News from Campus Partners

Click here for News Archives

New: Campus Partners announces retail tenants for South Campus Gateway – May 4, 2005

Update from Campus Partners: 
Prepared for residents the University Area Commission
April 25, 2005

Contents:

· Gateway construction moves to autumn completion · Campus Partners supports workforce development proposal · Apartments and offices will be available at Gateway · Posters illustrate progress in Weinland Park planning process

· SWACO studies solid waste management in University District · Safety committee celebrates 10th anniversary · Students discuss Gateway safety plans

Gateway construction moves to autumn completion Construction at the South Campus Gateway site continues to proceed toward an autumn 2005 completion. All major Gateway construction components are under contract (80 contracts, 7 buildings, and 3 fit-out projects). Construction of the Building F housing (located along both sides of the parking structure on East 9th and 11th Avenues) is well underway, and on track for a Sept. 1, 2005, completion. Construction of the fit-out work for the cinema, the law school alumni facility, and the office space for Ohio State’s Office of Human Resources has all begun. The cinema fit-out is scheduled for completion in mid-October. Barnes and Noble began the fit-out of its space on March 9 and Panera Bread will begin the fit-out of its space this week. Both of these tenants are targeting an Aug. 1 opening. Additional tenants will be initiating construction of their spaces in the near future. Construction work associated with the Phase II public improvements and all other remaining site work has begun, and the street trees and site trees have been delivered to the site. Back to the top Campus Partners supports workforce development proposal Campus Partners has supported a grant proposal for workforce development submitted by Godman Guild Association that would link job training for young adults to employment opportunities at Gateway. (Ohio State’s Office of Human Resources has made a similar commitment involving entry-level employment in the offices of Physical Facilities and Student Affairs.) Under the proposal, Campus Partners and CB Richard Ellis (the overall management company for Gateway) would help identify job positions, the skills and experience needed to compete for those jobs, and contact with potential employers. Godman Guild would provide or arrange for job training and offer services to help the young people succeed in the jobs. Campus Partners and CB Richard Ellis also have had preliminary discussions about one or two job fairs this summer that would attempt to link area residents with employment at Gateway. Back to the top Apartments and offices will be available at Gateway Students in Ohio State’s entering law school class are showing strong interest in the apartments in Gateway’s Building A. The demand for efficiencies and one-bedroom apartments is outstripping the supply. Some 29 units have been leased by the end of March. Towne Properties (management company for the Gateway housing) and Campus Partners have begun marketing the units in Buildings B and F to graduate and graduate-professional students, faculty, staff and visiting scholars through the Graduate School, college graduate programs, the Office of International Education, OSUToday and onCampus. Building C has nearly 90,000 square feet (s.f.) of office space on the third through fifth floors. The Gateway team has had ongoing discussions with Ohio State’s Office of Human Resources regarding the 70,000 s.f. which the university has committed to leasing. Human Resources will use 50,000 s.f., but the university hasn’t determined how the remaining 20,000 s.f. will be used. With the university’s permission, Campus Partners has given CB Richard Ellis approval to market that 20,000 s.f. of university space, as well as the residual 20,000 s.f. in Building C. CB Richard Ellis is increasing public awareness that office space is part of the Gateway project. Back to the top Posters illustrate progress in Weinland Park planning process The Weinland Park planning process (supported in part by a Campus Partners federal grant) is moving rapidly this spring to the production of a draft planning document. More than 40 persons attended the neighborhood planning workshop on Feb. 5 to review the draft policy statements, preliminary planning concepts and other work done over the previous year. Goody Clancy & Associates, the Boston firm which Campus Partners has employed to assist the planning process, helped lead the workshop and subsequently prepared three technical memorandums: • Summary Findings from the Neighborhood Planning Workshop • Threats, Opportunities and Policy Directions: Key Findings • Creating a Successful Mixed-Income Neighborhood in Weinland Park: Opportunities and Challenges The Goody Clancy consultants presented draft versions of two large posters to the Working Committee for the Weinland Park Plan on March 28. The posters used words, graphics and maps to