At the end of each year, we like to group the urban development projects that we’ve been tracking into categories – completed, under construction and announced. We’ve also come up with this fourth category for all of the projects that don’t fit neatly into any of the other three. That could mean proposals from previous years that have been dropped, projects that are still very much alive but just haven’t started construction yet, or, in a few cases, development sites where construction began but has now stopped.
Read on for a list of those projects, and our best guess for what might happen with them in 2020.
Downtown
This year saw an updated North Market Tower proposal, but the project still hasn’t gotten the commission approval it needs. There was no news on the Millennial Tower, though, which was approved by the Downtown Commission in early 2018.
The street network for Confluence Village – a soccer stadium-adjacent mixed-use development – was approved, but we’ve yet to see any detailed plans for the project.
No progress was made this year on the renovation and redevelopment of the Madison and White-Haines buildings (or the smaller building in between them), although the owner of the newly-opened project across the street is reportedly interested in taking over the project.
Two other historic buildings on High Street were declared unsafe by the city and now sit empty.
A new plan for a Capital Law School parking lot was approved in October, but work on the site hasn’t started yet.
We got some more information about the COSI Corridor project, but no news on whether or not it is moving forward.
These projects were announced in previous years but quiet in 2019 – a 15-story building at Fourth and Rich, a five-story building near Topiary Park, and a six-story Broad Street proposal.
Near East Side
Several significant renovation projects in the neighborhood appear to be in a holding pattern, including the Broadwin Building, the former Macon Hotel and The Edna.
The Trolley Barn site has also been quiet, but is on track to move forward in 2020 after City Council approved a tax incentive for the project.
Work is scheduled to start in early 2020 on Adelphi Quarter.
No progress so far on this three-story building on Oak Street, or on these apartments in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville District.
We haven’t heard any updates on a planned Healthy Community Center in the old Martin Luther King Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.
Franklinton
The second phase of the Gravity development got another round of approvals this fall and is expected to move forward in 2020.
Although new signage has been put up around it, the former Graham Ford site on Broad Street remains empty.
There’s been no update on plans for the former Bellows School, and work has yet to start on the affordable housing that will replace the former West Side Spiritualist Church.
Another year has passed without any action on the Lucas Lofts development.
University District
Work hasn’t started yet on a mixed-use project at the corner of Tompkins and High.
A proposal to tear down five buildings in Old North Columbus and replace them with a new mixed-use building has not been brought back after receiving a cold reception from neighborhood groups.
Two renovation projects – the former Indianola Middle School and the former Hudson Theater – appear to be on hold.
OSU still plans on building a second medical center tower, although we still haven’t seen a design for the structure.
A plan for a prominent site that straddles the Clintonville-University District border was approved in 2018, but work hasn’t started on the project.
Also no signs of movement in front of the Lantern Square apartment complex.
Grandview and Upper Arlington
Two major projects in Upper Arlington appear to be moving forward, although construction has not yet started on either.
Still no movement on this ten-acre site south of Grandview Yard, or the former Deo Davis Funeral site on West First Avenue.
A plan to renovate this Marble Cliff mansion and build apartments next to it was approved, but work hasn’t started yet.
South Side
In German Village, a revised proposal for this Livingston Avenue site was floated in April, and a new plan for a boutique hotel was unveiled in September.
The Parsons Avenue lot where a small office building was proposed remains empty.
We haven’t heard any more about a plan to redevelop a parking lot and building owned by radio station CD102.5.
West Side
The Westland Mall site remains a source of frustration for west side residents, although the sale of the former Sears store there was a positive development.
Plans for two sites across Georgesville Road from the mall have yet to come to fruition.
Other Neighborhoods
A lawsuit was settled, but the future is still very uncertain for this mega-project in Delaware County.
Work hasn’t begun yet on a planned aviation hall of fame in a historic terminal.
The Cargominium project on Old Leonard Avenue remains stalled.
A four-story apartment building continues to sit, partially-built, on Michigan Avenue. Just down the street, the redevelopment of the APCO property across from the Trotters Park apartments has not started.
A task force has been meeting to discuss the plan to build soccer fields and an indoor recreation facility on the land immediately surrounding Mapfre Stadium.
A prime Worthington site remains undeveloped, although some new plans have been floated for the site.
Union Cafe in the Short North has not moved forward with a plan for a major addition.
There were also no updates this year on the Parkside on Pearl project, which was approved by the Italian Village Commission in 2018.
READ MORE: 40 Urban Development Projects Completed in 2019
READ MORE: 64 Urban Development Projects Under Construction in 2019