Thursday, November 2, 2006
By KEVIN PARKS
ThisWeek Staff Writer

The line between one neighborhood and another is often blurry at best.

In no part of a city is this more true than for the downtown.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of urban studies and history Robert M. Fogelson, in his 2001 book “Downtown: Its Rise and Fall, 1880-1950,” wrote: “As a place, downtown was hard to define. Legally, it did not exist. Unlike the city of which it was a part — indeed, unlike every parcel of real estate in the city — downtown had no formal boundaries, no precise lines to show where it began and where it ended.”

There is, in fact, a legal definition of what encompasses downtown Columbus. It was adopted in a 1997 ordinance, which states:

“The Downtown District is that area indicated in the official city zoning map and bounded as follows:

“Beginning at the intersection of Interstate 70 and the western bank of the Scioto River;

“Thence northeasterly along the Scioto River to the first railroad right-of-way;

“Thence northerly along said railroad right-of-way to the first intersecting railroad right-of-way;

“Thence westerly along said railroad right-of-way to to the intersection of state Route 315;

“Thence northerly along state Route 315 to the intersection of Interstate 670;

“Thence easterly along Interstate 670 to the intersection of Interstate 71;

“Thence southerly along Interstate 71 to the intersection of Interstate 70;

“Thence westerly along Interstate 70 to the place of beginning.”

What a mouthful! And dry as dust, to boot!

Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s administration views it more succinctly.

“We have two definitions,” press secretary Michael S. Brown wrote in an e-mail. “One, inside the interstates and RR tracks on the west.”

But then he drops the other shoe, muddying the waters just a bit:

“Two, for housing we include the ‘necklace neighborhoods’ like developments in Short North, Brewery District and Italian Village.”

What, Italian Village but not German Village?

“That’s often debated,” Brown admitted. “German Village is very much its own branded area, but we do consider it part of the core. Short North is the same. We just are cautious about where we count housing, because we want our downtown stats to be authentic.

“All necklace neighborhoods are separate, but connected to the downtown.”

Katharine Moore, executive director of the German Village Society, begs to differ.

“A true downtown needs density,” she wrote in an e-mail.”German Village, which has been a downtown neighborhood for 50 years, has coffee shops and a bookstore open till the late hours. We have restaurants and bars that are bustling well after midnight.

“We also have parks for children to play in, grocery stores, public gardens to enjoy, two elementary schools and all of the energy they provide, as well as 233 acres of pedestrian-scaled design that allows one to feel balanced and connected.

“I am certain that the success of the downtown revitalization effort will be tied directly to the ability of the developers to knit the emerging city to the historic neighborhoods of Victorian Village, the Brewery District and German Village.”

The interstates mentioned in the 1997 ordinance and by press secretary Brown had, in the opinion of Cleve Ricksecker, a profound impact on what can and cannot be considered downtown.

Ricksecker is project director for the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District.

In a reply to an e-mail inquiry, he wrote:

“The interstate system created boundaries for downtown that did not exist prior to the construction of the innerbelt. Prior to the mid-1960s, downtown connected seamlessly to neighborhoods on the south and east. To the north and west, railroad tracks established clear boundaries. Downtown consisted of High Street between Goodale Street and Fulton Street and two to four blocks east and west of High Street.

“I believe the downtown interstates have changed not only the legal definition of downtown, but the emotional understanding as well.”

Ken Danter is founder and president of a 36-year-old company that bears his name, a national real estate consulting firm that provides market research and demographic information to builders, lenders and developers. The Danter Co. conducted a survey in 2000 to determine interest in residential development in downtown Columbus, which he believes helped spur much of the condo and loft growth that has occurred. The firm is in the process of updating that survey for the Capitol South Community Urban Redevelopment Corp.

A few months ago, Danter referred to Ohio State as a “fine downtown university.” He was only half joking.

“That’s probably a stretch,” Danter admitted in a telephone interview last week, “but the fact is, I believe most people relate Ohio State to (state Route) 315 and Lane Avenue, but the reality is that OSU reaches to King Avenue. That’s very, very close.”