summarize the key goals and recommendations to be included in the Weinland Park plan and offered planning concepts for the possible redevelopment of “opportunity sites.” The posters are being reviewed by the planning subcommittees and by other stakeholders. The Working Committee is scheduled to meet on Monday, April 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Godman Guild, 303 E. Sixth Ave. At that time, Peter Kwass of Mt. Auburn Associates will present his findings and recommendations regarding workforce development and the Goody Clancy staff will discuss revisions to the posters. Todd Singer, senior city planner and staff liaison to the Working Committee, expects to begin writing the planning document in May. He hopes to take the plan through the various levels of approval in time for City Council action before its recess in August. These documents, as well as other materials from the planning process, are available on the Columbus Planning Division’s web site at www.columbusinfobase.org. Back to the top SWACO studies solid waste management in University District The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) is working with stakeholders in the university area (including Battelle and the Ohio Expo Center) to develop a solid waste management plan (SWMP) for the North Central Impact Area. The SWMP will include data on the generation, collection and disposal of solid waste in this area, as well as opportunities for recycling and for reducing solid waste. The first meeting of the SWMP advisory council was held on April 15. A larger public meeting will be held later this spring. The SWMP is expected to be produced by mid-summer. The city’s Refuse Collection Division is making incremental improvements to services in the University District. Pasquale Grado, executive director of the University Community Business Association, and Steve Sterrett of Campus Partners have met with David Bush, deputy director of the city’s Public Service Department, to discuss how service levels might be restored to what they were 18 months ago. The next meeting of the Campus Partners Public Service Committee on refuse collection and recycling will be held on Wednesday, May 4, at 4 p.m. in the Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St. Back to the top Safety committee celebrates 10th anniversary The University Area Safety Committee celebrated its 10th anniversary with refreshments and brief remarks during its meeting on April 13. Speaking to the group were Mark Hatch, first chair of the committee; Deputy Police Chief Steve Gammill, who as a patrol commander was one of the committee’s founders; and Barbara Rich, who spoke on behalf of Bill Hall, the second chair of the committee. Click here for a summary of the committee’s decade of work. In other public safety news: • The number of auto thefts rose significantly during the winter months both on and off campus. University Area Crime Stoppers issued a public alert about these crimes. The number of auto theft reportedly has dropped since a recent arrest by Columbus Police. • The University Area Crime Stoppers Board has chosen Todd McDaniels, a branch manager for Huntington Bank, to succeed Eric Busch as president of the board. • Elliot Boxerbaum of Security/Risk Management Consultants made a presentation on the security planning for South Campus Gateway to both the University Area Safety Committee and the University Area Crime Stoppers Board during March. • The annual African American Heritage Festival will be held May 1-7 with the Pan-Hellenic Council Step Show set for May 6 from 7-11:30 p.m. in the Schottenstein Center. • The next meeting of the University Area Safety Committee will be Wednesday, May 11, at 3:30 p.m. in 33 W. 11th Ave. Back to the top Students discuss Gateway safety plans The Campus Partners Student Advisory Board met April 14 with Elliot Boxerbaum of Security/Risk Management Consultants to discuss the security and public safety planning for South Campus Gateway. The students felt that Gateway should be welcoming to everyone. If a code of conduct were adopted, it should be implemented cautiously. Students want to be treated as adults. Campus Partners also is likely to hold a similar session with neighborhood residents later this spring. The term of Daniel Work as the undergraduate representative on the Campus Partners Board will expire June 30. Mr. Work is chairing the selection committee for his successor. The goal is to recommend at least two candidates to the Campus Partners Board for selection at the May meeting. Applications for the position are due by Monday, April 25, at 5 p.m. The application is available on the Campus Partners web site and from five offices on campus. An advertisement ran in the Lantern and a notice was placed in the weekly Buckeye Net News.

Back to the top

Home | News | History & Organization | Committees | Contact

Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment, Inc.
1824 N. High St., Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 294-7300; fax (614) 294-7333