RSS
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Business First of Columbus wrote
Arena District vying for last piece of puzzle
Friday, October 3, 2008
by Brian R. Ball
The developer of the Arena District expects to launch the $250 million final phase of the downtown Columbus development next spring with construction of a 238-unit apartment complex.
Nationwide Realty Investors Ltd. has asked the city to allow it to improve streets and build the infrastructure necessary to add the apartments and eventually two office buildings and other projects along Vine Street between Neil Avenue and Kilbourne Street. The developer, a unit of Columbus-based insurer Nationwide, would later seek reimbursement from the city for those costs.
Related Stories:
- Giant Eagle & apartments in plans for Arena District
- 22 Acre Development West of Arena District
- One more piece of Arena District coming together
- The Arena District turns 10 years old and growing
- Columbus’ Walkable Neighborhoods: Arena District
Good to hear more residents will be living Downtown, now what about those empty retail spots? They should work on getting those filled.
This is finally going to happen! Great! But it’s not the last piece of the puzzle– that would be the ocean of asphalt on the west side of the arena to Neil. But it’s coming along though, no doubt.
Exactly. I would have thought that the last piece of the puzzle in the Arena District would have been retail. Instead, it seems that Nationwide has chosen to develop retail at Grandview Yard, while limiting the Arena District to restaurants, offices and residential. From my perspective – definitely not ideal.
Is the Giant Eagle proposal still in the mix? Though I’d prefer a supermarket closer to the heart of downtown. And an Arena District location would cannibalize the Giant Eagle in Victorian Village.
Retail’s a tough nut to crack. With the destination retail we have already (Easton, Polaris, or even Lennox) and the proposed Grandview Yard, I doubt there’s enough demand for more. Convenience retail (e.g. supermarket) requires a critical mass of consumers in a more localized area, and our downtown just doesn’t have enough people.
Downtown Los Angeles had to reach 30,000 residents to finally draw its first supermarket. It was a huge deal there: http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/21/local/me-ralphs21
One alternative would be a smaller-scale grocery, 10,000-15,000 sq ft rather than 30,000-50,000. The smaller urban format supermarket is a huge trend in the UK. I don’t see why it hasn’t taken off in American downtowns.
I’m going to guess that they’ve had trouble attracting retail to the Arena District, because not a whole lot of people live there. Retail follows rooftops, right? You can skirt that a bit when you’ve got a lot of retailers banded together (either as a mall or district) but if they’re trying to attract single retailers one at a time to the AD, I think they’re going to have to add more apartments and condos first. I can’t imagine their retail rents are cheap either.
The latest news is that it is still in the works:
http://www.columbusunderground.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14180
The plan is to have it replace the VV GE. It will probably also replace the North Market as well. I’ve heard from a friend that the GE is being pitched to the city as a great alternative to the “struggling, empty, worthless” North Market. Whatever it takes to make a buck, right?
it makes me cringe to think the north market could actually close with the opening of this giant eagle. yea, let’s replace a columbus landmark and totally unique shopping destination with a suburban style grocery store. they will get a piece of my mind if this happens.
Are you being sarcastic or have you finally lost your mind?
No one is even remotely suggesting that this is what would happen. If anything the North Market will gain business. Giant Eagle serves a completely different product than North Market. The increase in traffic and business in the area would benefit both. Case closed.
“Finally” lost my mind? You make it sound as if I have a track record for posting crazy ideas. I feel like I’m a fairly level-headed person.
Anyway, I agree that the development COULD help the North Market if it is designed to do so.
But from what I’ve heard (and again, I’m just passing info along from a very reliable source of mine), that is not at all how it is being sold. Lots of rumors are being passed along that the North Market has fewer tenants than City Center. I was shocked to hear this, as I assumed everyone knows that the North Market is thriving. So far, as far as I’m aware, no one at the North Market has been spoken with officially about these development plans.
Don’t count on this being a win-win for everyone when the North Market is being given the cold shoulder.
I’ll post something more official when I’ve got better info to post. But that’s about all I can say for now.
I’m going to guess that they’ve had trouble attracting retail to the Arena District, because not a whole lot of people live there. Retail follows rooftops, right? You can skirt that a bit when you’ve got a lot of retailers banded together (either as a mall or district) but if they’re trying to attract single retailers one at a time to the AD, I think they’re going to have to add more apartments and condos first. I can’t imagine their retail rents are cheap either.
You may be right. At the same time, when you consider that anyone who visits the future Grandview Yard will have to travel there by car, would it have made that much of a difference if they would have instead had to drive another mile to the Arena District to shop? Are there really that many more rooftops within a short drive of Grandview Yard than there are within a short drive of the Arena District?
I also don’t think there necessarily has to be a significant parking advantage at Grandview Yard considering that it seems about half of the Arena District is comprised of parking garages. The Arena District also has an edge in that it may one day have streetcar service.
