Columbus City and Suburban Development News (Cleveland, Westerville: install, reservation, boundaries)

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by jbcmh81

Indus Hotels gets Starwood Hotels OK for Aloft, Element brands for new hotel on Olentangy River Road - Columbus - Columbus Business First

A pair of connected hotels is coming to the Cap City Diner site on Olentangy River Road. Cap City itself appears to be staying, with the hotel pair and parking garage being built around it. The two hotels will include 250 rooms, and the garage will have more than 300 spaces. No word on the heights of the hotels.

Just some additional details on this project... Both hotels will be 6 stories. There is a basic rendering in the link, but I'm not sure if it's actually in any way final, or just a general layout representation.

Z14-037 1299 Olentangy River Road

[Cbus76]

Lots of stats about downtown Columbus for those interested.

http://downtowncolumbus.com/docs/def...report_web.pdf

[Mplsite]

Originally Posted by jbcmh81

Just some additional details on this project... Both hotels will be 6 stories. There is a basic rendering in the link, but I'm not sure if it's actually in any way final, or just a general layout representation.

Z14-037 1299 Olentangy River Road

So, if I'm looking at this correctly, the proposal is going to have a parking lot in front along part of it. If so, the city is shooting itself in the foot by not setting an urban tone for future development along Olentangy to better connect with 5thxNW and Grandview while creating a brand new urban commercial district that functions like those in the aforementioned areas.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by Mplsite

So, if I'm looking at this correctly, the proposal is going to have a parking lot in front along part of it. If so, the city is shooting itself in the foot by not setting an urban tone for future development along Olentangy to better connect with 5thxNW and Grandview while creating a brand new urban commercial district that functions like those in the aforementioned areas.

First, as I said, I don't know how final this layout even is. Second, most of the existing surface parking will be eliminated by the garage and the new entranceway according to that map. Third, since Cap City Diner is not actually being rebuilt, it would be difficult to make that zero setback there and to remove the parking in front. It's definitely a more urban design than what currently exists even if this is the final plan, though.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by Cbus76

Lots of stats about downtown Columbus for those interested.

http://downtowncolumbus.com/docs/def...report_web.pdf

Some comments... the population is undercounted, and I would say possibly by a decent amount. Even so, the 7,080 estimate is a growth rate of over 250 a year since 2010. Continued on through 2020, that would be about 8,600. I think the actual population was closer to 7,600 in 2014. and that the population will be closer to 10,000 in 2020. The two main reasons I think this... the report uses the 2013 tract estimates, which actually showed population decline in both downtown census tracts. That, of course, is nonsense. The other reason is because there are more units getting built per year (about 369) than they have in population growth. Vacancy rates are in the 1% or less range, meaning that there is no reason to not assume that almost every unit built is filled. That would mean a lot more people.

The consistently falling office vacancy rate is great news. 13.2% is pretty low. If it gets much lower, we might start to see interest in a new office or mixed/use office building, hopefully with some decent height.

The list of proposed projects is actually missing some, like the 89-unit building at the northwest corner of Gay and High, or the 2nd LC tower.

The land use graph is a tragic display of what Urban Renewal did to Downtown. Even though a net of about 20,000 surface/garage parking spaces have gone away since the mid-1980s due to development, parking still dominates the land use, by more than 2x the next category.

[ohioaninsc]

Originally Posted by jbcmh81

Columbus Blue Jackets attendance on pace for best season in seven years - Columbus - Columbus Business First

Despite sucking again this year, the Blue Jackets' attendance is up almost 13% this year so far.

That won't last for long if they continue losing...typical Ohio pro team...put together a good year and get people's hopes up, only to come out the next season and be far worse...they blame injuries but every team in the NHL deals w/ their share of injuries...this would be the season to have really taken the next step w/ the basketball team at OSU still not very good like last year...they could have really turned Columbus into Blue Jackets town during the winter...but that takes being good...it's not fun to plunk down $100 for tickets, parking, and food/drink only to see the team lose.

[jbcmh81]

Originally Posted by ohioaninsc

That won't last for long if they continue losing...typical Ohio pro team...put together a good year and get people's hopes up, only to come out the next season and be far worse...they blame injuries but every team in the NHL deals w/ their share of injuries...this would be the season to have really taken the next step w/ the basketball team at OSU still not very good like last year...they could have really turned Columbus into Blue Jackets town during the winter...but that takes being good...it's not fun to plunk down $100 for tickets, parking, and food/drink only to see the team lose.

I think most of the team's early crap seasons were due to management and unwilling to really invest in talent. You get what you pay for. To some degree, that remains true.

That said, it does suggest that the critics about Columbus not being a hockey town are unfounded. With even mild success, the fans come back. If they should ever win the Stanley, they will be nowhere near the bottom of the attendance rankings.

Here's some more recent news:
TV ratings are way up this season. http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/...h-seasons.html

And ownership is working to make sure attendance doesn't drop off. http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/...-sales-as.html

[jbcmh81]

COTA awarded $38M in federal funding for its CMAX service along Cleveland Avenue - Columbus - Columbus Business First

Good news for the Cleveland Avenue BRT line. It was awarded a federal grant that will cover 80% of the projected cost. The project is supposed to be completed in spring of 2017.

[jbcmh81]

Ohio State?s housing incentive program doubles assistance to $6,000 to boost Weinland Park - Columbus - Columbus Business First

OSU is offering incentives for faculty/staff to move to Weinland Park, in a move to help the neighborhood recover.

[Cbus76]

Originally Posted by ohioaninsc

That won't last for long if they continue losing...typical Ohio pro team...put together a good year and get people's hopes up, only to come out the next season and be far worse...they blame injuries but every team in the NHL deals w/ their share of injuries...this would be the season to have really taken the next step w/ the basketball team at OSU still not very good like last year...they could have really turned Columbus into Blue Jackets town during the winter...but that takes being good...it's not fun to plunk down $100 for tickets, parking, and food/drink only to see the team lose.

You're correct that every NHL team deals with injuries, but the man games lost by the Jackets this season is beyond bizarre. It is too bad they haven't capitalized on last season's success, but they have a very young team and I do think they'll be back in the playoff hunt next season (this season is toast). Columbus is a good hockey city that's been treated to mostly bad hockey over the last 15 years. A lot of cities wouldn't be averaging well over 15,000 fans a game for a team that's never won a playoff series.