LeVeque Tower News & Updates

[SteveKZ087]

Anybody know what the deal is with LeVeque windows lighting up in the shape of a cross at night these past couple weeks? I thought it might be a Christmas thing, but they’re still doing it…

I could probably understand more if it were like Easter time, but lighting up a cross in that particular building seems really out of place and weird.

[JAL]

SteveKZ087 said:
Anybody know what the deal is with LeVeque windows lighting up in the shape of a cross at night these past couple weeks? I thought it might be a Christmas thing, but they’re still doing it…

I could probably understand more if it were like Easter time, but lighting up a cross in that particular building seems really out of place and weird.

They have the cross every December for Christmas along with the Green/Red lighting on the crown of the building. Most likely this weekend they will change the Red/Green back to White lighting and the cross will be turned off until next December.

[SteveKZ087]

Ahhh. Thanks for the info, JAL. I guess I can file this one under “My first Christmas in Columbus!”

[SteveKZ087]

DRAC held a really nice show-and-tell last night at LeVeque. They had cocktails in the nearly-finished grand lobby (Broad St. frontage), and then invited people up to the 36th floor to take in some of the nighttime views.

Comments of note reinforced their desire to have office space within a year, boutique hotel within 1-2 years, and then residential apartments within 3-5. They are doing feasibility on apartments now, but expect several floors of +/- five units in the 800 SF range, higher floors of +/- three units roughly in the 1,200-1,300 SF range, and a few luxury units near the top of the tower that would be entire floors, roughly in the range of 2,600 SF. (Give or take a few hundred SF on the above – inexact guestimate calculations at this time).

[Walker Evans]

Looks great! Nice photos!

[arualpalm]

Yes, but what about the floors in between the top and bottom two? There are many.

This is a great, historical building, but they really need to work on investing in the infrastructure for long-term preservation. Several floors experienced flooding, leaks, and no heat last week; the elevators are sloooooooooooooow. The bottom floors’ paint jobs will not hold up to the volume of people this building encounters.

[SteveKZ087]

Talking to the project manager and investment group last night, I truly believe they are putting together a comprehensive plan to address all of these types of pitfalls. They don’t seem interested in preserving the building for 10 years. They are planning renovations more in the scope of preserving for the next 70-80 years.

Quite true that this is phase one of (a lot of) phases, and will probably take 5-7 years for total completion, but the folks behind the project were very sincere and quite determined to do it the right way.

[arualpalm]

Good to know. It’s going to take a lot of money, and I hope they can obtain the funding to keep a complete renovation going.

[futureman]

The long talked about conversion of a portion of LeVeque Tower to a hotel is now official!

Portion of LeVeque Tower to be converted into 155-room Autograph Collection hotel
Brian R. Ball
Staff reporter- Columbus Business First

Illinois-based First Hospitality Group Inc. has announced a joint venture with Columbus developers Robert Meyers and Don Casto to convert a portion of the 47-story LeVeque Tower building into a 155-room Autograph Collection hotel.

The hotel is scheduled to open in early 2015.

READ MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2014/07/17/portion-of-leveque-tower-to-be-converted-into-155.html

[heresthecasey]

Great news! “Early 2015” does seem pretty optimistic though, as far as opening.

[News]

LeVeque Tower Lands Autograph Collection Hotel Tenant
July 17, 2014 7:22 pm – Walker Evans

First Hospitality Group announced today that a portion of the LeVeque Tower will become a 155 guest room Autograph Collection Hotel, a boutique brand under the Marriott banner. The project is a joint venture with Robert Meyers and Don Casto of Tower Ten LCC, which purchased the building in 2011.

READ MORE: https://www.columbusunderground.com/leveque-tower-lands-autograph-collection-hotel-tenant

[jdubilla]

I stayed at an Autograph hotel in New Orleans earlier this year. The hotel was pretty nice. However, the choice to have all blue lighting in the hotel room hallways was an odd one. It’s a bit disorienting and weird. Let’s hope they keep it simple and classy at the LeVeque.

[heresthecasey]

Since each of the Autograph Collection hotels gets a unique name, it would be pretty cool if they called it something with historical significance to downtown Columbus, like the Hotel Deshler or Neil House.

[WJT]

heresthecasey wrote:

Since each of the Autograph Collection hotels gets a unique name, it would be pretty cool if they called it something with historical significance to downtown Columbus, like the Hotel Deshler or Neil House.

Well it was part of the Deshler, right?

When built it was the American Insurance Union Citadel, the Leveque/Lincoln Tower at one point. I don’t know what else it may have been called. The Palace Theater is there also.

Lots of possible names are in there.

[drtom1234]

I looked through the Autograph Collection hotels website. Lots of very posh, very expensive hotels on that list. Between this and the Joseph, Columbus will have two beautiful boutique hotels. I wonder if the powers that be knew about this, and that’s part of the reason the plan for the new full service hotel next to the convention center was quashed.

[Author]

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