I agree that it would be easier to attract retailers to a district which was designed as a retail destination. I was hoping to see something like this as a sort of sub-district within or adjacent to the Arena District – maybe 3 or 4 blocks with nothing but stores on both sides of the street.
I hope I am not being too negative, but I can’t help but to be a little disappointed in the way this has panned out.
Sadly, yes. If there are 100 shops at Grandview Yard, but only 10 in the Arena District, more people are going to go where they have more variety. One-stop-shopping is the reason that shopping malls and Wal-Mart thrive. Setting up a big “shopping destination” is what I meant by “skirting” the “retail follows rooftops” mantra. Grandview Yard will be configured as a shopping destination. The Arena District is not, and would rely much more heavily on a more local market.
Not that I agree with the way things have been configured… just trying to make sense of why things are the way there are currently.
I agree. That would suck. North market is an icon.
And why is the city allowing Nationwide to continue to not pay taxes on this. What gives? Are there any businesses paying taxes in Columbus anymore? And another thing, wasn’t the city supposed to be providing a “plan” for City Center mall in June?
Where the hell is that?
I agree. That would suck. North market is an icon.
And why is the city allowing Nationwide to continue to not pay taxes on this. What gives? Are there any businesses paying taxes in Columbus anymore? And another thing, wasn’t the city supposed to be providing a “plan” for City Center mall in June?
Where the hell is that?
Aren’t Giant Eagle and the North Market separate enough in form and function to keep both in business? That other Giant Eagle is still awfully close on Neil, and the North Market seems to have been getting stronger over the years. I mean, yes, still do everything to ensure the North Market stays in business, but I think it’s a bit alarmist to predict its demise with this development.
I agree. That would suck. North market is an icon.
And why is the city allowing Nationwide to continue to not pay taxes on this. What gives? Are there any businesses paying taxes in Columbus anymore? And another thing, wasn’t the city supposed to be providing a “plan” for City Center mall in June?
Where the hell is that?
Aren’t Giant Eagle and the North Market separate enough in form and function to keep both in business? That other Giant Eagle is still awfully close on Neil, and the North Market seems to have been getting stronger over the years. I mean, yes, still do everything to ensure the North Market stays in business, but I think it’s a bit alarmist to predict its demise with this development.
I think growing the Arena District as well as growing the AD’s connectivity with other Columbus neighborhoods will give it a mass of people (both resident and visiting) capable of supporting both North Market and a Giant Eagle. In fact, the store most clearly threatened by the addition of this Giant Eagle is the other one a half mile or so (maybe even less) up Neil. North Market is already a destination, and one has to wonder what kind of product one would be in the mood to buy that would have one thinking “North Market,” but which a Giant Eagle might entice you in to buy from them instead.
My only problem with the Dispatch article was the mention of “a 2.5-acre city-owned parcel straddling Vine Street on the west side of Neil Avenue” for the construction site. Vine Street does not extend west of Neil Ave.
It doesn’t look like NRI itself disagrees with you on that point, hence the massive apartment complex going in alongside the GE. You can still buy a lot for $250 million even these days.
Smaller format grocery is exploding right now in the U.S…..it’s just in the design/development phase for the most part, with retailers from “high end” (Whole Foods) to the “mass consumption” (Target, Wal-Mart and the likes) trying to figure out how to carve out that niche in an economically viable way.
WD Partners is a design & brand A/E firm in Dublin, OH who is currently working on a lot of these types of projects across the country.
***Oh yeah, I know Columbus natives have a warm spot in their hearts for the North Market, but you really need to be informed on who you buy food from in that area. The Health Department inspection reports are public record and I know they have had trouble with a number of vendors down there as far as sanitary issues. I know things are getting better, and I hope they continue to do so. Just some food for thought.***
This message brought to you by your local nightly news team.
Coming up next, Boyd’s Top Five Most Deadliest Toys For Children!
:P
Grandview Yard is just a slightly more urban Easton. A 1.5-2 million sq ft commercial space to 600-800 residential unit ratio looks way out of whack. And how do you think people are going to get here? This is also going to have a big effect on 3rd Ave, currently the best option for bikes to cross the river around here. Nationwide dropped the ball on this project. We could have had a new urban village, but no.
This message brought to you by your local nightly news team.
Coming up next, Boyd’s Top Five Most Deadliest Toys For Children!
:P
Walker, I think that’s good information to have. Not the appropriate place to put it. I love the North Market, and I won’t stop going there, but if a particular vendor is cutting corners on the health codes, I’d like to know.
This message brought to you by your local nightly news team.
Coming up next, Boyd’s Top Five Most Deadliest Toys For Children!
:P
Make fun now, but come talk to me when you are puking your guts out at 3am just because you ate food from some vendor doesn’t cool food properly.