Whereas last year’s Year in Review featured lots of project announcements and a number of developments just getting underway, 2013 has seen many of those either started in earnest or finished. This year also saw a whole new round of project announcements – many of them larger in scale than anything we’ve seen in recent years – as well as some exciting planning underway for the future.
Development Projects Completed in 2013
Phase Two of Lennox Flats was completed this summer, while NRI’s Flats II building in the Arena District wrapped up in the fall. The 570 Lofts apartment conversion in the Brewery District was finished early in the year, as was the Tribeca apartment complex on Third Avenue. The first residents of the Highpoint Apartments on the Columbus Commons moved in in October, while the Harrison Park Apartments were completed in the spring. Construction wrapped this fall on the second of the Liberty Place apartments, while the final details on 600 Goodale are scheduled to be finished this month. The Franklin Station apartments were completed this fall in Franklinton, and the Witney Townhomes were completed on the Near East side.
The conversion of the former bakery into Wonder Bread Lofts was completed this summer. A public parking garage was the first portion of The Hub project to open, with apartment units and retail following soon after. Tenants also have moved into the Wood Companies Building above the Northstar Cafe. Construction is finished on the Yankee Trader building, which boasts eleven apartments across from the Convention Center. The apartments that are part of The Lane in Upper Arlington came online in November. The Burwell condos in the Short North were also completed this year, a the John Maloney Health and Wellness Center opened on the south side.
Development Under Construction in 2013
Construction has started on the Leafy Dale renovation project in Victorian Village, which now includes a new building next door. Down the street, theAston Row Apartmentsshould be completed early in 2014, while construction recently started on theAston Row Townhomes. Construction also began on the second phase of the Grandview Yard Apartments and on the Giant Eagle that will anchor the north end of that development.
Construction continues on the the new Columbia Gas headquarters in the Arena District. The first phases of the massiveJeffrey Parkproject in Italian Village have been approved and preliminary work has started. The Joseph, Pizzuti’s much-anticipated hotel, office and retail project in the Short North, finally broke ground in August. Initial site work began on another major High Street project, theFireproof Building. Work continues on the Out of the Closet buildingat Fifth and High. A new single-story retail developmentbegan construction on High Street in Clintonville this month.
On campus, a large hole has been dug for the View on High, while the View on Fifth, by the same developer, is already going vertical. Also targeting the student market is Norwich Flats and a new apartment development at Neil & Tompkins.
OSU has been busy as usual, with an assortment of new university buildings going up on the main campus while exterior work has been completed on one of the largest projects anywhere in Columbus, the OSU Wexner Medical Center expansion.
Downtown, work continues on large-scale renovations of both the Leveque Tower and the Atlas Building. The Neighborhood Launch Apartments are nearly complete and the renovation of the Julian Building at Front and Main has begun. Although the first residents have started moving in, work continues on the Highpoint Apartments. Demolition work has started on the Trautman Building, which will be replaced by the eight-story LC River South.
In other neighborhoods, the three-story Village Pointe project began construction on Parsons Avenue, which will bring new retail space near Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Work began in Weinland Park on new housing as well as the restoration of 24 historic row houses. Construction started on the newOrange Barrel Mediaoffices in Franklinton. Infrastructure and home construction in theAmerican Additionneighborhood also continued.
In river-reconstruction news, the Fifth Avenue dam was removed, although work will continue on the restoration project into 2014. Work has also begun on removing the Main Street dam downtown and shaping the 33 acres of new park space that will be created by the project.
Farther afield, construction started this fall on the Worthington Place Apartments and on the 500-unit Ravines at Westar project in Westerville. Apartment construction also continues around Tuttle Mall and in the Polaris area.
Development Projects Announced in 2013
A series of announcements related to Dublin’s Bridge Street Corridor project made a big splash in October, including a proposal for Historic Dublin as well as an extensive new riverside park. The big news, though, was Crawford Hoying’s plan to build a 25-acre mixed-use development with over 1,100 residential units. An apartmentprojectnext to the AMC theater in Dublin was also announced earlier in the year but construction hasn’t started.
Some big projects were approved in Italian Village, including the Battery B apartments and the mixed-use Parkside on Pearl. The next phase of theGrandview Yarddevelopment was announced, and in Bexley an urban two-story Giant Eagle grocery storewill replace the existing City Hall building.
Elford Development announced plans to construct a new four-story apartment and retail building at Lane & High. Anew seven-story building was proposedin Victorian Village behind The Hubbard Grille; it would include a mix of apartments, offices and parking garage space. A small mixed-use project onPoplaris set to move forward. Homeport hopes to develop theBarrett Middle Schoolsite in Merion Village. The Columbus Convention Center is looking to build anew parking garageon Goodale that could include retail.
It’s been a huge year for downtown development. Lifestyle Communities announced that they’d be constructing a second building as a part of their LC Riversouth development at the corner of High and Rich. Across the street, an impressive modern mixed-use building called 250 High was announced by Kaufman/Daimler. A five-storymixed-use buildingwas proposed for Spring Street and the city announced plans for their Front Street campus. TheBishop’s Walktownhomes in the Neighborhood Launch development were approved, while big plans from the Edwards Companies for the corner of Gay and High were revealed. The Hawthorn Grove apartments on Rich Street were approved, and Verizon shared plans to add to their building on Naghten.
The Columbus Metropolitan Library had a busy year that included plans for a new building on Parsons and a mixed-use development at the site of the Northside branch.
Urban Planning for 2015 and Beyond
Columbus State unveiled their vision for a more dense, walkable campus, while downtown leaders foresee a similar transformation for a section of downtown that is currently 41% surface parking lots. The Columbus Downtown Development Corporation made one of the biggest announcements of the year with their plan for the Scioto Peninsula.
Westerville is looking to plan for the future of their historic town center, while OSU students produced a plan and some bold concepts that looked at the removal of five more dams along the Olentangy River. On the Near East Side, PACT revealed their plan for neighborhood revitalization, while another initiative was started to plan for the former Poindexter Village site.
The City of Columbus kicked off their planning process for the University District, while we also highlighted the Olentangy West area’s first neighborhood plan as well as the Southern Gateway initiative.
As always, you can find more information in our Development News section and the Development Discussion area of our messageboard. You can also watch the work in progress with the regular installations of our Construction Roundup photo series. Also of note for those interested in development, architecture and planning is our ongoing Design Digest series.