Columbus Development News

[Chadoh25]

Downtown. April 15th, 2011

Rich Street Bridge (Main Street Bridge behind)

[Chadoh25]

Downtown. April 15th, 2011

Cup O Joe coming to the corner of West Town and High Street in the old Lazarus building!

[Chadoh25]

Better late than never.

Full steam(roller) ahead for road-construction season
Despite state budget troubles, orange barrels will be a frequent sight on central Ohio roads

Monday, April 4, 2011 03:06 AM
By Robert Vitale

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The state budget battles spilling into Downtown streets won't have an effect this spring and summer on central Ohio highways.

In fact, the Ohio Department of Transportation will spend double its yearly average on roadwork in the region, thanks to the scheduled start of a long-planned rebuilding of I-70/71 through Downtown in June.

About 50 projects already are in the works or scheduled to start between now and October in Franklin and surrounding counties. They total almost $461.2 million.

Among the biggest:

• A $74.5 million reconstruction of the southwestern corner of I-270 will cut traffic to two lanes between Georgesville Road and Rt. 62/Harrisburg Pike and to three lanes between Georgesville Road and I-70. Work will begin in August.

• A $22.2 million reconstruction of the I-71 exit at Rt.655/London-Groveport Road in Grove City will narrow lanes on the interstate and close the state route at some point before work is finished next summer.

• Stretches of I-70 will be resurfaced east and west of Columbus, causing nighttime lane closings and other restrictions from July through October. The state will spend about $10.4 million on parts of the highway in Franklin, Fairfield and Licking counties.

Money comes from the portion of Ohio's 28-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax that is dedicated to highway improvements. That insulates roadwork from the cutbacks affecting state programs that depend on income taxes and other general-fund sources.

Nationwide, transportation has fared better than education, welfare, Medicaid and prisons in states facing deficits, according to a report issued last fall by the National Association of State Budget Officers. Of 15 states that cut spending since passing their 2011 budgets, only three reduced transportation spending, by a total of $8.8 million. Of 37 states that made midyear cuts in 2010, 15 reduced transportation spending, by $419.1 million.

In comparison, 14 states have cut $1.8 billion from their education budgets this fiscal year. Thirty-seven cut $7.9 billion in education spending during 2010.

"A lot of state transportation spending comes from other funds," said Brian Sigritz, director of state fiscal studies for the association. "Gasoline taxes are specifically earmarked for transportation in most states."

Other factors take their toll, however. Rising gas prices and unemployment cause people to drive less, which reduces state income from gas taxes. Ohio took in $91 million less in gas taxes during fiscal 2010, a one-year drop of 5 percent.

"The economy has hit all of us," said Ferzan Ahmed, who heads the state transportation department's District 6 office, which includes Franklin, Delaware, Union, Madison and Pickaway counties.

Ahmed said a sluggish economy hasn't taken a toll on roadwork yet because highway projects usually take years to plan and design. The Transportation Department will spend less statewide this year because federal economic-stimulus money no longer is available. And less might be spent in coming years because of current conditions, he said.

But the I-70/71 reconstruction project won't take dollars away from other needed work in central Ohio, according to Ahmed. The first phase, scheduled to start in June and finish in October 2013, is a new interchange at I-670 and I-71 on the northeastern edge of Downtown. That phase will cost $238 million.

Lisa Zigmund, construction engineer for District 6, said her department plans to include provisions in its construction contracts to keep two lanes open in each direction during peak times and to limit further lane closings to nights and weekends.

For all projects, she said, officials measure traffic on highways to determine whether lanes can be closed or whether traffic should be shifted onto a shoulder or across a median. Volume also dictates the times lane closings are allowed, she said.

rvitale@dispatch.com

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live...litics&sid=101

[Chadoh25]

Downtown. April 15th, 2011

Rich Street is one of many streets in the Riversouth area which is being rebuilt.

[Chadoh25]

Downtown. April 15th, 2011

This building between Town and Rich Streets, on High Street is getting so much needed love. Thanks to Columbus Commons, I think we will see more renovations between the courthouse and Lazarus.

[Chadoh25]

Downtown. April 15th, 2011

Columbus Commons

[Chadoh25]

Downtown. April 15th, 2011

Gay Street Condo updates.

[Chadoh25]

Downtown. April 15th, 2011

Abigal on Grant.

[vidgms]

Thanks for the photo updates. I drive by these places all the time and have no clue what they are.

[Chadoh25]

Originally Posted by vidgms

Thanks for the photo updates. I drive by these places all the time and have no clue what they are.

Do you live in the burbs? I live in downtown myself on East Town Street and so I see this stuff all the time as well. If you aren't sure what something is, just ask. I'm pretty up to date on whats going on in this part of town. Cheers!

[Chadoh25]

Aril 17th, 2011. Southside

Nationwide Childrens Hospital. Parsons and Livingston Avenues.





