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If there’s a more wasted space in all of Downtown than the intersection of Neil & Vine, I’d like to know where it is. It’s not just the grass and dirt lots by themselves that makes this place look barren, but the juxtaposition with other new nearby buildings and thriving neighborhoods make it stick out all the more like a sore thumb.
Go two blocks north on Neil and you’ll pass a new office building as you enter into the beautiful Victorian Village area.
Go two blocks east and you’ll find the North Market thrive during the day and the surrounding bars thrive during the night.
Go two blocks south and you’ll find the new North Bank Condos being constructed along with other new Arena District Offices, North Bank Park, The LC music venue, and the soon-to-be new Clippers Stadium.
Go two block west… and well… you’d be standing in the middle of interstate 670. Don’t go that way.
There was a brief mention nearly a year and a half ago about a “Market District Proposal” that would add a mix of condos, apartments, and retail to the North East corner of this empty intersection, but that still leaves the other three corners with nothing but tall grass, weeds, and trash.
So my question is this… if you could play as Sim City Mayor for a day, what would you like to see placed here? More residential buildings? More office buildings? Keep in mind that these are two very wide-mouthed streets, which may not be the most pedestrian friendly, and the proximity to both the highway and nearby railroad tracks could both have pros and cons with noise and easy access.
What would you like to see here other than grass?
That site is an blight for the area…but the pedestrian-friendliness is a major issue. I’d like to see nice two-story garage on the NE corner (perhaps with some space in front to handle a small business or two like Kooma has, etc.)
On the Southeast, just make it nicer looking.
I’d like a little art park on the NW corner. I saw them in Seattle and in LA, and they aren’t really for picnics per say…but they are nice for beautification and it gives artists a place to put sculptures and modd-setting landscape art. Something that could integrate the money-making positive of the billboard?
Could it be possible that the SW corner would be another garage? Used for the Baseball stadium, LC and overflow from other events? Perhaps a 2-3 story garage with a souvenir store or a little pub…
Something does need to be done though—anything would be an improvement.
I would put midrise residential on both the southeast and southwest corners, with ground-level retail (hospitality-oriented, more than likely, since buildings here would be literally right up against Nationwide and the Lame-Named Pavilion. Commenters here, as well as in the Dispatch, have noted the dearth of rental residential offerings; these parcels look like obvious candidates. Renters tend to be younger and the northern part of the Arena District is one of the most young-professional (21-35) friendly areas of the new downtown.
I do need to ask this, however, while we’re sort of on the subject, because it might change my answer: conventional wisdom is that you don’t want to be building residential right up against a railroad. Noise issues. However, how frequently is that railroad track by the Arena used? I ask because I’ve been down to the Arena District for job interviews, lunches, dinners, nightclub-hopping, conventions … and I’ve never actually seen a train on it.
It gets used. I’m not sure how frequently, but I’ve seen trains on it from time to time. I doubt it’s anymore frequent than the tracks by Brewmaster’s Gate which is right next door.
I’ve thought the master plan at Jeffrey Place did a good job with placement, keeping the parking garages closer to the train tracks as a sort of sound barrier to block some of the noise of the residential units. I’m sure something similar could be applied here.
It gets used. I’m not sure how frequently, but I’ve seen trains on it from time to time. I doubt it’s anymore frequent than the tracks by Brewmaster’s Gate which is right next door.
They’re actually the same tracks, and they are really busy. Some trains end up turning off at the junction by Vets Memorial, but for the most part, they’re fairly busy. I don’t think there are many road or pedestrian crossings there, but they still blow thier horns pretty frequently.
Of course, I’d like to see a nice plaza in the NE corner surrounded by retail topped with midrise apartments. Of course, I don’t know how the prximity to the trains & highway would work out. Would be more affordable residential I’m sure. Columbus lacks continuous, good public spaces. Sensenbrenner Park and the Statehouse lawn are perfect examples of how we’ve done this wrong. It really would give this city that something extra we’re missing. That’s something that is overlooked with the developments downtown. Yeah yeah, there’s “The Scioto Mile” but that goes along the western outskirts of downtown. There are other large areas downtown that are being wasted and the lot at the NE corner of Neilson & Mt Vernon is one of the biggest single lots that is a waste, though it’s farther from any place of interest.
The often discussed Whole Foods! :)
The “art park” concept you’re talking about is on it’s way, btw. Sat in on a meeting not long ago with Parks and Rec where the presentation was made about turning the Promenade along the river along the west side of downtown into exactly that…saw a lot of the design, very cool stuff.
Does anyone know if the Casto project for mixed-use housing/retail/Whole Foods is still on the table?
I presume they still own some of the property and have eyes on doing something with it? But there’s no current mention of the project on their web site.
Every Casto project takes forever. I guess that’s what happens when a suburban strip mall developer tries his hand on slightly more complex urban projects. 8 on the square is a year behind schedule. There’s two projects in RiverSouth that were announced in ’02 or ’03 that haven’t budged (one at the storage building and one next to city center).
Looks like a great spot for a casino, esp. that SW corner.
The Market District looks like a great plan. Before seeing the picture of the plan, I was thinking they could make the corridor between Neil and High a new, walkable district.
I don’t really have any good ideas for that Northwest lot. Doesn’t look like a too inviting park space with the highway.
The whole train issue probably wont end up being a big issue.