Topic: Columbus: Weinland Park neighborhood development news

[JohnOSU99]

New hope for Weinland
OSU, Columbus collaborate on project for kids
By Jeff Bell, Business First

Ohio State University and Columbus Public Schools are nearing construction of a $15.8 million project to help the impoverished Weinland Park neighborhood near the university.  The goal of the venture, administrators from the two educational institutions said, is to integrate OSU's new early childhood development center with a rebuilt Weinland Park Elementary School in a town-gown collaboration.

"It will be a unique model to address the needs of Weinland Park families more holistically," said David Andrews, dean of Ohio State's College of Human Ecology.  About 70 percent of the children at the OSU center would come from Weinland Park, he said.  The mostly low-income area, where the average household income was $15,252 in 2002, is plagued by crime and high turnover rates in its housing and schools.  The project, which is also supported by the city of Columbus, is scheduled to be completed in fall 2006, Andrews said.

Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2005/06/09/story2.html

[Summit Street]

well, good to hear it could get some help,
but
i am cautious as to the way osu would do it. will it be the 'clean up the neighborhood by getting rid of the peoplpe there thing? i'd rather have the city do this neighborhood without osu overstepping their grounds

[buildingcincinnati]

Read the Weinland Park neighborhood plan here:
http://www.columbusinfobase.org/Weinland%20Park/Weinland%20Park%20Plan10605.pdf
From the 10/27/05 OSU Lantern:


Weinland Park plan sparks heated debate
By Stephanie Brum
Published: Thursday, October 27, 2005 

The University Area Commission met Oct. 19 in the Northwood High building to discuss whether to go forward with and recommend the Weinland Park Neighborhood Plan. The borders of the Weinland Park neighborhood span from Chittenden Avenue to the north, High Street to the west, Fifth Avenue to the south, and the Conrail railroad tracks to the east.

Read more at http://www.thelantern.com/media/paper333/news/2005/10/27/Campus/Weinland.Park.Plan.Sparks.Heated.Debate-1036185.shtml

[buildingcincinnati]

From Business First of Columbus, 2/27/06:


2nd shot to aid Weinland
Campus Partners again dealing for Coated Fabrics
Brian R. Ball
Business First

Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment Corp. may get a second chance to prepare the former Columbus Coated Fabrics site on East Fifth Avenue for redevelopment.  The bankruptcy estate of Decorative Surfaces International Inc. has granted the affiliate of Ohio State University a six-month option to acquire the property for $385,000, according to a Feb. 17 order signed by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Peter J. Walsh in the state of Delaware.

City planners have identified the 17.6-acre industrial site as one of six "opportunity areas" for Weinland Park, a neighborhood that abuts the OSU campus. An early redevelopment plan for the area envisions mixed-income housing on the site, which stretches from Fifth Avenue along both sides of North Grant Street.

Read more at http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/02/27/story4.html?from_rss=1

[Keith M.]

Any updates on what's going on there? What do you guys think should happen to turn the area around? I think a good number of people are going to have to be moved out. I think there needs to be housing spread out in other neighborhoods that these people could afford to live in. I just don't think having a neighborhood with such a high level of poor people will ever be able to change on its own.

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 6/29/06 (OSU) Lantern:


Weinland Park area receives a makeover
Jen Daddario
Issue date: 6/29/06 Section: Campus
 
The Weinland Park Neighborhood Plan that has sparked debates at University Area Commission meetings in the past has now earned the endorsement of the commission, taking it one step closer to being implemented.  The plan focuses on the Weinland Park area during the next 10-to-20 years and makes a number of recommendations to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood and to encourage its evolution, said Steve Sterrett, spokesman for Campus Partners, which is a partner in the plan.

Read more at http://www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2006/06/29/Campus/Weinland.Park.Area.Receives.A.Makeover-2119573.shtml?norewrite200606291945&sourcedomain=www.thelantern.com

[LAsam]

I'm tellin ya, if you have extra money, buy a cheapo house here!

[Keith M.]

Plant may be headed for cleanup
Old Columbus Coated Fabrics site could be redeveloped, aiding nearby Weinland Park
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Debbie Gebolys
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



The city of Columbus and Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment have agreed to a $500,000 gamble on the former Columbus Coated Fabrics plant site that city officials say poses a serious health hazard. Together, they took the first step this week toward reclaiming it. They want to see the abandoned factory replaced with 500 homes, along with shops and parks. A change like that could be enough to turn the tide for a neighborhood now known for its poverty and high crime rate, city planners Vince Papsidero and Todd Singer say.

A transformed Columbus Coated Fabrics is part of the Weinland Park Neighborhood Plan introduced to Columbus City Council on Monday.

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/13/20060713-G1-02.html

[CMH_Downtown]

They want to see the abandoned factory replaced with 500 homes, along with shops and parks.