Hospital addition

[vidgms]

Yes i live in the Burbs, outside the outerbelt over by Reynoldsburg. I work at the courthouse with the auditor, I really need to move closer to work.

[Chadoh25]

I just want to aplogize to you guys. Unfortunately I will not be posting photos here anymore because an ass named Rider on UrbanOhio feels the need to use my photo without my permission and without crediting myself as the author of the photos. Sadly, this guy is also a mod on the site. I'm Sorry.

[Chadoh25]

Outdoor reading 'room' coming to new Downtown park
Library books, Wi-Fi at Columbus Commons

Friday, April 15, 2011 03:07 AM
By Dean Narciso

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Springtime in Paris conjures images of outdoor cafes, street-corner artists and, especially, relaxing in an urban park with a good book.

Columbus' version will include lots of books, a dedicated area of the Columbus Commons park Downtown in which to read them, and wireless Internet, thanks to the Columbus Metropolitan Library.

The "outdoor reading room," scheduled to open at the end of May, will include benches, shade trees and book carts provided by the library. Tables and chairs, a grove of trees, restrooms and the park's carousel will be nearby.

At a board meeting this week, Pat Losinski, library director, announced that the library will provide the Wi-Fi.

"We think that's great visibility for the library," he told the board. "It's a good opportunity for us."

The plan is to include wireless transmitters near the southern end of the park, near Rich Street.

A "splash" page will pop up to direct users to the library's home page. From there, users will have free Internet access.

The nonprofit Friends of the Library will provide overstock or discarded books, those typically sold for a dollar when removed from the library collection.

If the final cost exceeds $25,000 a year, a separate vote would be required by the library board.

"I think that's money well spent on our part," said Lara Oliver, vice president of the Friends group, although she was not sure how much the project would cost. AT&T and Time Warner are negotiating with the library about providing the Internet.

The outdoor concept was inspired by New York's Bryant Park, said Donna Zuiderweg, the library's development director.

The New York Public Library in 1935 established the Bryant Park Open-Air Reading Room behind the library to engage the minds of the unemployed. It closed in 1995 but was revived in 2003, offering 700 books and 300 periodicals.

The Columbus library's summer reading club, bookmobile events and other literacy initiatives will be among the programs on the commons.

Ohio State University's 2nd and 7 Foundation, which promotes literacy, will sponsor "celebrity story time," with Friday readings by OSU athletes and coaches.

"It's an amazing community asset," Amy Taylor, chief operating officer of the private, nonprofit development group Capitol South Community Urban Redevelopment Corp., said of the library.

"To have the No. 1 library in the country tied to a new park in an outdoor space is exciting. I think they're going to hit a whole new market," she said.

dnarciso@dispatch.com

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content...n.html?sid=101

[Chadoh25]

Music in the city
In time for the city's bicentennial in 2012, a $5 million pavilion will be built to host Picnic with the Pops and other concerts in the Downtown park emerging on the site of the former City Center mall

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 03:07 AM
By Marla Matzer Rose

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

As finishing touches are put on Downtown's new Columbus Commons park ahead of its Memorial Day weekend opening, the park's backers want to let you know there's more to come next year.

A permanent stage will be completed by May of next year, allowing the park to become host of the Columbus Symphony's Picnic with the Pops series and a wide array of local and national acts in the future.

The cost of the stage, estimated at $5million, will be paid for using $2million from the city's capital fund along with an expected $3million from some of Columbus' leading corporations, including $1million each from American Electric Power and Nationwide.

The venue will be called the Columbus Bicentennial Pavilion, in recognition of the city's 200th anniversary next year.

"Having events like Picnic with the Pops down here will be very beneficial for the businesses here, and will further strengthen the momentum we have in Downtown, which is the economic engine for the region," said Dan Williamson, spokesman for Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman.

The park, built on the former site of the Columbus City Center mall, will have a range of entertainment on a temporary stage this season.

Like the nearby $44million Scioto Mile park project expected to open in July, Columbus Commons is another example of a public/private partnership where "we're able to leverage an incredible amount of public money by making a small public investment," Williamson said.

The Columbus Downtown Development Corp./Capitol South is the developer and operator of the park, whose land was donated by the city.

"Cleveland and Cincinnati both have really wonderful outdoor locations for summer concerts," said Bill Conner, president of the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts, which will be in charge of entertainment programming. "We're trying to be more competitive. This will allow us to do things particularly for the 25- to 45-year-old demographic that's been moving Downtown, and groups like our growing Latino community, which has a great interest in music."

The design of the stage, which will sit at the north end of the park, is being completed, along with the exact specifications of two giant video screens that will flank the stage. New York-based FTL, a contractor to park designer Moody-Nolan, has created similar pavilions in Cincinnati, Washington, D.C., and Sun Valley, Idaho.

