Although still seperated by a freeway, don't forget that Cooper Stadium will be redeveloped in the next couple years.
There are many things to like about the future of Franklinton.





Although still seperated by a freeway, don't forget that Cooper Stadium will be redeveloped in the next couple years.
There are many things to like about the future of Franklinton.
MRipley said:
Although still seperated by a freeway, don't forget that Cooper Stadium will be redeveloped in the next couple years.There are many things to like about the future of Franklinton.
True. I'm wondering how much of that Cooper Stadium redevelopment will be felt north of I-70 though. That stretch of elevated highway certainly does feel like a Berlin Wall to me.
Walker said:
True. I'm wondering how much of that Cooper Stadium redevelopment will be felt north of I-70 though. That stretch of elevated highway certainly does feel like a Berlin Wall to me.
I think one of the biggest benfits of the project will be the fact that people passing through on I-70 will see that there is a big, bright shiny new development instead of an abandoned ball bark. It reflects that developers and the city are investing in the area and may help erase perceptions that it is just another 'hood.
Can't hurt that it should also provide new employment opportunities where none currently exist for area residents.
Green Columbus Grant to Assist Franklinton Live-Work Development
Published on July 23, 2012 12:15 pm
By: Walker

An empty Franklinton warehouse located at 421-435 West State Street may receive some grant funding for cleanup work and redevelopment. Mayor Michael Coleman submitted legislation today to Columbus City Council to apply for a $200,000 brownfield cleanup grant from the Green Columbus Fund. The money will allow the Franklinton Development Associate to correct environmental issues that affect the building and allow for eventual development into a live-work space.
READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/green-columbus-grant-to-assist-franklinton-live-work-development
Walker said:
Your thoughts are totally fine. Mine are too. ;)Just saying that tunnels aren't really great connectors. They can be well lit, or maybe have some art installed... but otherwise, they're still tunnels.
I meant tunnel 315 under.. not the streets, etc... The highway doesnt need some art :P
Franklinton Art Lofts Seeking Potential Residents
Published on July 27, 2012 6:00 am
By: Walker

Interested in living in Franklinton? Then your input is needed on a new survey about a new live/work loft building that is being proposed by developer Lance Robbins of Urban Smart Growth.
The first phase of the proposed project would be a four story building containing 42 units roughly 900 square feet with open floor plans and high ceilings. The project is zoned for retail, offices, studios, light manufacturing and residential uses. Ground floor units facing the street would be ideal for retail or office usage.
READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/franklinton-art-lofts-seeking-potential-residents
Via Email:
The draft East Franklinton Creative Community District Plan has been released for public comment by the City of Columbus and can be found on its website at the following link:
http://development.columbus.gov/ef_finaldraft.aspx
An on-line survey tool is available for providing comments, which will be accepted through August 10th.
The plan has been scheduled to be heard by the Franklinton Area Commission on September 11th. Afterwards it will be forwarded to the Columbus Development Commission, then submitted in October to City Council.
Rehab coming along...

The colorful new home of the Franklinton Development Association...
Town and Rich Streets to Go Two-Way in Franklinton
Published on September 5, 2012 9:45 pm
By: Walker

The finalized East Franklinton Plan was presented in July and lays out a dense urban future for this near-Downtown neighborhood that is slated to be filled with art studios, apartments, corner cafes and creativity.
One critical portion of the plan that was discussed in greater detail at a public meeting this evening was that of transportation infrastructure. The traditional grid-based street system in Franklinton lends itself well to urban mobility, though one-way streets and broken sidewalks currently limit access.
READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/town-and-rich-streets-to-go-two-way-in-franklinton
Town and Rich Streets to Go Two-Way in Franklinton
Published on September 5, 2012 9:45 pm
By: Walker

The finalized East Franklinton Plan was presented in July and lays out a dense urban future for this near-Downtown neighborhood that is slated to be filled with art studios, apartments, corner cafes and creativity.
One critical portion of the plan that was discussed in greater detail at a public meeting this evening was that of transportation infrastructure. The traditional grid-based street system in Franklinton lends itself well to urban mobility, though one-way streets and broken sidewalks currently limit access.
READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/town-and-rich-streets-to-go-two-way-in-franklinton
10 Years After Floodwall Franklinton Renewal Slowly Moves Forward
September 18, 2012
by Mandie Trimble
89.7 NPR News Reporter

It’s been almost ten years since a floodwall was completed in Franklinton. For a struggling neighborhood that experienced devastating floods, city and community leaders thought the floodwall was the key to revitalizing the area. But WOSU reports the multi-million dollar efforts have not advanced as quickly as some had hoped.
READ MORE: http://beta.wosu.org/news/2012/09/18/10-years-after-floodwall-franklinton-renewal-slowly-moves-forward/
Be My Neighbor – Franklinton Edition
Published on September 18, 2012 2:30pm
By: Bruce Warner