500 homes is a lot. If this plan does come to fruition (which I hope it does), I hope they make an attempt to match the newly constructed homes with the ones in the surrounding area. Some of the new home construction in derelict neighborhoods like Linden and King-Lincoln, have been less than ideal and have the M/I Homes prefabricated look. The city recently completed some a subsidized project on 4th Street by Italian Village, and while they made an attempt to construct the buildings to match the older ones surrounding it, they did a pretty bad job. I would like to see homes similar to the ones being built in Harrison Park, but not so large and extravegant; just something that can blend in with the homes in Italian Village and Weinland Park to creat a seamless urban neighborhood.

[kingfish out of water]

I'm tellin ya, if you have extra money, buy a cheapo house here!

Seriously.

My bleeding heart aches for the residents there--50% below poverty line is nothing new to me, but 10% owner occupied housing?!!

But when you look at this project and the money surrounding the area, it's only a matter of time before the dams break...the money dams, that is.

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 8/31/06 Dispatch:


PHOTO: Fire
 
PHOTO: As shown below, signs outside Columbus Coated Fabrics identify it has a hazard, but fires there continue to plague firefighters. 
 
MAP

GRAPHIC:
Longtime problem

NEIGHBORHOOD BLIGHT
What to do with a mess like this?
Dangers many, solutions few at Columbus Coated Fabrics site
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Mark Ferenchik
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
 
Columbus Coated Fabrics burned yesterday. Again. Firefighters have been to the vacant, sprawling factory complex 37 times since it closed in 2001, 22 times for fires. Three firefighters have been injured on those runs. Now, they just let it burn. Fire Battalion Chief Mark Devine wants to see the 100 buildings there torn down.

Firefighters baby-sat a smaller fire yesterday, Devine said, hours after they arrived to contain two larger fires that started on Tuesday and sent up plumes of smoke that could be seen across the city. Neighbors complained about the smoke, which filled the neighborhood with a pungent scent. Like Devine and just about everyone else who has to deal with Columbus Coated Fabrics, they would like to see it removed.

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/31/20060831-A1-01.html

[noozer]

City, Campus Partners to develop Columbus Coated Fabrics site
By Mark Ferenchik
The Columbus Dispatch
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 12:14 AM

Buying, demolishing and cleaning up the Columbus Coated Fabrics plant could cost $5 million, and the city of Columbus has now joined Campus Partners in a plan to redevelop the site with homes.  The city is buying the 17-acre property along Grant Avenue for $390,000.  After crews demolish the buildings, Campus Partners plans to buy the property from the city to build homes and parks. Businesses or industries could be sought for land near E. 5th Avenue.

Read more at http://dispatch.com/business/business.php?story=219974

[kingfish out of water]

Now, let's get the overwhelming number of rental properties in the area back into the hands of resident homeowners.

[Keith M.]

^Do any cities have laws saying only X% of residential can be rentals in Y neighborhood?

[kingfish out of water]

^ Not that I've seen; not from a city government enforcement level. Such a thing stumbles into highly litigious prior-use territory. I guess this is where a person could come in and argue the value of HOA covenants.

I don't have any hard data in hand, but from what I've seen, there's a tipping point where, once the percentage of resident homeowners dips below, say 40%, the whole neighborhood goes to heck.

About all a city can do, again, from what I've seen, is to put the screws to landlords in terms of inspections, upkeep, complaints. But even there, you can slap liens all over the place, but if the funds aren't there to enforce the costly procedure of seizing property, nothing can really change. This is dicey legalistic territory no matter how much money a city has in the bank.

The best solution is for an area to get "hot" and for property values to shift upward to a point where the return on selling a property outright eclipses the profit from renting it out. Weinland Park is a million years away from that at this point. But if Columbus proves anything, there's nothing a handful of monied, motivated urban pioneers can't do when they put their hearts, minds and wallets to it.

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 1/4/07 (OSU) Lantern:


PHOTO: The Columbus Coated Fabric Company has become a rundown haven for broken glass, rusted metal and hazardous chemicals.  Media Credit: Matthew Hashiguchi

Demolition of old factory to bring housing, retail
Karen McClintock
Issue date: 1/4/07 Section: Campus

Faded turquoise paint and graffiti art covers the building that once held Columbus Coated Fabrics, a manufacturing facility that produced vinyl coated cloth products.  Now Campus Partners, a developer affiliated with Ohio State, wants to demolish the building south east of OSU's campus and use the 17 acres for housing, retail and civic space.

Its Weinland Park Neighborhood Plan would put 495 housing units, 5,000 square feet of retail and a 5,000-foot neighborhood center on the site. The clean up project would cost around $2.8 million. The most contaminated two acres of the lot would likely become parking lots under the plan, said Steve Sterrett, director of community relations for Campus Partners.

Read more at www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2007/01/04/Campus/Demolition.Of.Old.Factory.To.Bring.Housing.Retail-2600506.shtml]http://media.[url=http://www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2007/01/04/Campus/Demolition.Of.Old.Factory.To.Bring.Housing.Retail-2600506.shtml]www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2007/01/04/Campus/Demolition.Of.Old.Factory.To.Bring.Housing.Retail-2600506.shtml[/url]

[buildingcincinnati]

Developer chosen for Columbus Coated Fabrics site
Business First of Columbus - January 26, 2007
by Brian R. Ball, Business First

A Columbus real estate developer has vaulted into the lead to redevelop the former Columbus Coated Fabrics site on East Fifth Avenue.  Campus Partners for Community Urban Development Corp., the agency in charge of preparing the site for redevelopment, has tentatively chosen Wagenbrenner Development Co. to develop the 21.6-acre parcel.

