Representatives from White Castle and Elford Development presented their plans for the 18-acre redevelopment of the White Castle headquarters property today to the Downtown Commission. The presentation included a first look at a visual renderings of the project, which would include residential and office buildings, greenspaces and parking structures on the site if built out as planned.
“We have been working for about a year now on this and we’re excited to reveal the master plan,” stated Brad Parish, President of Architectural Alliance. “It’s critical to activate this site, because while it’s remote from Downtown, it also has a great view of Downtown.”
Parish walked the Commission through the master plan, describing the function and flow of the office and residential buildings, and explaining the programming of the green spaces on the site. A larger park near the White Castle headquarters could double as an event space with amphitheater-style seating, and a boulevard-style park would connect pedestrians to an overlook of the Olentangy River on the west side of the site.
“The river is highly valuable… it’s not the back side of this site, it’s the sweet spot,” countered Downtown Commissioner Mike Brown. “I suggest you go bigger with residential there if you can, because the demand is there and market will support it. I’d hate to see something built there that is so suburban with so much asphalt.”
Commissioner Jana Maniace agreed, noting that from the aerial view, it appears that there is too much asphalt and parking on the site.
“You have these beautiful areas for parks,” she stated. “I want you to think about consolidating some parking and accentuate the green spaces you’re creating.”
In addition to green spaces, Parish noted that both the White Castle office building and its amenity building would have rooftop decks that would look over I-670 into Downtown.
The plan was only given conceptual review today, and the developers are expected to return to the Commission in the future for further review and/or approval.
Stay tuned to CU for additional updates on this proposal.
Visuals via POD Design / Architectural Alliance. Photo by Walker Evans.
