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A development proposal was filed recently with the City of Columbus Board of Zoning Adjustment office that calls for a new five-story mixed-use building at the northeast corner of High Street and Seventh Avenue, just north of the new Kroger. This development would replace the existing Wash & Tan / Dollar Tree building and would provide 84 new market rate housing units and ground-floor retail that would include a pharmacy anchor store.
The design provided in the adjustment application (pictured above) is not yet fully finalized. According to representatives from Kohr Royer Griffith, some subtle design tweaks are still being made, and a more finalized version of the design will be presented in mid-October to the University District Area Commission for review and approval.
More discussion on the development can be found HERE.
living that close to the new kroger would be amazing!!!
Yeah, that area is quite the epicenter in terms of walkability with the Short North to the south and OSU to the north. Library across the street. Restaurants & coffee shops nearby. Movie theater. Etc.
http://www.walkscore.com/score/high-and-seventh-columbus-ohio
That was be fantastic. That corner deserves something much denser than what is there now, and i love the height of the building too, it reflects its value. Hope it happens soon, things are falling into place for that stretch of High St. between the South Campus Gateway and the Short North.
awesome awesome awesome
The problem here is that you see something dense and you think it’s urban. You see an improvement to a terrible site like the Wash & Tan/Dollar Tree building and you think its awesome. You see ground-floor retail and you think it’s pedestrian-friendly.
Well, I’ve got bad news. Just because it’s multi-story doesn’t mean it’s not a big box. A single retailer with that much street frontage is essentially suburban in character, regardless of how many apartments are on top. And don’t get me started on that parking deck — not only does it exist, but the driveway opens onto High Street… and it’s exposed???
Why is it that when a building design is proposed on this stretch of High Street, it’s “We’ll take what we can get!” But when something is proposed in the Short North, everyone is up in arms over the tiniest of details??? The same standard of quality should apply to both, regardless of the previous conditions or the surrounding environment. Or else, well, you’ll get whatever the developer thinks he/she can get away with while appearing to improve the area.
Demand better. Demand what you deserve.
This development is a long, long way from being being built, the picture here by no means represents the final design. I’m not a civil engineer, but I feel having a driveway opening up to High St. without a traffic light would not be a good idea, and may not end up making the final cut.
Also, this was posted about 8 hours. Give it a few months and I’m sure you’ll see as much nit-picking as we did/do with SN developments such as Pizutti.
Scott – I agree that the design is far from perfect, and there is still time for design tweaks and revisions. I agree that more retail space would be great and that hiding the parking deck and keeping the entrance off High would be most ideal.
The good news though is that there is a developer and that there is money behind this project and that wheels are already turning. Nothing gets accomplished until someone brings something to the table to start.
I think this is a good start. Bring on the revisions!
Here here ScottUlrich! Better development standards for our fine city!
Rather than comment, I’ll just agree with everyone, because everyone is right. I’m too tired. Night.
A generally enthusiastic thumbs-up to this – seems the developer has a good understanding of the area and prepared to do the necessary dilligence with the city and design commission to make this happen.
Will leave the High Street access decision to others, but will point out that I can travel north on High Street and enter the new Kroger parking lot (not a possibility heading south) … seems like this could be similar.
And I had to laugh at Scott’s comment “Demand Better. Demand what you deserve.” Hunh? What exactly does that developer, the city, or OSU owe me that I can demand what I deserve? Sure I live in the SN, pay city property and income taxes, and occassion an OSU sporting event, but I have no skin in this development. I appreciate your concerns, have utmost respect for the various architectural review boards, and understand that potentially this could be a huge DrugMart (WalMart, KMart, TargetMart) with 4 stories of apartments above it, but it isn’t a suburban development in my opinion. The existing offset laundromat and dollar store building fronted with a parking lot sure looks more suburban to me.
What we deserve is a sidewalk on High Street where we’re not in danger of being run over by a middle-of-the-street turn lane into a parking garage. ;) I’m not a big fan of the turn setup access on High at Kroger either.
Reminds me of the Metropolitan building in Grandview….
I don’t see why they can’t just have the entrance/exit to the north and south of the building, maybe one at the rear to replace the one on High.
Not a big fan of rounded corners on residential buildings, although the Metropolitan works well because of the odd shaped site it’s on. Maybe when they add color to the rendering, I will change my opinion. The rest of the building looks pretty good to me though, especially that second rendering. Too bad they can’t push the building back a little for some sidewalk seating.
Minus the parking entry on High Street and the curved corner piece, I think this building works fairly well. It’s not 100% ideal, but it’s a heck of a lot better than what we’ve got currently.
I don’t like the High St. driveway either. I wonder if that was a requirement of Walgreen’s? There is a drive-through pharmacy window (in the parking garage) depicted on the site plan. I believe Kroger wanted the access but the right in/right out configuration at the Kroger was required by the City’s traffic engineering dept. In my mind both driveways seem suburban rather than urban. Maybe both retailers feel they need access from High St. because the casual shopper might not be able to figure out how to access parking?
Totally agree that this is a good location for development, but it should be good development. No driveway on High Street, please. I also can’t tell what’s inside that circular corner? Is that a parking ramp?
Hopefully things will improve and that the drawings were done by someone who was still thinking more Easton than High St. Although I think their can still be improvements, the Gateway is a great example to follow.
Those are probably the “high end” units with the “view”.
as a weinland park resident who lives a block from each of these, i can attest to the walkability of the ‘hood; so long as i live in columbus i’ll remain in WP.
with that, i second all of the concerns. no high street entrance, no tacky round corner. but what about a little green space? i know i wouldn’t consider living at king and high without significant benefits, most of all, somewhere to lounge and let a dog exercise.
this obviously doesn’t include the question of whether a walgreens can compete with a kroger across the street, though maybe it will free up some space for more choices at kroger?
In regard to Walgreen competing with Kroger, from my own neighborhood Grandview/5xnW we have a Giant Eagle, CVS and Walgreen all just across the street from each other. I’m sure they will compete just fine in Weiland Park, and I think the new Kroger is the reason why Walgreen wants to open there. My only concern is where will CVS will open… Because it will happen, they come together.
And on another note, each of these stores @ Grandview Ave and 5th Ave – Giant Eagle, Walgreens, and CVS – each have a redbook for movies. You can see all three from the vantage point of 5th and Grandview Ave.