Conner said the venue has a slightly smaller, "more intimate" capacity than the lawn of the campus-area Chemical Abstracts, which has hosted the summer pops series for years. He said there's opportunity in offering more frequent concerts for different audiences rather than just a few concerts for an expected audience of 10,000. Depending on the configuration, Conner said Columbus Commons will be able to accommodate an audience of between 6,000 and 10,000.

Everything else about the pops series will remain the same, including the price and the ability to bring in food and alcohol, Conner said. He said they are working on obtaining a liquor license for the park, and concertgoers will have more food choices at the park and within a very close walk.

Starting in 2013, he expects the venue to be able to attract some nationally-known acts that haven't had a place to perform in Columbus since the Germain Amphitheater in the Polaris area closed in 2008. Its capacity is double the size of the LC Pavilion in the Arena District.

Representatives for AEP and Nationwide said the stage was a natural fit for their corporations, which both have Downtown headquarters and have given millions to the Scioto Mile project and numerous other civic projects over the years.

"It makes sense for us to invest in Downtown and help it grow," said Melissa McHenry, spokeswoman for AEP. "We want it to be a good place for our employees to work and live."

Nationwide's gift reflects its commitment to the city and the arts, spokesman Eric Hardgrove said.

"A strong Downtown is important for all of Columbus," Hardgrove said.

mrose@dispatch.com

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content...y.html?sid=101

[Chadoh25]

Workers To Break Ground On Casino Site Monday

COLUMBUS, Ohio --
Hollywood Casino Columbus will break ground Monday. The project is moving forward despite an ongoing legal battle between the developer and the city of Columbus.

Workers are scheduled to break ground on Columbus' much-talked-about casino Monday morning.

The groundbreaking will be held with elected officials, Penn National Gaming and the construction team at 11 a.m. Monday at the corner of West Broad Street and Georgesville Road.

Hollywood Casino Columbus, scheduled to open in late 2012, will be a 300,000-square-foot facility with structured and surface parking.

The casino will open with approximately 3,000 slot machines and 70 table games, plus a poker room, food and beverage amenities, and an entertainment lounge.

The $400 million project is expected to create 3,500 jobs during construction and 2,000 permanent jobs once the casino opens. It is projected to produce $63.2 million in annual tax revenues for Franklin County, the city of Columbus and all of the county's school districts.

A huge factor for the local market is how the casino will handle its' water and sewage.

Penn National subsidiary CD Gaming Ventures is suing the city of Columbus, Franklin County, and nearly a dozen current and former elected leaders involved in the ongoing dispute over water and sewer service at the future casino's West Side location.

The lawsuit alleges Mayor Michael Coleman; Coleman's chief of staff, Michael Reese; six current and former Columbus city council members and three Franklin County commissioners violated Penn National's rights under the U.S. and Ohio constitutions by withholding water and sewer service from the company in order to force Penn to annex the casino site into the city of Columbus.

In the lawsuit, Penn National subsidiary CD Gaming Ventures asks for an injunction preventing the city of Columbus and Franklin County from denying water and sewer service to the casino site. The lawsuit also seeks monetary damages.

Property experts said the outcome of that fight will affect property values.

While the two sides fight it out in court, the casino site already has sent commercial property values soaring. Neighbors are hoping the new venture will help their property values, too.

NBC4's Nadia Bashir talked to a realtor and a West Side business owner about how the casino could affect local property values and businesses.

There are a lot of empty businesses on West Broad Street, near the casino site.

Realtor Angie Travis said the price of commercial property near the casino site has skyrocketed into the millions -- a trend that started before the casino was a done deal.

"When the levy was going through, there were people who sold then or bought land at a premium price," Travis said.

She sells homes in Galloway Ridge and Liberty Village. She said the housing bubble knocked down home values in Galloway about 30 percent. That's a harsh reality for sellers.

"It's really hard because some people still owe that money on their loan. To explain to them they're not going to be able to get the amount they paid for their house, it's hard," Travis explained.

Travis said there is a good chance the casino will help increase depressed home values -- but it is not a sure thing.

She said while commercial property rates soared instantly, residential property may take awhile.

"A lot of people are skeptical as far as jumping on board right now, waiting to see if it does come -- and if it doesn't move," Travis said about the casino.

Tim Bethel, owner of the Hilltop Drive-Thru, thinks the casino is a good thing.

"I heard of people going to Las Vegas. Now they can go to Ohio and just feel like they're in Las Vegas."

Bethel said he expects the casino to boost business but since property values are going up, he expects rent for his business to increase, too.

"In the long run, it might hurt us. But you know you gotta take chances," Bethel said.

Penn National says ground already has been broken at its Cincinnati site, renovation is underway at a building that will be used for the Cleveland casino and the Toledo location is 40 percent complete.