Danter falls firmly in the camp that includes German Village as part of downtown.

“From a market perspective, it certainly is,” he said. “When I see people walk to work, that’s a pretty good indication that they’re part of the urban community.”

Peter D. Scantland is the president of Orange Barrel Media, the firm responsible for putting cars in slingshots, gigantic soccer balls and other large-scale ads on the sides of downtown buildings, much to the vexation of Ohio Department of Transportation officials.

Scantland offered his thoughts via e-mail:

“I think that while the city and census reports may define our downtown as a specific and rather limited geographic area, bordered on the north by Goodale Street, the east by Cleveland Avenue, the west by Neil Avenue and the south by Mound Street, I would argue that many of the neighborhoods immediately adjacent to that boundary could actually be considered to fall under the ‘downtown’ umbrella, as well, if not geographically, then certainly by virtue of set of common characteristics.

“I would suggest that the areas immediately within the previously mentioned boundaries would better be described as our Central Business District. Generally, the core downtown area, as defined by the city, has traditionally been primarily business uses, with typical buildings characterized by tall ’skyscraper-like’ construction.

“Until relatively recently, there has been little by way of residential construction. Conversely, the Short North, Victorian Village, Italian Village, German Village and Olde Towne East, have been experiencing rapid residential development and escalating property values for the past 20 years.

“Under Mayor Mike Coleman’s Downtown Business Plan, developers have been able to service pent-up demand for downtown living in our central business district. The next 10 years will undoubtedly witness more tall buildings being added to our skyline, but they will more than likely contain condos and not offices.”

When the Downtown Residents Association was formed three years ago, according to president Kevin Woods, its boundaries were devised so as not to step on anyone’s toes.

“When we were debating what the boundaries of our organization should be, we basically looked at the established civic associations that were in the downtown,” Woods said in a telephone interview.

Existing civic groups were found operating in the Brewery District, Olde Towne East, German Village, Schumacher Place, Italian Village, Short North, Victorian Village and Franklinton, according to Woods. With only one largely defunct civic group located near the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Residents Association officials chose Interstates 70 and 71 in south, I-71 on east, I-670 to the north and the Scioto River to the west as their borders.

“Outside of those boundaries there is pretty much a civic association already established,” Woods said.

The association was created more or less as an exercise for the Leadership Columbus program Woods participated in three years ago. Membership is open to anyone interested, but only those residing within the specified boundaries may vote in board elections.

Prior to moving downtown, Woods lived in Shoemaker Place for nine years and then spent five years in Victorian Village.

“I always considered myself downtown,” he said. “We’re all one big neighborhood, but each one has its own different feel, amenities or lack thereof, pluses or minuses.”

Jon Myers, a partner in Fresh, a year-old downtown firm of Web site designers and developers, spent a decade in New York City before coming to Columbus. His take on his new home, Myers wrote in an e-mail, is that it is a “collection of neighborhoods (that) have identities, some of which are highly developed, the Short North, and some of which are not developed at all, Columbus downtown proper.”

“The boundaries for downtown Columbus are geographical,” Myers continued, “with lots of distinct landmarks in between. The convention center represents an area of dead energy and space on the east side of High Street. This represents a separation between ‘downtown’ and the ‘Short North’ both of which are ‘downtown’ or even more than downtown, they are simply urban environments.”

Larry Fisher is president of the Columbus Downtown Development Corp., a nonprofit, private-sector development organization, that was formed in June 2002 to implement the business plan for the central business district.

In his reply to an e-mail query, Fisher wrote:

“Downtown Columbus is the face of our region, and what the TV networks show when riding around in their blimps, and talking about Columbus. While there are no defined boundaries, there is a sense of place defined by excitement, diversity, vibrancy and strength.

