've had bunch of threads like this before.

oh god, there's a big rental company in victorian village/short north (well there's probably a few) if colday doesn't know the name (or summit or whomever), i can eventually figure it out...

Could you get something right in the Arena District for that amount?  Or do you want to be a bit farther from work?

Hey mtg1255, congratulations on the new job!  You must be happy.  Columbus is booming with new places to live within an urban setting, but most that I know of are only condominiums.  If you want to be close to work, and only have to walk, there is this website <http://arenadistrictliving.com/> you may have already found it.  I would live in Arena Crossing myself if I was not in school and poor.  They are some relatively new apartments directly accross from Nationwide Arena.  It's also within walking distance of the Short North District and the North Market.  You may also want to check out <downtowncolumbus.com> and check out the rental properties in and around downtown. 

Like others have said, most of the development projects going on downtown right now are condos.  Here are a couple of downtown apartments that I know of...

 

Arena Crossing (there's a wait list and I think they run around $900-1k for a small one bedroom)

http://www.arenacrossing.com/

 

Sixty Spring (decent location in downtown - very industrial feeling - short walk to the arena district - no idea about the pricing)

http://www.sixtyspring.com/sixtyspringstreet.asp

 

Brewer's Yard (in the brewery district - 4 minute drive/25 minute walk to arena district - nice pool and workout facility)

http://www.brewersyard.com/intro.html

 

Liberty Place Apts. (still under construction in the brewery district - look very nice - might get a move in special to help them fill up the place quickly)

no website yet - phone #: 216-221-2626

 

Here are two websites for independant landlords who rent out condos/houses...

http://www.columbuslofts.com/

http://www.metro-rentals.com/

 

Hope that gets you started

I have moved 12 times in the past 5 years, and this system always works for me.

 

Go to the neighborhood that you think you would like, find a cool tavern or pub, tell the bartender that you are moving to town and you are looking for apartments.  Service industry folks have a knack for finding cool places that are rather inexpensive.

 

If you are looking around the Short north, try Mac's cafe, Betties and Brian Boru's.  Those places have a ton of regulars, so the bartenders would know if anyone has a place for rent, or if they are soon moving out.  Mac's is at 693 N. High, Betties is across the street, next to the Short North Tavern, and Boru's is south of Macs by a block

 

The area rentals is a bit dominated by the OSU calander, so you are looking a bit off season

 

Also, does Columbus have a craigslist, columbus.craigslist.org ?   You can find some apartments for rent there.

 

Besides the Short North, I think Grandview is a great place

 

 

If you go to Mac's tell them Punch (or Punchin' Pat) sent you

here's a good website to check out:  http://www.downtowncolumbus.com/downtown_housing.php

This is a good site-- the places are listed by district and you can get a feel where the places all are in relation to downtown and the rest of the city.  It's a bit more biased towards newer places and condos, but I think there are some apartments on there too.  Good luck, and have fun searching!

 

www.columbusretrometro.com

What's special about Clintonville?

 

I was thinking about looking a bit closer to downtown / short north / german village areas

 

You can easily find something in your price range in Clintonville.  Downtown & Short North could be pricey (or if you can find something you can afford, be as big as a matchbox).

 

And in Clintonville you'll always be in walking distance from the last bus route COTA would ever wipeout, the N. High line.

This is a good site-- the places are listed by district and you can get a feel where the places all are in relation to downtown and the rest of the city.  It's a bit more biased towards newer places and condos, but I think there are some apartments on there too.  Good luck, and have fun searching!

 

www.columbusretrometro.com

You mean it's a little more biased towards Jeffrey Place? :)  The guy who runs the website is the lead sales guy for the project, and it's getting to be a little sales-pitchy lately.  Still...I appreciate what he's doing with the site.

 

I think it may talk about condos more due to the fact that Sixty Spring and Liberty Place are the only two new apartment complexes in the downtown area.

So I went up to Columbus yesterday.

 

Looking for an apartment sucks. I want something clean with character. I want it to be in or near the city. You would think this are impossible requirements! I would look for a condo, but I want to rent for a bit before I look for something to buy.

 

I looked at the Arena Crossing apartments, but they are like 99% occupied. I looked at the Brewers Yard, but that place just feels too ... bland. I looked at a place in the German Village... it was kind of cool but I want to see some other interesting options. Some places I saw in Short North /Victorian Village were just scary.

