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Around noon today, Anne and I took the plunge and became homeowners. We've been renting in German Village for around five years total (almost three years in our current apartment) and have been looking north towards the downtown condo market the whole time, patiently waiting for a new project to strike our fancy as well as our price range. Needless to say, that day has still yet to come.
Instead, Anne discovered a two-story historic home (very similar to a place I rented with roommates a few years ago on the edge of the Brewery District) listed as a bank short sale for dirt cheap in the King-Lincoln / Bronzeville area (depending upon who you talk to) . We were somewhat familiar with the location after touring Hamilton Park Place located right down the street. So on a whim, we decided to schedule an appointment to go check it out and see what sort of condition it was in.
I recalled reading on Joe Peffer's ColumbusHomesBlog that he lived in the neighborhood, and I had actually just recently met Joe at the first Social Media Cafe event at COSI. After reading his blog for about a year I figured he was a good choice for a realtor who has a lot of passion for the downtown neighborhood market. Joe showed us the place the very next day and gave us some great insight on the neighborhood. He's lived there for 12 years with his wife and kids and loves the area.
If you're unfamiliar with the King Lincoln / Bronzeville area, here's some links for more reading:
It's still very much an up and coming neighborhood. Our street actually is already host to some very nice renovation jobs, but just a few blocks away you can still find some vacated buildings in need of some TLC. Which means plenty of opportunities for anyone who wants to be our neighbors. I think we're making a pretty solid investment considering the city's attention to the neighborhood as well as private developers taking part in rehabbing the area. Here's a handful of the projects around us (all within a 5-minute walk), in various stages of development:
- King Lincoln Theater
- Hamilton Park Place
- The Alpha Building
- The King-Lincoln Gateway Building
- Monroe Cluster (The Monroe on Long)
- The Whitney
Additionally, we're within a short walk of:
- The King Arts Complex
- The Columbus Museum of Art
- The Columbus Metropolitan Library
- CCAD
- Carabar, Chop Chop Gallery, and Black Creek Bistro
- The Topiary Park
Technically, we're about a 30 minute walk from the middle of downtown, so during nice weather we could hit everything from the new art gallery in the Lazarus building to the Queen Been restaurant and everything in between.
Leaving German Village will be sad though. I'll miss being a short walk away from the Book Loft, the new MoJoe Lounge, the Giant Eagle, Pistachia Vera, and a whole slew of other bars, restaurants, delis, and shops.
Oh, and if anyone is in the market for an apartment located in the heart of German Village, send me an email. I told our landlord that we'd help find some new tenants for our great apartment.
Expect to hear a lot more from me about the new neighborhood very soon. Stay tuned!
Launched in August 2010, TheMetropreneur.com is a local online resource devoted to small business development and entrepreneurship. Its aim is to tell the stories of Central Ohio's business community, foster regional economic development and assist entrepreneurs with its resource-heavy focus.