“Downtown is our government, arts and business center. It includes the Arena District, the emerging RiverSouth neighborhood, and the theater and entertainment districts. It’s the home of three colleges: Columbus State, Columbus College of Art and Design and Franklin University representing 30,000 students. It’s big-name entertainment and professional hockey. It’s a perfect barometer of our economic well-being, because when downtown is healthy, so is the rest of our region. And as our Metropolitan area grows, so does its core. More and more people when they speak of downtown include places such as German Village, Brewery District, Old Towne East, Victorian Village, Harrison West, OSU campus and others.

“Downtown and its definition are both dynamic.”

Paul D. Astleford has two different perspectives on what downtown is and isn’t, one professional and the other personal.

Astleford is president and CEO of Experience Columbus, which employs approximately 40 people in convention sales, tourism sales, convention services, membership, marketing, communications, events and sponsorship development and administration.

On the personal side, Astleford said in a telephone interview, he and his wife, Susan, view downtown as kind of tall and skinny, going up through the Short North and south through German Village, but stopping on the west at the Scioto and the east at Grant Street.

Then there’s his view based on his position at the tourism-promoting organization.

“I would say that from the standpoint of what I’d call the selling and marketing of our community, I would define the downtown as a much larger circle, which would include the university and which would go out west on Broad, I’m not sure how far, some distance, through Franklinton and all that,” he said. “On the south side, I’d certainly think that it goes down to (Interstate) 270 or whatever. I think I could generally say when we’re selling our community we’re selling the greater Columbus Community, so it would almost be everything inside 270.”

Via e-mail, Spectrum Properties president Bill Shelby, whose firm has developed several downtown condo projects, offered this:

“I would argue that downtown and the (central business district) are synonymous. The CBD has some natural and manmade boundaries, which has led to defining the area both currently and historically. Typical boundaries for the CBD would be: I-670 to the north as a manmade boundary, the Scioto River to the west as a natural boundary, I-70 and I-71 to the south and east respectively as manmade boundaries.

“The feel of downtown Columbus is as unique as any of the suburbs that surround it,” Shelby continued. “Being able to step out your front door and walk to any number of restaurants and entertainment venues is drawing people to the convenience and exceptional opportunity that only living downtown can offer. Feeling the excitement and energy that downtown residents have come to know and love adds to the vibrant community formed in the CBD.”

Whatever the geographical or emotional definition of downtown’s boundaries might be, the Coleman administration views it as being of vital importance not only to the city but also to the region, according to his spokesman.

“When Mayor Coleman says it is ‘everybody’s neighborhood,” he isn’t kidding, because it matters to everyone,” press secretary Brown wrote. “Downtown is clearly the economic core of central Ohio, as well as the cultural and entertainment center.

“If downtown were to fade, as many urban cores have, it would hurt all of central Ohio. That is why we took action back in 2002, to reverse the troubling trends we were seeing and bring new life and investment into the heart of the city.”

Sunday, October 01, 2006
Debbie Gebolys
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Young professionals are a hot commodity in central Ohio, and developers are pulling out the stops to build them happy homes.

They’re building condominiums for 20-somethings that have amenities their older brothers and sisters never dreamed of.

From trendy urban lofts to vast suburban developments centered on swimming pools and taverns, the number and variety of condos geared toward young professionals are growing dramatically.

“The perception is the condo market is just for baby boomers, empty nesters looking to get out of their large homes,” said Jim Hilz, executive director of the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio. “That’s just not the case. It’s a big part of the entry-level, first-time-homebuyer market.”

That first-time-buyer market is potentially enormous. The nearly 150,000 central Ohioans in their 20s made up the biggest age group by far in the 2000 Census.

Civic leaders know that many in that group are university students who move away before they reach age 30. Mayor Michael B. Coleman and the Columbus City Council announced plans last month to work with business and arts groups to study ways to attract and keep young professionals.

Those efforts come a few years after the area real-estate industry tuned into the newest adults and found that they’re different from their older counterparts.

