| News from Campus Partners | |
Construction contracts signed for Gateway In the course of a public bidding process, an affiliate of Campus Partners earlier this month awarded the first in a series of construction services contracts for the South Campus Gateway. The following companies have received contracts after submitting the lowest qualified bid: · Danis Building Construction Co., on a bid of $2,593,000 for concrete work on buildings A, B and C of the development · Dugan & Meyers Construction Services, on a bid of $5,987,000 for concrete work on building E · McDaniel's Construction Corporation, Inc., on a bid of $1,234,434 for general conditions services on the construction site for buildings A, B, C and E · Cinfab, Inc., on a bid of $246,500 to provide plumbing and HVAC services in building E · Converse Electric, Inc., on a bid of $765,800 for electrical services in building E · S.A. Comunale Company, Inc., on a bid of $26,700 to provide fire protection services in building E · Berkel & Company Contractors, Inc., on a bid of $528,400 for deep foundations for building E · Steel Services Corp., a $5,124,000 contract for structural steel for Buildings A, B and C Buildings A, B and C will house a mix of entertainment, restaurants, retail, apartments and office space. Building E is the 1,200-space parking garage. A fifth building, building D, is under design and will contain retail and entertainment tenants, including a seven-screen arts cinema. Campus Partners established South Campus Gateway, LLC, as a non-profit affiliate to serve as the development entity for the Gateway project. Jones Lang LaSalle is the project's development management advisor. The Columbus office of Turner Construction is the construction management advisor. The architectural team includes Elkus/Manfredi Architects of Boston and Moody/Nolan, Ltd., of Columbus. On behalf of South Campus Gateway, LLC, Turner Construction last November began the process of issuing nearly 60 bid packages over the next several months for construction work on the Gateway project. Total "hard costs" for Campus Partners' construction of the buildings are expected to be about $65 million. Additional construction investment will result from the "fit out" of numerous spaces leased by commercial tenants. Campus Partners began the Gateway bid process last October with a community outreach meeting to provide access and opportunities for the involvement of all qualified and interested companies in the construction of the South Campus Gateway. Following Campus Partners' outreach meeting, Turner Construction hosted two education seminars designed to fully explain the bidding process and building requirements to interested contractors. One of the goals of the outreach was to maximize opportunities for the participation of qualified Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE), Minority Business Enterprises (MBE), and Female Business Enterprises (FBE) in the project's development. The contractor for the deep pile foundations for the parking garage is on-site and has initiated its work. Other construction contractors will be mobilizing on the site over the next few weeks. The project continues to be on-schedule for substantial completion August 2005. Public improvements substantially completed on Gateway site Complete General Construction has completed construction of the Gateway public improvements (with the exception of some punch list items, some of which cannot be completed until spring). The private overhead utility companies are feeding their cables into the new underground conduit. CHP offers free home maintenance workshops Columbus Housing Partnership is offering a monthly series of free workshops on home maintenance throughout 2004. The first workshop will be Saturday, Jan. 24, on basic electrical maintenance and repairs from 10 a.m. to noon at the Columbus Housing Partnership offices, 562 E. Main St. Parking is free. The second workshop will be Saturday, Feb. 28, on basic plumbing maintenance and repairs at the same time and location. To register for the workshops, call 221-8889, extension 156. The whole schedule of workshops for 2004 is available on the web at www.chpcolumbus.org. Federal funds may assist Community Properties housing The U.S. House of Representatives late last year included a $1 million allocation to Ohio State's neighborhood revitalization initiative as part of the omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year 2004. Congresswoman Deborah Pryce sponsored the appropriation that is targeted to Community Properties' project-based, Section 8 housing. The appropriations bill has been sent to the Senate for action. This is the third year that Congresswoman Pryce has supported a special appropriation for this housing initiative. She and Senator Mike DeWine obtained an appropriation of $750,000 for fiscal year 2002 and $450,000 for fiscal year 2003. Specific uses of the $1 million allocation haven't been determined, pending final action on the bill. Representatives from Ohio State University Extension, Outreach and Engagement, P-12 Project, African American and African Studies Community Extension Center, and Campus