While Patrick J’s has officially closed as of this past weekend, the property won’t be sitting idle for long. Local development company Borror Properties purchased the property at 2711 North High Street on Friday, and plans to combine it with the former White Castle property next door at 2725 North High Street for a larger scale development.
“We are very excited to partner once again with our friends at White Castle, and at the same time expand our very active urban development pipeline north to another vibrant neighborhood in Columbus,” said Borror Properties CEO Doug Borror.
Currently, Borror has no specific plans as to what the development might look like, and the project presents a bit of a unique challenge as it straddles two neighborhoods: Old North Columbus / University District, and Clintonville. That means that any development will need to be approved by at least two separate commissions — the Clintonville Area Commission and the University Area Commission. Depending upon the specifics of the proposal, it may also need approval by the University Area Review Board.
“We’ve only talked to the city once so far, so everything is really preliminary,” explained Borror Executive VP Jeff Baur. “We’ll have preliminary discussions with both commissions and work through all of that and figure it all out.”
Both neighborhood commissions have a history of pushing for lower density developments while Borror has generally pushed for taller buildings in other neighborhoods. The Clintonville Area Commission effectively reduced a four-story proposal at High and California into a single-story retail center, reduced the number of units and increased parking at The Olympic on Indianola, and are currently working on revisions to a five-story proposal at North Broadway and High. The University Area Commission has approved some taller mid-rise structures, but in December spoke out about a six-story building proposed at Lane and Tuttle Park. Borror’s tallest building approved to date is an eight-story Short North building that was reduced from an original plan from 11 stories.
Baur said that their hope is to build something that is uniform in design and has a cohesive look across both neighborhoods.
The Clintonville White Castle originally closed on Christmas Eve in 2010, and plans from a different developer in 2014 called for the construction of a single-story retail center, which never materialized.