Midtown Columbus

[mitchella81]

Over the past several years it seems as though the midtown section of columbus. Mainly Wynnton & Macon Roads have been slowly dying. Business after business closing or moving north. Is there any hope for this section of Columbus coming back to life. This forum is setup for your feelings on the future of midtown and projects underway or in planning for midtown.

On today WXTX-Local Fox station reported Midtown Inc. is working with developers to bring life back into midtown Columbus between Peacock Ave and Hilton Ave. they are working with a consulting company out of Orlando, FL and have been in talks with companys like Chico's and Starbucks to name a couple about locating to the midtown area. The plans call for a more nieghborhood friendly retail area. Plans also call for a streetscape project including new trees and benches throughout the Wynnton Road area and several new national retailers. This could be just what midtown needs.

[gah]

Over the past several years it seems as though the midtown section of columbus. Mainly Wynnton & Macon Roads have been slowly dying. Business after business closing or moving north. Is there any hope for this section of Columbus coming back to life. This forum is setup for your feelings on the future of midtown and projects underway or in planning for midtown.

On today WXTX-Local Fox station reported Midtown Inc. is working with developers to bring life back into midtown Columbus between Peacock Ave and Hilton Ave. they are working with a consulting company out of Orlando, FL and have been in talks with companys like Chico's and Starbucks to name a couple about locating to the midtown area. The plans call for a more nieghborhood friendly retail area. Plans also call for a streetscape project including new trees and benches throughout the Wynnton Road area and several new national retailers. This could be just what midtown needs.

[ATLman1]

Developer to help revitalize Wynnton

Renovations to existing shops to start in 6 months

Midtown Columbus residents will be seeing new and improved retail stores and restaurants in their neighborhood -- a boost to the area's revitalization efforts.

In about six months, Wynnton Road's Wynnton Building will start to undergo renovations meant to improve existing businesses and bring in national chains.

The project -- brainchild of Orlando-based architect and real estate developer Dave Froelich -- is expected to be completed in three years.

Teresa Tomlinson, executive director of MidTown Inc., which is working to revive that area of the city, said the development fits well with the group's Wynnton Road Corridor Revitalization Plan.

"I think it may well be the first catalyst to start the corridor's revitalization," she said.

Phase one of the plan aims to improve Wynnton Road from Peacock Avenue to Hilton Avenue through better pedestrian, vehicular and transit facilities.

Improving the area's streetscape with brick-stamped crosswalks, street trees and lights and wider sidewalks, specifically, will provide for a more pedestrian-friendly area, Tomlinson said.

"This is so important because it creates an environment that makes people feel the can go to one or more different shops by just parking and strolling up the street," she said.

Froelich said he plans to keep all existing retailers intact, which include Jenie's Bridals & Formals and Blue J Barber Shop.

"The majority of the space will be local brands," he said. "That's still what I want to keep. If I don't keep that, I won't have a Columbus location. And I want to have a Columbus location."

Office tenants may be moved around, he said.

The project will also add about eight or nine national retail stores and restaurants. Froelich said he hopes to attract businesses such as Chipotle, Starbucks, Panera and White House Black Market.

Froelich also plans to add a route linking Wynnton Road to the 45,000-square-foot building's parking lot.

The developer said he looked at property elsewhere, including in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Jacksonville, Fla.

What attracted him to the 2.6-acre Columbus property, for one, was its regional strengths -- namely the Kia plant's imminent arrival, as well as the expansion of Fort Benning.

The presence of a specific neighborhood advocacy group -- MidTown Columbus Inc. -- and city efforts to clean up the area also convinced him the property had potential.

"It made me say, this piece of property is a sleeper," he said. "What you have to look at as an investor is what you pay for, and what your appreciation could be... In this case, I believe it's much more valuable than what I paid. That's because I believe the property's going up."

MidTown Inc. recently invested $50,000 to have expert transportation engineers create a vehicular- and pedestrian-friendly redesign for Wynnton Road.

Tomlinson said the the redesign and Froelich's development are "not contingent upon one another, but fully compatible."

Better landscaping will also add value to the property Froelich is developing, Tomlinson said.

"The fact that Dave Froelich came is just icing on the cake," she said.

Froelich has had more than 25 years of experience in design, project management and real estate development. He has worked on various projects, including all three CityWalk projects for Universal Studios in Orlando, Los Angeles and Osaka, Japan.

"It's a fantastic thing that someone of his caliber is interested in Columbus," Tomlinson said.

[ATLman1]

Steve & Barry's looks to drive traffic to Midtown area of Columbus

Low-price apparel retailer Steve & Barry's is renovating the 44,000 square feet of space formerly occupied be Service Merchandise in Cross Country Plaza on Macon Road. The store is expected to open around Thanksgiving.

Port Washington, N.Y.-based Steve & Barry's becomes the top anchor at Cross Country Plaza, which dates to the 1950s and is the city's oldest shopping center. The casual clothing retailer will fill 44,000 square feet of space formerly occupied by general merchandise retailer Service Merchandise, a chain that went out of business in 2002.

The center's other major tenants include a 37,888-square-foot Publix supermarket, 23,500-square-foot OfficeMax store, and Books-a-Million at 20,136 square feet.

