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There is going to be a large new development downtown focused on keeping college graduates in Columbus. This development is going to be located on both sides of Front Street from Rich Street to Town Street (River South.) It will consist of around 300 apartments and condominiums combined. The condominiums are all going to be priced under $200,000 with more than half in the low $100,000′s and the apartments will have two bedrooms at around $950 a month and single bedrooms around $700. The appearance of the development is going to be very similar to Brewer’s Yard or Victoria Gate (i.e. brick row houses.) This is being done in conjunction with the Talented Workforce New Young Professional initiative. The developer is still secret and I only know that it will be someone who has had much experience with this demographic and has mostly focused on the suburbs (my guess is it will be Lifestyle Communities at these price points.)
Along with this project it will be announced that Front Street, south of Broad will become two ways. Other streets downtown will also be two ways by the bicentennial; these include Rich Street, Town Street and Civic Center Drive. In addition, Two new parking garages are going to be built. One is on Town Street where there is already a garage, which will be raised. The other is being done through a land swap with Jeff Edwards, who is doing the Neighborhood along Gay Street. Together these garages will have 1,400 parking spaces.
Other exciting news is there is preliminary talk of putting a 500-room hotel across the street from the convention center. To get massive conventions Columbus need 20,000 full service hotel rooms. Right now, we have about 18,000 hotel and motel rooms. In discussions with meeting planners however, even if we had those rooms the conventions would go elsewhere “because there are not enough other things to do in Columbus.”
To add the tourist attractions needed to make Columbus competitive with attracting these conventions Riverfront Park is going to be greatly expanded from the current design in hope of receiving worldwide significance, similar to Millennium Park in Chicago. The “signature attraction” of the park is going to be a “world class” fountain. There is talk of this being the largest fountain in the world. Right now, they have raised 37 million dollars towards the park.
No real news on the street cars or the City Center other than City Center will be mixed use and encompass whatever is “most economically feasible.” MSI architecture is going to be doing at least part of the planning (except for the fountain) for all of these projects and Messer is doing the construction.
Ho-hum – where did you hear all that? I like it. Especially the big fountain. oooooh.
That jives with a rumor that I’ve heard.
Interesting…….i would like to see this.
Exciting news. Hopefully this all will come to a tangible outcome.
Sounds cool! After the 70/71 split is redone, this should bridge G.V. & the Brewery District to the downtown neighborhoods well and fill in some of the huge gaps in the south.
I’d say that most of what you’ve posted aren’t really rumors.
- The YP-oriented RiverSouth apartments haven’t gotten a lot of direct media attention, but there’s been info out there about it for awhile. (Check page 17 of this pdf.)
- More two-way street conversions have been on order for awhile now. This Story mentions Front St in the last paragraph and I know I’ve seen talk about Civic Center in news about the Scioto Mile project. Just can’t find a quick link to it.
- The Convention Center hotel expansion plans have been off and on in the news for a few years now.
- The Riverfront retooling was also mentioned in the media a few months ago. The huge fountain was news to me though.
Anyway, I can’t wait to see all of this (and more) unfold in the new few years. Columbus is going to look drastically different come 2012. :D
I wrote about this a few months ago, and Mike Brown, spokesman for Mayor Coleman, said that plans to change traffic patterns all depend on the eventual reconstruction of the 70/71 split. Coleman definitely wants to make streets more ped-friendly, but last I heard, these wouldn’t be pushed through until ODOT finalized its plans.
But you’re right, Walker, these things have all been publicized to some degree. Good ideas though.
I’d say that most of what you’ve posted aren’t really rumors.
- The YP-oriented RiverSouth apartments haven’t gotten a lot of direct media attention, but there’s been info out there about it for awhile. (Check page 17 of this pdf.)
- More two-way street conversions have been on order for awhile now. This Story mentions Front St in the last paragraph and I know I’ve seen talk about Civic Center in news about the Scioto Mile project. Just can’t find a quick link to it.
- The Convention Center hotel expansion plans have been off and on in the news for a few years now.
- The Riverfront retooling was also mentioned in the media a few months ago. The huge fountain was news to me though.
Anyway, I can’t wait to see all of this (and more) unfold in the new few years. Columbus is going to look drastically different come 2012. :D
Thanks, Walker. That’s the info I was looking for! THIS IS EXCITING!
That would be amazing to see caps cover the scars that now separate GV and BD from Downtown. Realistically, though, caps have been one of the main points of contention between city planners and ODOT. No one wants to fund them, and I’ve heard that redoing the split isn’t like to include them.