 

Thanks for all your comments guys, this is hard work! I'll be heading up again this weekend.

I went with my brother on his search yesterday.  He's right - it's tough to find something nice in or around the city.  I assumed it would be more like Cincinnati where a lot of big downtown apartment projects with some character have come online in the last few years (Emery, Sycamore Place, Kinsey Flats, etc).  That's not what we found however - perhaps it's due to Columbus having less building stock to convert to loft-style apartments.

 

I had a nice one bedroom at the Emery for $725/mo with parking in Cincinnati.  Damn Columbus with all that growth going on...

 

Perhaps we just didn't look hard enough :).

 

Are there any equivalents to the Cincinnation neighborhoods of say, Ludlow, Mt. Lookout, Hyde park etc? 

I've been lurking around here for a bit, but here's my first post:

 

Check out GRANDVIEW.

 

I have a gorgeous place with hardwood floors, two bedrooms, fireplace, a porch. It's a block from the Grandview Ave. strip (Spagio, Drexel, Panera, Figlio, Gibby's, GCafe, et al.) and it's 650/month.

 

I work downtown at the newspaper and it's a quick, easy 10-minute drive in and out on 670.

 

 

I agree...Grandview and German Village are the best for nice, affordable neighborhoods close to downtown.

 

As far as downtown apartments go, check out Sixty-Spring (I linked to it in an earlier post).  It might be more in-line with what you're looking for.  There's also a condo for rent in Connexions that is available through the www.columbuslofts.com link I gave.

If you want to use my pub system for finding a place in Grandview, stop by Byrne's pub

 

Thanks everyone. Any more tips appreciated. I guess I'll just have to drive around some more...

a lot of post college people first move to grandview. you'll see why when you drive around there, the style is lots of apt houses with four apts each. its a great nabe.

 

hang in there you'll find something you like -- before that i had a cool old deco apt house with heated floors for heating, it had heated water pipes running back and forth under the tile floors -- pretty interesting to walk around barefoot all winter and be just fine warm!

 

i also lived in a groovy loft right above l'antibes restaurant in the short north, try my old landlord sandy wood for some more unique apts around there:

 

http://www.woodcompanies.com/

 

 

good luck let us know what happens!

 

The above link to the wood companies is a good start.  Trust me I lived in the Short North area and there are tons of great and really really nice renovated apartments.  There are also many cheaper but not so renovated units.  You simply need to look for adds in local papers and see the unit for yourself.  Driving around can also help.(looking for signs in front of what looks to be a renovated town home or apartment building)  Italian Village has a lot of nice new apartments.  ON 2nd ave and Summit St. is a place called New Village Place, these are all apartments and just built last year. 

 

If your okay with an area that isn't as far along in its gentrification then do not forget Olde Town East.(between Main St. and Broad st, east of downtown next to highway 71; the closer to downtown in olde town the nicer the area)  You can get a nice renovated apartment for half the prices of German Village and the Short North in Olde Town.  Also Town St. in downtown has a lot of apartments.  This is the olde section of town st.  Anything east of Grant Ave. is considered the olde section of town st.  Most of the apartments are just okay but atleast your in the city and have a place in a good location.  There are a few old homes being redone on town st. that are for lease.

 

In downtown the only big new apartment complex getting ready to open is 60 Spring East.  There's atleast 60 units opening in that building and they look pretty nice.  Someone posted a link to their site earlier, but the Downtown Columbus website has a great listing of other downtown units that are for rent and the Spring East Apartments.

 

www.downtowncolumbus.com

 

you can see allmost all of the units for lease in downtown

Are you looking strictly for apartments or would you also consider rental housing?  I lived in a rental house in the Short North for a while, between High and Summit on 1st Ave.  High St. was a short walk and you could always catch a bus.

Thanks all, I found an apartment in German Village that I'm hoping will suit me well. Right near the park!

 

I really appreciate all the help.

Great neighborhood!  Have fun there.

Yes, you will love it I'm sure!

Nice work!

 

Since you're so close, be sure to check out some free outdoor theater at Schiller Park next year.

http://www.theactorstheatre.org/

Will do. Thanks, Brewmaster. I'm excited to check the area out some more!