Glenwood Development, a private real estate firm headquartered in Huntersville, N.C., just north of Charlotte, bought Cross Country Plaza in 2004 from Oak Tree Financial, a New York-based investment fund. It paid $20.8 million for the center.

More to come

And there is more to come, particularly at Cross Country.

Glenwood Development plans to tear down the old Pier 1 structure fronting Macon Road and rebuild. Letters of intent have been signed with a couple of tenants, Wiener said.

"We're hoping by sometime this spring we'll be able to come out of the ground," he said. "Our plans are definitely to tear down the old building and bring something new -- either a new building or two new buildings -- out on the pad. We have some strong interest."

The shopping center also has landed a tenant for the 5,678-square-foot vacancy left by Hallmark. City Gear, a trendy urban wear clothing retailer, should open around Thanksgiving as well. City Gear is known for being one of the first U.S. retailers to purchase clothing from factories in Iraq as part of that nation's rebuilding efforts.

Though it's not part of Cross Country, there are plans to construct a CVS/pharmacy at the intersection of Macon Road and Auburn Avenue. It will front Macon Road with Country's Barbecue and the Speakeasy restaurant directly behind it. The drug store building will include space for at least two other tenants.

[ATLman1]

Cross Country area in development mode

Wachovia Bank, CVS pharmacy, more retail space on the way

A lot of new development is occurring in and around the Midtown area of Columbus. A Wachovia Bank, a CVS Pharmacy, and two shopping outparcels are either nearing completion or on the drawing board. Work is finishing up on a 17,000-square-foot strip center on Auburn Avenue.

Wachovia is preparing to construct a new branch on an outparcel of land that was previously home to Pier 1 Imports before it moved north.

[aboutmetro]

Cross Country area in development mode

Wachovia Bank, CVS pharmacy, more retail space on the way

A lot of new development is occurring in and around the Midtown area of Columbus. A Wachovia Bank, a CVS Pharmacy, and two shopping outparcels are either nearing completion or on the drawing board. Work is finishing up on a 17,000-square-foot strip center on Auburn Avenue.

Wachovia is preparing to construct a new branch on an outparcel of land that was previously home to Pier 1 Imports before it moved north.

[amyers]

Isn't there already a Wachovia at Cross Country?

[Swifty]

This is completely unsubstantiated (and from a non resident), but I had heard Longhorn was going to relocate to the former Pier 1 site, and the La Quinta Inn was going to build part of a replacement hotel on the Longhorn site.

The potential relocation of the Wachovia branch seems to put the kibosh on that rumor.

[ATLman1]

This is completely unsubstantiated (and from a non resident), but I had heard Longhorn was going to relocate to the former Pier 1 site, and the La Quinta Inn was going to build part of a replacement hotel on the Longhorn site.

The potential relocation of the Wachovia branch seems to put the kibosh on that rumor.

[mitchella81]

Jimmy Johns opened it's first Columbus location less than a month ago on Manchester Expressway. The company is already working on it's second location which will be on Macon Road across from the Main Columbus Library building. No opening date is up yet avaliable, but the signs are up.

[xivinrah]

I've passed along several cleared sites along Macon Road. One of real interest to me is the land just in front of the library. Is there anyone that could tell me what they plan to do with the land sitting directly in front of the library along Macon Road?

Oh and just to throw my idea out there: I think that the owner of Cross Country Plaza should redevelop the entire shopping centre and create a huge upscale mixed use. Three floors of spacious condominiums situated above retail, aesthetically beautiful parking garages, green spaces with fountains, shrubbery, an upscale hotel nearby, white table cloth restaurants (tired of the same four choices - McDonald's, Taco Bell, Burger King, Ci Ci's), it be better if those restaurants were redesigned to match the facades of the mixed use development... you know these people down here could learn a lot from Atlanta as far as learning how to make the most of a confined space. When will Columbusites stray away from the auto oriented mentality? I see so much potential.

[aboutmetro]

I've passed along several cleared sites along Macon Road. One of real interest to me is the land just in front of the library. Is there anyone that could tell me what they plan to do with the land sitting directly in front of the library along Macon Road?

Oh and just to throw my idea out there: I think that the owner of Cross Country Plaza should redevelop the entire shopping centre and create a huge upscale mixed use. Three floors of spacious condominiums situated above retail, aesthetically beautiful parking garages, green spaces with fountains, shrubbery, an upscale hotel nearby, white table cloth restaurants (tired of the same four choices - McDonald's, Taco Bell, Burger King, Ci Ci's), it be better if those restaurants were redesigned to match the facades of the mixed use development... you know these people down here could learn a lot from Atlanta as far as learning how to make the most of a confined space. When will Columbusites stray away from the auto oriented mentality? I see so much potential.

[kendal 8]

The aflac tower on wyynton road was shot at today the windows of the 9th 10th and 11th floor were hit does anyone no any information on who could of have did this

[ironchapman]

The aflac tower on wyynton road was shot at today the windows of the 9th 10th and 11th floor were hit does anyone no any information on who could of have did this

[xivinrah]

Unfortunately, nothing with any real imagination. A couple of civil service buildings and that's it. Oh and a park that people will have to drive to to use... Here's an idea that I passed along for the site in another post...

[kendal 8]

I'm not from Columbus, but as far as I can understand, no one has been arrested yet.

The info contained in this article is about all we have to go on.

I'll keep my eyes out, but until then, I hope that helps some.