Read more at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/01/29/story3.html

[CMH_Downtown]

Weinland Park neighbors celebrate plant's demolition
But mayor skips party because union crews won't be leveling Columbus Coated Fabrics
Wednesday,  April 25, 2007 3:32 AM
By Mark Ferenchik, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
 
The long-awaited demolition work to clear the fire-plagued plant at E. 5th and Grant avenues was about to begin yesterday, to the delight of its neighbors.  More than 500 condominiums and apartments are planned there to reinvigorate the Weinland Park neighborhood.  So neighbors were invited to a party. Packages of buns and chips lined tabletops inside an old loading dock.  But the official celebration with the city was scrapped. Mayor Michael B. Coleman said he wouldn't take part because local union workers weren't hired to demolish the factory. The demolition company is bringing most of its workers from out of state, and unions complained to Coleman's office.

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/04/25/COATED.ART_ART_04-25-07_B4_IF6G2N7.html

[CMH_Downtown]

Two sites, one last chance for funding
Cleanups in limbo
Projects at two former Columbus factories depend on Clean Ohio money, developers say
Saturday,  May 5, 2007 3:35 AM
By Debbie Gebolys, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
 
Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/business/stories/2007/05/05/CLEAN.ART_ART_05-05-07_C10_JF6JLFR.html

Two inner-city Columbus revitalization projects hang in the balance, developers say, as state officials prepare to make what might be the last grants from a cleanup fund. Developers in two of the city's neediest areas are asking $3 million each to demolish and clean up former factories. A grant on the South Side could ultimately bring jobs to a neighborhood that's lost thousands. A grant in Weinland Park near Ohio State University could help convert a hazard into a neighborhood.

[UncleRando]

Grants to help rehab land
Former Coated Fabrics, Techneglas factories to each get $3 million
BY MARK FERENCHIK | COLUMBUS DISPATCH
July 26, 2007

COLUMBUS - The state gave two projects in struggling Columbus neighborhoods the news their boosters wanted to hear: They'll each be getting $3 million to clean up old industrial sites and clear the way for redevelopment.  That means Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment and Wagenbrenner Development will continue with plans to build 500 apartments and condominiums at the old Columbus Coated Fabrics site at E. 5th and Grant avenues in the Weinland Park neighborhood.  And the old Techneglas plant on the South Side will be converted into a 46-acre business park that could employ up to 1,680 people.

[noozer]

Condos, apartments near Downtown
Housing planned on industrial site
Tuesday,  March 18, 2008 2:56 AM
By Robert Vitale
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Coming soon to a slumping housing market near you: 500 more condos and apartments that developers say can buck the trends.  Columbus City Council members gave their approval last night for an agreement with Wagenbrenner Development to clean and revive 17 acres in Weinland Park that once was home to the Columbus Coated Fabrics plant.

Read more at http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/03/18/COUN18.ART_ART_03-18-08_B2_329M6E5.html?sid=101

[Sherman Cahal]

Personal comment: In defense of the project, it is at a prime location that is close to downtown. The property is severely deteriorated and isn't really worth exploring, in my opinion, and it's tear-down and cleanup is long overdue.

[Columbo]

WEINLAND PARK
Section 8 housing to be torn down
Thursday, May 8, 2008
By Mark Ferenchik and Jonathan Riskind
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The company redeveloping the Columbus Coated Fabrics site into apartments and condominiums plans to build unsubsidized housing along E. 11th Avenue to create a gateway to the old industrial site.  But to do it, it will need the help of Congress and the president.  Wagenbrenner Development plans to tear down 96 units of blighted, government-subsidized housing along 11th Avenue owned by the nonprofit Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing, said Eric Wagenbrenner, company vice president.

Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/05/08/SECTION8.ART_ART_05-08-08_B2_0JA54M6.html?sid=101

[LAsam]

This is the last piece of the puzzle in connecting DT to OSU with continuously nice areas.  Very important.  Kroger getting redeveloped is a major milestone.

[Keith M.]

The last frontier of the university area.

[Chadoh21]

Cool!

[David]

Awesome

[Robert Pence]

Neat stuff, interesting-looking area.

[Chadoh21]

Its improved ALOT since I lived near there! Hopefully the improvements continue!

[tcj1985]

Wow! Looks like a fun area to explore....

[ColDayMan]

Fun stuff!

[Evergrey]

me likey!

[GIS_Monkey]

Its improved ALOT since I lived near there! Hopefully the improvements continue!

Same here! Wow

[UncleRando]

I like the Barnes & Noble building.

[David]

That Barnes and Noble actually sucks! Every time I try to get a book from there, they tell me it's only available in Upper Arlington! They're more concerned with selling OSU apparel than anything.