I arrived in Franklinton in 1958 when I married Jan, an original Franklintonian. We didn’t have two cents to rub together and her parents. who lived on Avondale Avenue, took us in. I was trying to attend OSU and working part time. Our first son was born there and shortly after I took a regular job with the railroad. Wanting to spread our wings we took an apartment on the east side where our second son was born, a livable apartment but we wanted a place of our own.
READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/be-my-neighbor-franklinton-edition
Press Release:
Columbus Continues the Transformation of East Franklinton
With the support of Columbus City Council, Mayor Michael B. Coleman is taking important steps to transform East Franklinton into a new urban district attracting young, creative and talented residents and businesses. Mayor Coleman has submitted legislation to City Council to create a new tax increment financing area in East Franklinton. The TIF is bound on the north by the railroad tracks north of West Broad Street near Scott Street, on the south by 70 East and the Scioto River, on the west by State Route 315, and on the east by the railroad tracks that cross Rich, Town, State and West Broad Street. The TIF funds will help provide the city with additional funds to promote redevelopment, including public improvements such as infrastructure and all costs related to planning, designing, and constructing those improvements.
“Our vision for East Franklinton is being implemented,” Mayor Coleman said. “The steps we are taking today will transform our first neighborhood into one of the strongest neighborhoods for Columbus’ future.”
The TIF provides for a 100 percent exemption from real property taxation on all nonresidential development on the TIF parcels for a period of not more than 30 years. The Columbus City School District will receive, in the same manner as usual, all amounts that it would have received in real property taxes had the tax exemption not been granted. The legislation will receive its first reading at council this evening.
“The rebirth of Franklinton, Columbus’ oldest neighborhood, is well underway thanks to the hard work of residents and businesses that are currently in the area,” said Councilmember Zach M. Klein, chair of the Development Committee. “The legislation that City Council will be considering will accelerate the momentum and be the cornerstone of positive change in Franklinton.”
In addition, City Council will give a first reading to the East Franklinton Creative Community Plan envisioning a vibrant and diverse residential district. Goody Clancy, a Boston-based nationally renowned urban design firm, authored the plan, working over the past 10 months with the city, community stakeholders and the public. The Franklinton Area Commission and the Columbus Development Commission both unanimously approved the plan in September.
Last month, City Council approved the creation of the Columbus Next Generation Development Corp. for the purpose of advancing, encouraging and promoting industrial, economic and commercial development including the elimination of blight and creation of job opportunities. While the organization will be involved in all areas of the city, East Franklinton will be a priority area. The city expects to name a Board of Trustees in the coming months.
Next week, Mayor Coleman will ask City Council to consider amendments to the Franklinton Community Reinvestment Area to expand the boundaries of the existing CRA by 550 parcels. In addition, the Franklinton CRA will be revised to provide for exemption from an increase in real property tax for construction of new rental, single-family homes built on vacant lots and for the construction of new rental multi-family housing. The goal of amending the Franklinton CRA is to expand neighborhood revitalization efforts, stabilize and increase school enrollment, and increase single-family and rental housing development in the area.
By summer, construction is expected to begin on a project to convert both Rich Street and Town Street from one-way to two-way operation between Grubb and Belle Streets and provide bicycle accommodations east of State Route 315 in Franklinton. Construction of these improvements is estimated to be completed by the end of next fall. This project was recommended in the Franklinton Community Mobility Plan and will be the first of many infrastructure improvements in this area in the coming years.
East Franklinton Could See New Development Funds
By: RICK REITZEL | NBC4
Published: November 06, 2012
Columbus City Council is poised to approve a tax-increment-financing agreement or TIF for Franklinton's commercial district. "This East Franklinton area where we are at is going to end up flourishing, but is it going to happen in five years or 15 years there is no doubt it is going to happen," said developer Brad DeHays, whose company owns property in the area including an old building on West Town Street being rebuilt into the Rehab Tavern.
READ MORE: http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2012/nov/06/east-franklinton-could-see-new-development-funds-ar-1231269/
Franklinton TIF plan introduced at Columbus City Council
Business First by Evan Weese, Web coordinator
Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2012, 7:42am EST
Columbus City Council began consideration Monday of a project designed to revive Franklinton, the city's oldest neighborhood. The ordinance will set up a tax increment financing district in Franklinton designed to promote commercial development, as Columbus Business First reported this month. The city gave a first reading to the proposal by Mayor Mike Coleman on Monday night.
READ MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/morning_call/2012/11/franklinton-revival-approved.html
Columbus development affiliate Next Generation focusing on Franklinton first, Coleman says
Business First by Jeff Bell, Staff reporter
Date: Thursday, November 15, 2012
Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman’s 2013 budget earmarks $500,000 for a new private, nonprofit economic development entity whose initial focus will be in Franklinton just west of the Scioto River. Next Generation Development Corp. will work to stir development in poor neighborhoods, Coleman told me after he introduced his budget plan Thursday at City Hall.
READ MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2012/11/15/columbus-development-affiliate-next.html
The city that TIFs built
Thursday, November 15, 2012 12:47 pm
by Melissa Dilley

In the past two decades, Columbus has dedicated more than $150 million to paving roads, building sidewalks and bridges and activating stoplights to encourage development in a seemingly endless array of pet projects that have come to epitomize the city—crown jewels such as Easton, the Arena District, Polaris, South Campus Gateway and the Brewery District.
Cash-strapped cynics among us may sneer, “So this is what my taxpayer dollars are being used for?” To that, city officials could reply “Oh, contraire,” because Columbus, along with municipalities across the country, they have found ways to use three letters that aren’t nearly as dirty as T-A-X to revitalize neighborhoods—TIF.
READ MORE: http://www.theotherpaper.com/news/article_b3cb346a-2f4c-11e2-97c9-001a4bcf887a.html
So when does the Hilltop become West Franklinton?
Posted on November 29, 2012
by Jeff Long
East Franklinton? What the hell is East Franklinton? I scanned the story but had to get to the jump page before I figured it out. East Franklinton is “part of the neighborhood once known as the Bottoms.” They changed the name and nobody told me.
READ MORE: http://www.theotherpaper.com/blogs/over_the_top/article_65b81b9a-3a68-11e2-8a11-0019bb2963f4.html
He has a great point, honestly 'The Bottoms' is more trendy than 'East Franklinton'... kind of like Pittsburgh's Strip District(which is what it was known as before it turned trendy) it gives a feel of history and lets you appreciate it for what it is now, compared to what it was in the past.
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