History and Organization

Background

            For several decades, the University District – an area of Columbus which includes several neighborhoods adjacent to or near the Columbus campus of Ohio State – has faced challenges in the appearance and maintenance of its residential and commercial structures and, most importantly, in the safety and quality of life of the students and other residents who live and work in this area.  These concerns grew in the early 1990s and safety has became a major issue.

            In January 1994, E. Gordon Gee, then president of Ohio State, established the University Area Improvement Task Force composed of representatives of university faculty, staff and students, university community organizations, and the City of Columbus. The task force presented its recommendations to Greg Lashutka, then mayor of Columbus, and President Gee in June 1994.  Among the key recommendations were creation of a non-profit redevelopment corporation and preparation of a comprehensive revitalization plan and implementation program to offer a vision for the University District.  Barry Humphries, a Columbus developer with extensive experience in urban neighborhood redevelopment, was employed to develop Campus Partners and then became its first president.

Priorities, organization and public participation

            Campus Partners’ initial priorities were to develop a comprehensive neighborhood revitalization plan and implementation program and to actively promote projects and programs that can have an immediate positive impact on the neighborhoods.

            In February 1995, Campus Partners brought together a multi-disciplinary team of consultants led by EDAW, a planning and urban design firm based in San Francisco.  The consultants focused on the following areas: safety and law enforcement; market and financial feasibility; transportation, circulation and parking; public services; social services, education, health and economic development; and planning, design, and architectural and historic issues.  The consultants worked through the spring and early summer to review past studies, gather data on existing conditions and prepare a number of design and program alternatives.

The Campus Collaborative, which was composed of representatives from several dozen colleges, departments and offices at Ohio State, was the member of the consulting team which focused on human services and student quality of life.  The collaborative also considered how the university’s teaching, research and service missions could be enriched through greater involvement of faculty, staff and students in the urban neighborhoods around Ohio State.

            Neighborhood and city participation was sought through the Campus Partners Community Advisory Council composed of representatives of more than 90 community and neighborhood organizations and local government and university offices.   Further public participation was encouraged in the planning process through neighborhood meetings and through six task forces which worked with the consultants in the six areas of concern.  More than 400 people participated in this planning process.

            A panel from the Urban Land Institute reviewed the planning efforts and preliminary findings for a week in mid-July 1995.  The Campus Partners consulting team in November released the first draft of a revitalization plan.  A series of public meetings followed to gather public input on the plan. A final draft of the revitalization plan was issued in April 1996.  Following additional public review, the University Area Commission, University Community Business Association, Columbus Development Commission and Columbus Historic Resources Commission each voted unanimously to support the plan.  The plan, titled University Neighborhoods Revitalization Plan: Concept Document, was published in July 1996.

            The plan offers some 250 recommendations.  Four major themes which emerge from the document are:

• Improving rental housing and the quality of life in the predominantly student neighborhoods.

• Increasing the level of homeownership in the University District.

• Revitalizing the retail market serving these neighborhoods.

• Encouraging faculty, staff and student involvement with the neighborhoods through a variety of learning and service activities.

            Terry D. Foegler, AICP, who was assistant city manager and director of development for the City of Dublin, Ohio, became president of Campus Partners in September 1996.  He led Campus Partners through a transition from developing to implementing the plan.  In consultation with the university, the city and neighborhood leaders, Mr. Foegler has identified key initiating projects.  Meanwhile, Ohio State's Board of Trustees in May 1997 approved the revitalization plan.  The trustees also authorized Campus Partners to proceed with a proposed mixed-use project to redevelop a declining commercial area near the university, including the acquisition of property.   In addition, they allocated $500,000 for an employer-based homeownership incentive program for faculty and staff to buy homes in the University District.  At the recommendation of the city's Planning Division, Columbus City Council in June 1997 adopted the revitalization plan as official city policy to guide city action in the University District.

            Campus Partners continues to work with city and university officials and neighborhood leaders to improve public services, including refuse collection, code enforcement and public safety.  Campus Partners developed the homeownership incentive program for faculty and staff, which the university implemented effective June 1, 1998.

In July 1997, Campus Partners, with support from the city, began a High Street Urban Design Project to enhance the urban character of the area's "Main Street" and to encourage a healthy mix of retail and entertainment uses.  A broad-based advisory committee oversaw the project.  The report, A Plan for High Street: Creating a 21^st Century Main Street, was published in the fall of 2000 and includes recommendations for a parking authority, special improvement district and traffic circulation improvements and a set of draft urban design standards.

Campus Partners in mid-1998 initiated a competition to select a preferred master developer to build the University Gateway Center, a major, mixed-use, urban redevelopment project on High Street.  As a result, Campus Partners in May 1999 designated The Druker Company, Ltd., of Boston, as the preferred master developer.  In December 1999, Columbus City Council approved an economic development agreement between the city and Campus Partners on land acquisition, public improvements, traffic measures and employment initiatives related to construction of the Gateway Center, the signature project in Campus Partners’ revitalization efforts.  Campus Partners stepped up land acquisition for the Gateway Center and, as of mid-2001, owned about 95 percent of the project site.  The city has begun the process of eminent domain to assemble the remainder of the site.

In early 2001, Campus Partners began work on an alternate restructuring plan for more than 1,300 units of project-based, Section 8 housing, of which about 550 units are located in the University District.  The goal is to maintain these properties as affordable housing under new, non-profit, community-based ownership and management, improve the housing through a major renovation, provide supportive services for the residents, and disperse a portion of the housing into the wider community over time.  Campus Partners’ plan is under review by the federal agencies involved.

            Campus Partners is incorporated under federal law as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and under state law as a 1728 community urban redevelopment corporation.   Campus Partners is not intended to be the master developer of the entire University District nor to take the place of existing private developers.  Campus Partners is working with existing groups and government agencies to promote implementation of the revitalization plan.  Campus Partners hopes to be a catalyst for revitalization and to undertake specific projects that will hasten improvements.

            Working with Mr. Foegler at Campus Partners are Doug Aschenbach, vice president for real estate development, Debbie Hatzo, office manager, and Steve Sterrett, community relations director.  Campus Partners is located at 1824 N. High St., Columbus, Ohio 43201; telephone (614) 294-7300; fax (614) 294-7333.

            Following the planning effort in 1995 and 1996, the Campus Collaborative worked to implement recommendations in five areas of the plan with the goal of creating a model for university-community relationships characterized by educational excellence.  The five areas included faculty participation, strengthening health and well-being in the neighborhoods, improving the economic environment, enhancing student quality of life, and strengthening the elementary and secondary schools serving children from the University District.  The collaborative conducted its work through such programs as a university-funded faculty seed grant program, a Community Outreach Partnership Center grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an innovative partnership with the public schools, and employment programs for permanent residents of the University District.  Early in 2001, Ohio State announced the P-12 Project, a major university-wide commitment to working with Columbus Public Schools to improve pre-school through high school education in the University District.  Subsequently, the Campus Collaborative disbanded in May 2001.