The six-story apartment building that will soon start to rise at the southwest corner of West Third Avenue and North High Street will not feature the smart car-only parking garage that was originally proposed for the project.
Adam Trautner, Vice President of The Stonehenge Company, the developer of the project, said that “pushback from the city” led to a redesign of the garage. The original concept called for 35 spaces in the ground-level garage, each about half the length of a normal parking space. At the time, the developer and the project’s architect — Jonathan Barnes Architecture and Design — touted the idea as an innovative way to provide some parking within the building’s relatively small footprint.
“Some residents will have the smaller cars,” said Trautner after the project was approved by the Victorian Village Commission in early 2015, “but some won’t even need a car – they’ll use the CBUS and the other great alternatives we have now in Columbus.”
All that changed, though, after the city’s Department of Public Service voiced concerns about the parking plan.
“The department believed that expecting a large majority of residents of the proposed development to have a smart car was not realistic and that there would likely be additional cars connected to the development that would either have to be parked on the street or elsewhere,” said spokesman Jeff Ortega.
Public Service supported a new layout, with five full-sized spaces and 14 slightly smaller ones, designed for a compact car like the Honda Civic. The new plan was brought back to the commission and approved in July of 2015, then approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment later that month.
Trautner said that utility work on the site has begun, and that the goal is to complete construction by the end of 2017. The 35 apartment units will be smaller — in the 600-square-foot range — with an eye toward affordability.
All visuals by Jonathan Barnes Architecture and Design.