Twenty-somethings are willing to commit to mortgages sooner than older generations. They are buying homes at an average age of 26, according to a Century 21 survey. That’s three years younger than the average age at which Generation X (now ages 28 to 41) and baby boomers (ages 42 to 60) bought homes.

Hoping to capitalize on the trend, developer Lifestyle Communities began work last year on a Northeast Side complex of 1,400 apartments, townhouses and single-family homes.

At 126 acres, Preserve Crossing is the equivalent of 95 football fields. It is being built around a community center with a neighborhood bar, party room, fitness center, outdoor pool and volleyball court. Coming soon is a concierge service to handle dry cleaning, package pickup and restaurant reservations, among other things.

Lifestyle also organizes ski trips, fitness classes and candlelight yoga classes for Preserve Crossing residents.

“We don’t want to be something for everyone. We want to be everything for someone, and that’s the first-time homebuyer,” said Justin Spring, Lifestyle’s marketing manager.

Lifestyle adopted that strategy three years ago when the company employed about 30. Now, more than 200 employees, mostly in their 20s and 30s, work on some facet of Lifestyle’s seven projects in central Ohio and others in Dayton and Lexington, Ky.

“We have units sold where roofing is just going up,” Spring said. “Our only limitation is how fast we can get ’em built.”

Closer to Downtown, the approach to young professionals is distinctly different.

Developer Matthew Vekasy, 37, of Grandview Heights, lives and works within five blocks of Grandview Avenue’s pizza places, wine shops, bars, restaurants and movie theater.

Vekasy’s Metropolitan Holdings recently started building condos within walking distance of Grandview Avenue for “people just like me, in our age group.”

The Metropolitan, at Northwest Boulevard and W. 3 rd Avenue, will be a three-story flatiron building of glass, brick and neon, with wrap-around balconies. Twenty condos ranging from 1,300 to 2,600 square feet are priced from $299,000 to $699,000.

“People want to distinguish themselves, and where you live says something about your personality,” Vekasy said. Instead of swimming pools, The Metropolitan’s amenities include Bang & Olufsen audio and video wiring, walk-in Roman showers and three-sided fireplaces.

“I firmly believe you’re going to see a movement of people who don’t want to live in your typical suburban-sprawl communities,” Vekasy said.

He’s betting his buyers will be 20- and 30-somethings with good jobs.

“There’s got to be young professionals in this town that make money,” he said.

Geographer Erick Lobao, 28, of Grandview Heights, said he likes The Metropolitan, but not the way Vekasy intended.

“I like it as a homeowner because I see the potential to help house values,” Lobao said.

Lobao married his Grandview high-school sweetheart, now an Upper Arlington teacher, in August. They bought a Grandview house built in 1932 that has termite damage, a musty smell in the basement and “a garage that is about to fall over,” he said.

“Dealing with a house is definitely a new experience. Every day, we find something new that’s not perfect.”

But he and his wife are OK with their house’s foibles, accustomed as they are to older Grandview homes. They like the option to stay there for the long haul.

“We have three bedrooms and a yard,” he said. “That’s more than enough space for kids.”

In Labao’s circle, 20-somethings are finished with condos.

“You get a little older and you kind of want more space, more room for your stuff,” he said. “After you’re more established, it’s a progression.”

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.”

Thursday, March 16, 2006

By RANDY NAVAROLI
ThisWeek Staff Writer

Two new condominium complexes could soon be going up on the North Side, one in Worthington and another near Polaris.

Village Communities Inc. is planning a 108-unit complex on a 17.5-acre site at 8074 Flint Road, north of Park Road.

State Street Realty is seeking permission to build up to 90 condos on 15 acres at 2150 E. Powell Road, north of Gemini Place. The development will be called The Lakes at Polaris.

Attorney Jill Tangeman, who represents both property developers, is currently seeking approval from the Far North Columbus Communities Coalition for the projects and for the required rezoning. The rezoning requests ask the FNCCC, the Columbus Development Commission and Columbus CIty Council to switch the two properties from a rural designation to a limited apartment residential district zoning.

