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cab124 was the first I know of to catch wind of this. It appears to be far enough along to make it official. Apparently Tom Fortin of the Grandview Fortin Ironworks family and Carlyle’s Watch is behind the new ventures in the Gay St. building:
C Magazine wrote
[Fortin's] newest venture at 51 Gay Street, a once vacant photo store, will soon house the second location of the popular Short North ZenCha Tea Salon and Fortin also hopes to attract other social businesses to the location, such as dance, yoga and Pilates instructors.
“One of the issues facing our downtown is the fact that we suffer now from affordability and connectivity as it’s actually about 40% higher … to live downtown versus suburban locations,” he says. “To help attract and retain people to live downtown, we really have to market and accentuate lifestyle amenities. As I build and redevelop properties into residential or retail spaces, I keep that in mind.”
In that same spirit, during City Hop on June 14th, Fortin held a fundraising event at Carlyle’s Watch featuring local artists and photographers. All proceeds benefited the Columbus Symphony.
I walked by today and there were signs of work being done in that space. Does anyone know if ZenCha plans to create a copy of the Short North location or do something different with the new space? Gay St. is really being cemented as the core of the downtown redevelopment.
This is awesome! We’re hopefully going to no longer be residents of downtown much longer, but I love to see what is happening down there. Now someone (that isn’t me, because there is no way I am talking my wife into a second venture yet…) get some retail going!
Funny what can happen when you make a street scape dense and friendly to pedestrian traffic.
OMG YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!!!!
BUBBLE TEAS EVERY DAY!!
BUBBLE TEAS EVERY DAY!!
Heck yeah! I love me some Bubble Tea!!! :-)
BUBBLE TEAS EVERY DAY!!
Oh man, we’re going to be broke. One bubble tea on your walk to work. One bubble tea on your way home. Maybe one during lunch too? :lol:
I’ll bet cab124 is pretty happy about this too. Pretty much spitting distance from his place.
Funny that you mention this because I can imagine a boutique retail shop with the product variety of Tigertree doing very well right there. :D
I would hate to support what I see as the fundamental problem with downtown businesses right now; crappy hours, but cool, mid-priced, gift shop that was open between 11 am and 2 pmish would absolutely kill down town.
This is good news for Gay street, it’s definitely the place to be in downtown right now.
It always seems strange to me when places open second locations so near the first though. I’m sure the downtown workers alone can support this location but it seems like they might be cannibalizing some of their existing SN customers.
Oh and welcome back Tigertree.
Hmm. What I had heard (and this was quite a while back so things may have changed) was that the new ZenCha location would itself be an expanded concept of a tea salon that might include either a meditation area or a yoga studio… so I’m a little confused by the clipping. But glad that it sounds like things are moving forward. I agree that this will be a big plus for downtown.
yeah this is really good news! maybe this means that more businesses will eventually set up shop as well. :)
and there will need to be more neighborhood type places once the neighborhood on gay street is complete. yipee! i cant wait to see what gay street looks like 10 years from now.
Here’s a pic of the place.
You could grab a bubble tea, do some yoga/meditation and there’ll be a tea-oriented gift shop: something different on each floor. I wouldn’t mind having seating on the 2nd floor. Very Pari…well, Montrealian at least. I wonder if a patio is in order. I think this is another example of slower, pedestrian/bike friendly roads demonstrating how they attract pedestrian/bike-friendly development. Seems logical enough, but the city is still trying to wrap its head around that concept. The downside with this though is that I’m going to tempted everyday since I bike down Gay St all the time.
Nice minivan! LOL.
Bubble tea seems to be getting more and more popular. It’s a good summer drink. Everyone I tell about it gets curious to try it. It is strange to chew something that you drink :)
Oh, man, I didn’t think about that. My biggest complaint about the Short North spot is the lack of a patio. I hope they put one in.
I envision something surrounded by some kind of Japanese-style garden. Like what they have in the window at the SN store but on a bigger scale surrounding a patio. I don’t know if it would work at either of these locations, though – might just look goofy and out of place.
BUBBLE TEAS EVERY DAY!!
Girl likes her bubble tea. I thought it was Fantasia or bust, though?
I was told that the aesthetics of the place will be much more developed.
BUBBLE TEAS EVERY DAY!!
Girl likes her bubble tea. I thought it was Fantasia or bust, though?
ha! I do like Fantasia the best, but they are a drive from my house and there are other places that are closer. ZenCha is a pretty good second.
I had Fantasia today Anne. :P
Yes, cab124 is delirious with joy over this development. He has been a big fan of Zen Cha right from the beginning.
Icheng and Jean seem to be pretty serious about doing the new location up right. It is not going to be a duplicate of the current location.
Fantasia is good, but I still prefer Zen Cha bubble tea because it tastes like fruit-infused tea. Fantasia bubble tea, on the other hand, tastes more like fruit juice. If there is tea in there, its just doesn’t come through.
The lady tells me they use Jasmine tea at Fantasia. Zen Cha gives you choice of Green or Black. I like how Fantasia puts chunks of strawberry in theirs.
Im a fan of both locations. :)
I am excited about ZenCha coming to downtown. I don’t see it taking away any customers from the Sho No location. I doubt the Sho No place gets a big daytime downtown crowd. As for all the development now that Gay Street is two way and pedestrian friendly, well all that development began long before Gay became two way. I actually think that was a waste of millions of dollars that could have been better spent. Now you have to look for cars from two directions not just one!
I certainly hope so. While I love the products they make and sell, they must really have been focused at making us look inward, as I certainly don’t want to look at the surroundings, ceilings or walls. Would have to really try to make it any more bland of a space.
I seriously doubt the Edwards development would be happening if it stayed a high-speed, one-way thoroughfare. People aren’t going to want that right out their front door, they want a walkable neighborhood street. I’m certain that they were key in getting the city to change this street to a two-way, otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered. Even though you do have to look both ways now, there are medians so that you can cross half-way, so actually if you’re crossing at any of these locations you don’t need to look both ways.
As a cyclist, this is much better and bikes, scooters, mopeds and motorcycles fit into a city better than cars anyway. I can’t tell you how common it is to see bikes coming up and down this street in its current form. I agree that this location will do well and attract Downtown workers and hopefully residents from surrounding neighborhoods that are further away from the current location. If they offer deals for cyclists, even better. Buy one bubble tea and get a $1 off a second one = me broke.