Planning concepts for the University Gateway Center

The concept above, prepared by Goody, Clancy & Associates, shows a north view of High Street through the University Gateway Center.  This is a preliminary concept only, not a design.

The planning process for the University District in 1995 and 1996 proposed a retail and entertainment center as a major, mixed-use redevelopment project in the area of High Street and 11t^h Avenue. The University Neighborhood Revitalization Plan: Concept Document (1996) recommends the project and an advisory services panel from the Urban Land Institute supported the project in its review of the initial planning concepts. Campus Partners employed Goody, Clancy & Associates over the past 18 months to conduct an in-depth analysis of High Street and the implementation measures recommended in the concept document, including the proposed University Gateway Center.

All these studies confirmed the need to proceed with the University Gateway Center to better serve the market of students and other residents and to energize the whole High Street corridor in the campus area for the following reasons:

• The area around 11^th Avenue is the most distressed on North High Street with deteriorated buildings and a high level of crime. The change in the drinking age and the enforcement of under-age drinking laws have resulted in many of the bars in the area closing. Although there are some viable businesses in the area whose uses are appropriate, the area as a whole will continue to decline unless redevelopment occurs. The deterioration continues to adversely affect both the safety of nearby student housing and academic buildings, as well as the viability of adjacent commercial areas of High Street.
• A key weakness of High Street as identified by area business people, customer surveys and retail consultants is the limited variety of retail and entertainment activity. Fast food restaurants and bars predominate with few other types of stores to draw people to High Street. One result is that High Street is falling far short of "capturing" its appropriate share of the market of students, residents and Ohio State employees. Consultants noted that certain types of modern retailing generally requires larger spaces than the relatively small floor plates of most buildings on High Street. Enough property could be assembled in the area of 11^th and High to permit development that can accommodate larger retail and entertainment businesses which could anchor south campus and provide a synergy of uses to better serve the market.
• Traffic circulation and parking also limit the High Street market. The University Gateway Center will reinforce a major entrance to the university from Interstate 71 and will provide needed parking to serve the commercial district of south campus.

After receiving the draft report on High Street from Goody, Clancy & Associates, Campus Partners in early August 1998 issued a "request for qualifications" (RFQ) seeking developers with extensive experience in urban and mixed-use projects who would be interested in building the University Gateway Center. In the RFQ, Campus Partners indicated that it would then invite three developers or teams of developers to participate in a competitive "request for proposals" (RFP) process to select a preferred master developer for the gateway center. Campus Partners received statements of qualification from 10 well-known developers or teams of developers.

After receiving input from university and city staff members and by neighborhood and student leaders, Campus Partners selected the three developer teams. The RFP will be issued in a few weeks and the proposals from the developers are likely to be submitted by early 1999. Again, extensive input is expected from the stakeholders in the University District prior to Campus Partners selecting a developer with which to negotiate a development agreement.

The University Gateway Center will reinforce High Street’s transition to a 21^st century Main Street. It will blend the active pedestrian environment characteristic of traditional Main Streets -- High Street already boasts some of the highest pedestrian counts in Ohio -- and the vitality and convenience of a state-of-the-art, mixed-use urban environment. The gateway center also will provide an appropriate entrance to a major urban university.

The gateway center is proposed for the area of High Street and 11^th Avenue and, as currently conceived, includes 7.5 acres. The project, which may attract $50 million to $70 million in private investment, will be a competitive mixture of entertainment, retail, office and mixed-income rental housing. The project will total 450,000 to 625,000 square feet, plus parking facilities. An estimated 350 to 700 new jobs will be created adjacent to a center city neighborhood with high rates of unemployment. The gateway center’s mix of retail and entertainment will enhance High Street’s commercial viability by:

• Creating a significant retail and entertainment anchor for High Street, geared to students and residents, but also appealing to a broader regional audience interested in the collegiate market;
• Offering rental housing options for young professionals and graduate students which are currently lacking in the University District;
• Building a prominent landmark for High Street and the University District;
• Re-establishing stronger connections between the university and its neighborhoods by locating activities that appeal to the broader university community on High Street.

The university's Board of Trustees in May 1997 authorized Campus Partners to purchase property for the University Gateway Center with a commitment of up to $15 million from the university's endowment funds. So far, Campus Partners has acquired just over 50 percent of the property in the target area, including the site of the former Big Bear Bakery, which was demolished in August 1998.

The concept above, prepared by Goody, Clancy & Associates, shows a view through the University Gateway Center looking west, along a two-way 11th Avenue, toward High Street. This is a preliminary concept only, not a design.

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The Gateway Project Partners news release.