For additional information, stay with NBC4 and refresh nbc4i.com.
To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail stories@nbc4i.com.

http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2011/apr/...day-ar-461088/

[Chadoh25]

five-month delay
Courthouse set to open June 6

Friday, April 22, 2011 03:04 AM
By Elizabeth Gibson

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The empty benches at the new $105 million Franklin County Common Pleas Courthouse soon will be filled by jurors, judges, plaintiffs and defendants.

The courthouse is set to open June 6, five months after county officials originally had hoped, Common Pleas judges announced yesterday. Few court proceedings will go on the week before. The bulk of moving will be accomplished the preceding Wednesday through Friday, June 1-3.

The court will still be open for arraignments and probation, but no jurors will be summoned.

"There will be hundreds of cases that will have to be rescheduled, but we felt this was the least-disruptive time to do it," Administrative Judge Charles Schneider said.

He said the moving dates were picked to give judges plenty of time to shuffle their schedules and because Memorial Day already would make it a short week.

It will be the second week this year without jury trials. Jury summonses had been canceled in anticipation of the original January moving date, and officials couldn't undo that by the time they realized the opening date would need to be pushed back.

It's frustrating that things couldn't have just gone smoothly in January, but June is better than waiting until September so that nothing has to be rescheduled, said D. Timothy Huey, president-elect of the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

He and his colleagues are eager to get away from the poor acoustics and aged interiors of the old courthouse.

"There probably will be individual cases where rescheduling will be an injustice to a defendant in jail waiting for his turn," Huey said. "Some attorneys will not have happy clients, but it's far enough in advance that, hopefully, there will only be a small number of cases where that delay will be an injustice."

He said lawyers have enough time to postpone appearances for any expert witnesses who were scheduled the week of the move.

The courts had planned to use the three-day weekend of Martin Luther King Day, and then Presidents Day weekend.

The move was pushed back for a variety of reasons, but the most prominent was concern that police radios wouldn't work throughout the building. Work on a $478,548 reception upgrade, which county officials have said should have been taken care of in the fall, was finished last week and tested on Tuesday.

"There's been a lot of anxiety and frustration but, at this point, most of the judges are excited and ready to have it done," Schneider said. "I had certainly hoped we'd be in there by now, but at least we've made good use of the time."

Schneider said the delay has been beneficial in some regards.

It gave extra time to install and test audiovisual equipment, he said, and holding-cell doors are being retrofitted for $8,316 so that deputies can handcuff inmates through a hole before opening the door.

The county is working with cellphone carriers to improve reception for personal phones in the building, and the wireless Internet isn't up and running yet. But those issues won't hold up the move, Schneider said.

egibson@dispatch.com

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content...6.html?sid=101

[Chadoh25]

Columbus Commons developer seeking builder to bring in residents

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/...-columbus.html

[vidgms]

Hopefully some good bids/proposals come in that will really liven up the place. There is no reason to go into the city for a park and no large amount of people that will take advantage on a regular basis that are already there.

[Chadoh25]

Northland Village Being Revitalized

By Rick Reitzel, NBC 4
Published: March 29, 2011

COLUMBUS, Ohio --
Despite the recent recession-- some parts of Columbus are seeing a bit of an economic renaissance these days.

One of those areas is the site of the old Northland Mall on Morse road. A new Menards mega-store with home improvement supplies, pet needs and groceries has a tentitive opening date in April.

"We are excited about being in the Northland community, excited about the area and the people," said Joey Williams, General Manager of the Menards on Morse road.

The new Menards store sits on the site of the old Sears Hardware store.

"I think as we get more business coming back in we willl get more pride and the neighborhood will become more vibrant again," said Bob Wilson. Wilson has lived in the Northland area for more than 25 years.

He and a friend Henry Maxwell were shooting pool in the Gillie Recreation Center down the road from the old mall site. They have both lived in the area long enough to see both boom and bust in their community.

"It did hurt when the mall left, it hurt the whole area," said Henry Maxwell. "hopefully with the Menards there, we will see other new businesses come back in," he said.

After Northland Mall was demolished in October 2002, one neighbor said, the community lost a big part of its identity.

"A lot of the people who come this way to shop and eat with their families or even people who live here, started traveling out of the area," said Roseann Hicks, President of the Northland Area Business Association.

Besides the last minute preps at Menards, the Franklin County Animal Shelter, the Northland Performing Arts Center, the Ohio Department of Taxation, along with the Franklin County Jobs and Family Services have all either opened or plan on opening new locations on the old mall site.

"it is not only revitializing the physical area but, it is revitalizing people's hope in the area. Hopefully it will stabilize property values," said Hicks.

According to Hicks, the plan is, new businesses will bring families back into the Northland area.

"And I think that will be key to substaining Northland," said Hicks.

http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2011/mar/...zed-ar-437551/