Update from Campus Partners:  September 24, 2002

Contents:

Gateway Redevelopment Project

Demolition of the properties on the site of the University Gateway Center is complete. Although the demolition contractor encountered 10 underground storage tanks on one property, only a minor amount of soil removal was required to clean up any potential environmental issues. No other major issues were encountered during the demolition process.

In mid-summer, Campus Partners issued a request for proposals from a selected number of private firms with experience in managing major development projects for a fee. Nine of the 12 development management firms attending a pre-proposal conference in July submitted proposals for Campus Partners’ consideration. After an extensive review of the proposals, Campus Partners expects to name a development manager in the coming weeks.

EMH&T, a civil engineering firm, is working to complete the final design of the public improvements on the Gateway site. Campus Partners and the city have agreed upon a submittal, review and approval schedule that anticipates the public improvement construction contracts to be bid during the first week of January 2003. The public improvements should start this winter or early spring with the construction of new buildings beginning later in 2003. The University Gateway Center is projected to open in the summer of 2005.

Broad Street Portfolio

Campus Partners and Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing (OCCH) expect to close on acquisition of the Broad Street Portfolio and the related restructuring through the federal Mark-to-Market program later this fall. The portfolio consists of 1,335 units of project-based, Section 8 subsidized housing in Columbus, including more than 500 units in the Weinland Park neighborhood of the University District. The following is a summary of the activities involving the Broad Street Portfolio since Campus Partners’ last update in July:

-- OCCH and Campus Partners are preparing an operating agreement to define roles and responsibilities of the parties in our partnership and are establishing the legal entities that will hold these properties. -- OCCH last month obtained a commitment from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency for gap financing needed for closing on the portfolio. -- OCCH staff members are working closely with Broad Street Management, Inc. (BSMI), to assure a smooth transition in the management of this complex, scattered-site portfolio. After the acquisition, Isabel Toth, chief of asset management with OCCH, will become the administrator of BSMI. -- OCCH is working with BSMI to hire two service coordinators, one for each of the two senior citizen buildings. Federal funds were available for these positions. After the acquisition, OCCH plans to hire five additional service coordinators to work with residents in the rest of the portfolio. -- Campus Partners is working with Congressman Patrick J. Tiberi’s office on legislative language that would grant greater flexibility in implementing the de-concentration elements of our plan for the portfolio. Congressman Tiberi and other members of the central Ohio congressional delegation have been extremely helpful in this whole process. -- OCCH and Campus Partners staff continue to meet with tenants and neighborhood groups, including most recently with the Weinland Park Community Collaborative and the Harrison West Society.

Back to the top

University Uptown Special Improvement District

Property owners are halfway to meeting their goal of signatures on the petition to create the University Uptown Special Improvement District. The SID Steering Committee must obtain the signatures of the owners of 75% of the square footage of the area of the proposed SID. A key property owner was out of town for much of the summer, but he promised his support and will take us beyond two-thirds of the goal. The Steering Committee hopes to complete the petition effort by the end of September.

As now proposed, the SID will include High Street properties between Wall Alley on the west and Pearl Street on the east. The southern boundary will be East Eighth Avenue and West 10th Avenue. The northern boundary will be East Norwich Avenue and West Northwood Avenue. The petition will specify that the assessment for the SID could be effective Jan. 1, 2003, or Jan. 1, 2004, depending on how quickly the petition and assessment are approved. The SID is likely to generate about $210,000 annually from the assessment and $40,000 annually each from the city and the university in expected contributions.

Back to the top

Public safety and serial rapist

The Columbus Division of Police is devoting significant staff resources to capturing a serial rapist who is attacking women in their homes and apartments in the University District. Stepped up patrols and undercover officers have resulted in the arrests of several burglars, but the rapist is still at large. Columbus Police and University Police are distributing information door-to-door in the neighborhood. The situation is intensifying as thousands of students return to Ohio State. Ohio State’s Office of Off-Campus Student Services has already heard from some parents and students who would like to cancel their leases on apartments in the University District. The situation was the subject of discussion at the University Area Safety Committee meeting on Sept. 11. The committee’s next meeting will be Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 3:30 p.m. in the conference room of 33 W. 11th Ave.

New Web site on University District and outreach conference

Ohio State’s Center for Urban and Regional Analysis has completed construction of a new Web site that provides links to a wealth of information about the University District, including a number of reports and studies by university researchers over the years. CURA also will update the Website regularly. The site’s address is: http://universitydistrict.osu.edu/  

More than 400 people from 50 higher education institutions in 33 states are registered so far for the Outreach Scholarship 2002 Conference: Catalyst for Change from Oct. 6-8 at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Worthington. Conference sponsors are Ohio State, Penn State and University of Wisconsin Extension. Terry Foegler will moderate a featured session, “Reinvesting in Communities,” on Oct. 7. That same day, about 45 conference participants will be bused to the Campus Partners office for an in-the-community session, “Economic Development in the Community.” Making brief presentations will be Doug Aschenbach on the Gateway project, Pasquale Grado on the High Street plan, and Wayne Garland on the special improvement district. Participants also will visit the Gateway site.

Back to the top

Refuse collection

The City conducted its sixth annual collection of bulk trash in the University District as part of the annual move-out and move-in of students. Residents were asked to bring bulk items to six locations for pick-up between Aug. 30 and Sept. 15. In addition, residents were encouraged to donate reusable household goods to Material Assistance Providers, a non-profit “furniture bank” for families in need. Rumpke Waste Removal and C.O.C. Waste Services donated the use of metal roll-offs for the collection. Buckeye Real Estate, Inn-Town Homes and Campus Partners provided collection sites. Inn-Town Homes and other property owners distributed flyers to residents about the collection. Campus Partners purchased a Lantern advertisement and worked with Ohio State to send e-mail messages about the collection to 14,000 students in the 43201 and 43202 zip codes. Despite a tight municipal budget, the City’s Refuse Collection Division has given careful attention and overtime to keeping the alleys clean during this period.

Code enforcement

The City has completed its program of systematic exterior code enforcement in a new pilot area bounded by High Street on the west, Indianola Avenue on the east, East 11th Avenue on the south and East 14th Avenue on the north. There were no known homeowners in the area, so a companion “envelope program” is not needed. Andy Baumann, code enforcement supervisor, reported to the University District Code Enforcement Task Force on Sept. 10 that 63 orders had been issued for code violations. The next meeting of the task force will be Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 2:30 p.m. in the Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St.

Back to the top

Home | News | History & Organization | Committees | Contact