“They seem to be OK with both of the proposals so far,” Tangeman said. She met with FNCCC officials on March 7.

FNCCC vice president Dan Province said the only problem he sees with either proposal concerns the Flint Road property.

“It’s a little too dense as it is. We’d like to see them adjust that,” Province said. “We’ve also asked them to do a traffic study for the area to make sure it won’t have a negative effect on traffic in the area.”

Province said the FNCCC supports the East Powell Road proposal as is. He said Tangeman will return to the FNCCC’s April 4 meeting to get its final approval for both projects before moving on to the Columbus Development Commission’s May 11 meeting.

Both the development commission and Columbus City Council must approve the rezoning requests before ground can be broken for the condos.

Tangeman said work on both projects could start this fall if she can get city council’s approval some time this summer.

She said the Flint Road project will be a one-story complex aimed toward senior citizens.

The East Powell Road complex will be traditional two-story townhomes.

Christ the King Church currently owns the East Powell Road property. The Worthington Board of Education owns the Flint Road site.

By Brian R. Ball
Business First of Columbus
Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET Feb. 27, 2005

Six years after investors bought it for $500,000, the 100-year-old Hartman building in downtown Columbus is slated to return to its roots as a different type of residence.

A partnership between Plaza Properties Inc. principals and real estate investor Yhezkel Levi plans to begin converting the six-story building at 150 E. Main St. into condominiums within a few months.

Office alternative
The second, third and fourth floors of the 72,000-square-foot building will each include 12 condos from 525 to 1,327 square feet at prices from $129,900 to $263,000. The fifth floor, much of which is under a long-term lease to David Glimcher Co., may be converted at a later date.

“It’s a great, historic building and we see the demand for condos in that area,” said Samantha Falter, project coordinator for Plaza Properties. “The market hasn’t been very good for offices.”

The conversion won’t affect the Grand Hartman and Metropolitan ballrooms on the building’s top floor or its ground-floor retail spaces.

The partnership bought the building in November 1998 and had hoped to attract design firms and tenants looking for loft office space.

But the office market has slowed considerably since the late-’90s downtown office boom, leaving the Hartman and other buildings largely vacant.

Demand for condos
Plaza Properties, a major owner of rental properties throughout Columbus, has a growing interest in downtown residential projects.

It developed 61 condos at its Renaissance project at South Third and East Mound streets, one of the first residential projects built under the Coleman administration’s downtown housing initiative.

The developer also has tentative plans to renovate the Yukon building at 601 N. High St. in the Short North into studio condos, as well as a condo project in the planning for a site at East State and South Fourth streets downtown.

Acceptance of the Renaissance project prompted Plaza Properties to consider condos at the nearby Hartman.

“The Renaissance showed there is a demand,” Falter said.

Better opportunity
The Hartman building joins a growing list of former office properties downtown being converted into housing:

Spectrum Properties has office buildings at 221 N. Fourth St. and 78 E. Chestnut St. under conversion into condos after completing its Connextions project at the former SBC/Ameritech building at 104 N. Third St.
Another notable conversion project is the Brunson building at 145 N. High St., which Long & Wilcox of Upper Arlington is renovating.
Also being converted to condos is 106 N. High, a former department store and state office building, by the property’s owner and Global Development Group of Mexico City.
Bill Greenlee, president of ROI Realty Services Inc., a commercial real estate brokerage, said the Hartman building couldn’t compete because of its relatively high office rents and limited access to parking.

“It’s a nice, renovated property with an attractive lobby,” he said. “It made our list to tour with tenants, but there wasn’t anything powerful about it.”

With the slump in office leasing, Greenlee said the condo conversion trend bodes well because it slowly reduces the amount of vacant commercial space and raises the number of people choosing the live downtown.

“You’re taking building stock off the market where there’s no demand and converting to a product where there is a great deal of demand today,” he said. “It makes for a vibrant downtown.”

© 2005 Business First of Columbus