Is today April 1?
great news, if it’s true, but townhomes does make the most of that land. it should be more dense. i realize that to build cheaper units, townhomes is the way to go, but i’d like to see someone get a bundle of incentives and build a little higher. either way, it’s better than a parking lot. it’s a start.
I’d say that most of what you’ve posted aren’t really rumors.
- The YP-oriented RiverSouth apartments haven’t gotten a lot of direct media attention, but there’s been info out there about it for awhile. (Check page 17 of this pdf.)
- More two-way street conversions have been on order for awhile now. This Story mentions Front St in the last paragraph and I know I’ve seen talk about Civic Center in news about the Scioto Mile project. Just can’t find a quick link to it.
- The Convention Center hotel expansion plans have been off and on in the news for a few years now.
- The Riverfront retooling was also mentioned in the media a few months ago. The huge fountain was news to me though.
Anyway, I can’t wait to see all of this (and more) unfold in the new few years. Columbus is going to look drastically different come 2012. :D
Even though we’ve heard many of these rumors or facts discussed over the past months, its good to read a review of the many exciting plans that the city has in store. I think its good that Mercurius posted all these tidbits. It keeps these items on the front burner. Only question I have is what about streetcar updates? Any new news?
i was wondering when LC might get involved downtown.
i always found it odd that they invested in buying the naming rights to Promowest Pavilion, then invested to construct their soon-to-be-finished HQ in the Arena District . All this publicity downtown, yet their market was in Sunbury and other locales largely out of the 270.
it all sounds like a good idea…
now for them streetcars to carry all the YPs and conventioneers down to see that grandiose fountain.
I am so excited to read of these changes!
Of course my concern on the River South housing is design and quality. Nothing personal, but the quality of some of the compared projects is not very high. I just hope that efforts are made to keep this project urban and not suburban. I am a huge fan of the location and at first glance appearance of Victorian Gate but going past that is a far stretch for me personally.
Why do we continue to mimic and construct brownstone types? This makes me think of Ford and how they are criticized for the current Mustang being ‘retro.’
Why not push ahead and look at styles like the Boklok from Ikea or FlatPak from the founders of Blu Dot?
Hopefully there will be enough jobs to retain college graduates. I thought one of the reasons they flee is better jobs elsewhere. All this housing in theory needs to trickle down to the businesses in Columbus and them working on training and retaining college graduates. I do keep reading about what is going to happen when the Baby Boomers retire leaving more open positions than qualified individuals. I am interested to see what effect this has on our economy and the job market in Columbus.
…Only question I have is what about streetcar updates? Any new news?
The only news so far on the Streetcar front is that the Mayor is seeking input from Columbus citizens through the meeting on January 29th. If the input is positive, then a major funding component for the system will be included within the Mayor’s 2012 Bond package that will be placed on the ballot in November.
http://www.columbus.gov/columbus2012/RSVP_form.html
The only news so far on the Streetcar front is that the Mayor is seeking input from Columbus citizens through the meeting on January 29th. If the input is positive, then a major funding component for the system will be included within the Mayor’s 2012 Bond package that will be placed on the ballot in November.
http://www.columbus.gov/columbus2012/RSVP_form.html
Thanks for the update. Hopefully the citizentry in whole will support streetcars.
I have been reading this blog for quite some time now and really enjoy it. To piggyback on some other posters on the site; I really wish we could get either the street cars or a rail system going. If the city builds the new convention hotel you can’t help but notice that it runs right next to the rail lines. That would be one heck of a convenient way to get people from the airport to the convention center.
I think that the River South street improvements are going to happen regardless of ODTs intentinos for the 70/71 Split. An RFP was put out by the city last month for the street work and proposals were due sometime this month. The RFP included utility work under the above mentioned streets (Front, Main, Town, etc) as well as their conversion to two-way traffic.
In terms of the development of this area, I think it will be good to see some attention to this underdeveloped corner of downtown. While I’m not a fan of LC’s suburban style “communities” I am glad that some one is taking a stab at this area.
I agree with whoever said that rowhouss/townhouses may not be the best use fo space for a downtown area. I think mid-rise mixed use (residential + ground floor commercial) would be a great way to go. Because laying down a big ol’ cluster of townhouses isn’t gonna look any different than LCs other townhouse styled developments. And that isn’t what downtown needs.
Lucho, you may be right. I spoke with Mike Brown today, and he mentioned that some of the things being discussed on this message board will be confirmed in a press release to be sent out later today.
Brown also said that ODOT’s plan seems to be so far off that Downtown development plans can’t just stop in their tracks. I wholeheartedly agree with that, though I feel we should be aware of the split.
I’ll have more when I get the release.