New look, uses of old Lazarus building a work in progress
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Mike Pramik
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Larry Fisher surveyed the top of the Downtown Lazarus building and donned sunglasses as the hazy, summer sun caught his eye.

The reincarnation of the million-square-foot former department store was being created as construction workers hacked away at the brick behemoth. Yet several issues remain unresolved concerning the $60 million project that is expected to spark development in the RiverSouth district.

“This is an incredibly complicated job,” said Fisher, president of the Columbus Downtown Development Corp. “It’s complicated by the fact that the building was built at so many different times, at so many levels, with so many different materials, on sloping land.”

Construction workers so far have hauled out more than 19 million pounds of debris and have managed to recycle a little more than half of it. They’re currently turning about a quarter of the sprawling structure, built in eight stages beginning in 1908, into office space for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

In January, that department will begin moving in. It will join the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, which leased 200,000 square feet of the building in 1998.

Last week, Ohio State University College of the Arts said it plans to lease space near the corner of Town and High streets for galleries and an arts incubator that will involve students, faculty and alumni.

The centerpiece of the redevelopment, a building-high galleria and atrium at a new entrance along Town Street, is under way. The galleria is expected to serve as a focal point for Town Street, which eventually will be beautified and converted to two-way traffic.

Still, many questions surround the redevelopment of Downtown’s former retail cornerstone, and the project won’t be completed until all of them are answered:

• Will condominiums or a parking garage be built inside the old service building at the corner of S. Front and W. State streets?

• Who will lease the remaining 150,000 square feet of office space?

• What tenants are interested in 40,000 square feet of planned retail space on High Street?

• Will the walkway over High Street that links the building with Columbus City Center remain or be removed?

• What will become of City Center?

“It’s a puzzle, and yeah, there are still pieces missing,” said Edgar Lampert, president of Georgetown Co., the master planner of RiverSouth, a 23-block area of Downtown that includes the Lazarus building.

Lampert said he hopes to be able to answer the servicebuilding question in “three to four months.” Georgetown is still pursuing office tenants. But Lampert said the future of retail in the building might not be determined before Mills Corp. decides what to do with City Center, the underperforming Downtown mall.

City Center currently is in limbo. In February, Mills said that it will seek a sale of the company, which is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In June, the company said it received its first round of bids, but no sale is imminent.

In 2003, when CDDC acquired the Lazarus building, it received a similar challenge. The structure would be important to redevelopment of River-South, because an empty building of that size would hardly be a catalyst for growth.

Lampert said one option was to tear it down. But with the EPA already a tenant, that was ruled out. Creating condominiums is on the back burner. Lampert said 70 condominiums might make sense for the old Lazarus service building.

Eventually, the plan that won out was signing another major state tenant, and the deal with Job and Family Services emerged.

Job and Family Services will begin moving 800 social-services employees into the building in January, spokesman Dennis Evans said. The agency will keep its administrative headquarters across the street at 145 S. Front St., and an office on 5 th Avenue near Port Columbus.

Employees have a separate lobby, which will be accessed through the galleria. So will the EPA, which currently uses the Front Street facade as an entrance. The galleria and atrium allow light to penetrate the middle of the building, said Brian Ezzell, vice president of development for Georgetown Co.

More light will come from 180 windows that Turner Construction is fitting into existing window spaces, previously covered by a stucco exterior that Lazarus installed.

An elevator now used by workers stops at the Lazarus building’s 5 th floor, where the elegant Chintz Room served diners for decades. When the renovation is complete, state workers won’t be able to order dainty sandwiches served on fine china. But they’ll bask in natural light and a commendable view of Downtown where only artificial light had shone.

“For a building that some people thought would only be good for demolition, we’ve really created some exciting space inside,” Ezzell said.

Karen Bell, dean of the OSU College of the Arts, said she’s likewise thrilled about the opportunity that the Lazarus building will afford the school. Bell said the incubator will give students experience in displaying their artwork, running a gallery or performing.

“We want it to be a beehive of activity,” she said.

Much of the space will be in the old Lazarus basement and will have a combination of natural and artificial light.

“For arts exhibit space, it’s good to have some light, but it’s better for the art to have more contained lighting,” Bell said. “Natural lighting would ruin the artwork.

“It’s quite perfect, I think.”

Fisher said about 380 parking spaces could be carved out of the service building, but large pillars there make doing so difficult and potentially more expensive.

Similarly, Lampert said, the odd-sized floors make using the space for condos a challenge.

Originally, the main entrance was planned for the service building, near Chapel Alley. But eventually, it was decided to move it to Town Street, where an old airshaft at Wall Street will become the main entrance. It will feature a 33-foot-wide wall decorated in an art deco style that will rise above the roofline.

In the middle of a portion of the wall will be a V-shaped glass box, which will be lighted from inside. The box and the wall will begin at the top of the second story, and entry will be made underneath an arch.

A 14-foot gate will be lowered at night to restrict access.

A wider sidewalk will be built, which will be part of a Town Street revitalization that will open that part of the street to two-way traffic, Fisher said.

“Town Street will be completely rebuilt,” he said. “It’s going to be the best example in the city of the concept of having the Scioto (River) reach up with fingers into the city.”