Partners are developing a proposal to staff two or three "learning centers" that would serve children and adults living in Community Properties housing. The centers would be similar to the Rainbow Terrace Learning Center at a renovated Section 8 housing project in Cleveland. Discussions about these proposed learning centers will be held with staff of Community Properties of Ohio Management Services in the next few weeks. Safety committee discusses football Saturdays At its meeting Jan. 14, the University Area Safety Committee discussed public safety tactics employed on Lane Avenue on football Saturdays last fall to curb open-container and other violations. Video shot on games days in the fall of 2002 was compared with video shot this past season, showing a dramatic reduction in litter and improved behavior in the fall of 2003. The committee also discussed public safety as it relates to raised porches and decks on houses and apartment buildings in the University District. The committee considered how to help prevent the collapse of a porch, particularly from overcrowding. Such a collapse resulted in several deaths in Chicago last summer. Ohio State's Office of Off-Campus Student Services will raise this issue with property owners who may wish to educate their residents about avoiding overcrowding on such structures. The University Area Safety Committee's next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 3:30 p.m. in 33 W. 11th Ave. The University Area Crime Stoppers Board at its meeting Jan. 6 agreed to distribute information about the problem of auto theft and auto break-ins in the University District. These crimes are a continuing problem. The Columbus Police's Fourth Precinct had 374 auto thefts reported in 2003 with a peak of 53 such crimes in December. The Fourth Precinct received 1,092 reports of theft from auto in 2003 with peaks of 117 in December and 118 in January. The Crime Stoppers Board also will distribute information on burglary prevention prior to spring break. Meetings scheduled on street sweeping and recycling The Campus Partners Public Service Committee will meet in two sessions on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at the Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St. The first session will be on street sweeping at 1:30 p.m. in room 200. The meeting will review the city's plans for street sweeping in the University District in 2004. Since Ohio State has moved spring quarter commencement to Sunday afternoon, the committee will discuss recommending that the city sweep the streets on the normal schedule in June. The second session that day will be on refuse collection at 2:30 p.m. in room 100. The meeting will include an update on refuse collection in the area and a discussion of recycling strategies for the University District. Code enforcement task force discusses furniture and parking Capt. Wesley Fullen of the city's Fire Prevention Bureau met with the University District Code Enforcement Task Force on Jan. 13 to discuss possible legislation to prohibit the placement of indoor furniture, such as stuffed couches, on open porches and decks. He said that enforcement of such a prohibition should remain with the Code Enforcement office, rather than the Fire Prevention Bureau, but he pointed out sections of the fire code that could be mirrored in the housing code. A representative of the City Attorney's office will be invited to discuss this issue at the task force's next meeting. The task force also heard from Professor Jennifer Evans-Cowley whose graduate class in City and Regional Planning will study parking issues in the University District during winter quarter. Campus Partners has provided Professor Cowley with the data and recommendations from the extensive traffic and parking study done in 1995 and 1996. Her class will begin its work with a parking survey of neighborhood residents and High Street businesses. Professor Cowley's class conducted a study of code enforcement issues during winter quarter 2003. The next meeting of the task force is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. in the Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St. Students hold forum on light rail The Campus Partners Student Advisory Board sponsored a public forum on Dec. 2 on COTA's plan for light rail service that would pass through the University District. Mike Bradley, COTA's director of rail development, explained the plan and answered questions. At its meeting on Jan. 15, the Student Advisory Board received an update on the construction and leasing plans for South Campus Gateway, discussed a series of Lantern advertisements and other communications with students, and considered the possibility of further public forums on COTA's light rail project. Mark Minor, who chaired the Student Advisory Board since autumn 2002, graduated in December. Jim Mitchell, a senior with an interest in city planning, will chair the board through spring quarter. |
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Campus Partners for
Community Urban Redevelopment, Inc.
1824 N. High St., Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 294-7300; fax (614) 294-7333