"City to hear plans for Big Bear site" ThisWeek Community Newspapers

Link: City to hear plans for Big Bear site
Alan Froman
ThisWeek Community Newspapers
November 29, 2007

Residents will be able to learn details about Nationwide Realty Investors and Equity's plans for redevelopment of the former Big Bear property on Goodale Boulevard at two meetings to be held next month.

Grandview Heights City Council will hold a special meeting at 7 p.m. Dec. 13, when city officials will review the proposed update of the community plan for the Goodale Boulevard area and also discuss the process for the city's consideration of Nationwide's plans for the 60-acre site.

Representatives of Nationwide are expected to attend the Dec. 19 Grandview Planning Commission meeting and make an informal presentation about the redevelopment plan for the Big Bear property. The developer will not be making a formal application at the meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m...

"Red Roof headquarters to return to Columbus; 80 jobs to be created" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Red Roof headquarters to return to Columbus; 80 jobs to be created
Mike Pramik
The Columbus Dispatch
November 28, 2007

Red Roof Inn, a lodging company that began in Columbus, will move its corporate headquarters from Texas to the Brewery District next year.

The company said it plans to occupy office space at 605 S. Front St. during the first quarter of 2008. The move will create about 80 jobs over the next year-and-a-half to two years, Red Roof said in a statement.

Red Roof currently has a training center at 121 E. Nationwide Blvd. It has eight hotels in central Ohio, including one Downtown near the Greater Columbus Convention Center...

"Red Roof moving HQ to Brewery District" Business First of Columbus

Link: Red Roof moving HQ to Brewery District
Business First of Columbus
November 28, 2007

Red Roof Inns Inc. is headed back to Columbus, but the site of its headquarters won't be on Watermark Island off Dublin Road.

The company on Wednesday said it will move to the building at 605 S. Front St. in the Brewery District in the first quarter of 2008. And while the company was considering moving 37 administrative and training center jobs from its offices at 121 E. Nationwide Blvd., next door to its convention center hotel, Red Roof said it will keep the operation.

The hotelier's decision comes more than a month after the state approved a five-year, 50 percent tax credit valued at $550,481 for the company. The incentive was put together after Red Roof announced this summer it was looking to leave its Carrollton, Texas, offices and relocate to the Midwest...

"Maps, bureau sell Downtown" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Maps, bureau sell Downtown
Marla Matzer Rose
The Columbus Dispatch
November 29, 2007

It may be the end of an era as Macy's closes its City Center store this weekend, but civic leaders are preparing to make Downtown more welcoming to visitors drawn by other events and attractions.

Two key components of the plan are the first Downtown visitors center in nearly four years -- it will open next week -- and a nearly $1 million project to place visitor-friendly directional signs in the heart of the city...

"ODOT projecting $3.5B shortfall through 2015" Business First of Columbus

Just yesterday I cited an article out of California regarding a movement to privatize a good chunk of public infrastructure. Now we see that there are significant gaps in Ohio's funding...leading quite nicely (the second paragraph in the citation below) into the concept of working on alternative transportation systems.

All I will say is, "Hello streetcar system, I'll see you in a couple years. We'll be waiting for you. You may just be a tiny piece in the bigger puzzle but every wheel needs a hub and you're a heck of a good start for Columbus.":

Link: ODOT projecting $3.5B shortfall through 2015
Business First of Columbus
November 28, 2007

...In the recently released plan, required every two years under Ohio law, the department said a number of factors have led to a projected $3.5 billion shortfall through 2015, starting with a potential $114 million shortfall for major construction in 2009. Stagnant funding and rising construction costs, which have inflated a compounded 41 percent between 2004 and 2007, played a large part, as did higher oil prices and steel demand. Furthermore, the department said another driver was committing to new transportation projects without having the money to pay for them, or what ODOT calls overprogramming...

..."Ohio cannot simply build its way out of congestion," ODOT Director James Beasley said in a release. "We must fully embrace a multimodal approach - with an integrated network of highway, rail, transit, aviation and waterway."...

"New companies enter market for wallscapes" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: New companies enter market for wallscapes
Marla Matzer Rose
The Columbus Dispatch
November 27, 2007

If there seem to be more giant ads Downtown than ever before, you're not imagining things.

Orange Barrel Media, the company that first became known for the massive building-bound signs, has been joined by two competitors in the months since a legal challenge to the practice was resolved...

...Scantland said ads will begin being shown Dec. 20 on LED video screens at Broad and High streets. He said seven of the eight available spots have been sold to Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Huntington Bank, Nationwide, NBC, Kroger and Ohio State University Medical Center.

It's a natural progression, as wallscapes are by nature temporary in the life of a city...

"Your water, sewer bills just went up" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Your water, sewer bills just went up
Robert Vitale
The Columbus Dispatch
November 27, 2007

Water coming out of the tap and going down the drain will run up to $100 more next year for the average Columbus Department of Public Utilities customer.

City Council members approved 2008 water and sewer rates last night that will raise yearly charges by $87 for the average family in Columbus and by $100 for those in 24 suburbs that get service from the city.

The increases of 12.5 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively, for city and suburban customers will go in large part to pay for ongoing improvements ordered by the federal and state governments to a sewer system that continues to pollute local waterways...

"City not keen on patching up alley -- or residents' help" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: City not keen on patching up alley -- or residents' help
Dean Narisco
The Columbus Dispatch
November 27, 2007

...Six years ago, Columbus Division of Refuse workers refused to drive trash trucks into an unimproved alley between Doten Avenue and Meadow Road, just south of W. 5th Avenue.

The alley had deep holes and ruts and was unsafe to navigate, said Mary Carran Webster, assistant director of public service...

...At the same time, city officials told residents that it would be too costly to repave the alley and that residents weren't permitted to fix it because it's city property...

"Schwarzenegger calls for new tack on infrastructure" Los Angeles Times

This is the first bold movement on the larger concept of privatizing state and local infrastructure that I have witnessed firsthand. There have been many projects on a smaller scale across the country, but this is the first I've caught up with in real time. I'm confident we'll be seeing a lot more of the privatization model in the years to come.

Our gas tax and other funding mechanisms have been lagging behind on both meeting the demand for new infrastructure, brought on by growth, and the maintenance of what we already have:

Link: Schwarzenegger calls for new tack on infrastructure
Michael Rothfeld
Los Angeles Times
November 27, 2007

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signaled a major push today to engage private companies in the construction and management of state and local infrastructure, adopting a strategy employed in Canada, Britain and elsewhere.

In such partnerships, which could take a variety of formats, the state and municipalities could enter contracts allowing private companies to build and manage roads, schools, waste water treatment plants, and other projects in exchange for rent or revenue paid by consumers, such as tolls.

"Simply put, to keep our economy moving we have to do everything we can to create our infrastructure faster, cheaper and better," Schwarzenegger said this morning at a forum on California's digital infrastructure, sponsored by USC...

"City fights fallout from foreclosure" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: City fights fallout from foreclosure
Robert Vitale
The Columbus Dispatch
November 26, 2007

Columbus will spend about $5.5 million next year to deal with problems rippling out from the rise in home foreclosures.

It will board up windows and pull weeds around vacant houses, rehab some that can be sold again and tear down others that can't. It will enforce a new law that police hope will stop thieves from stripping pipes and wires out of empty buildings...

...City officials say Columbus got ahead of the foreclosure crisis last year when it started a program called Home Again, a six-year, $25 million effort to help low-income city residents stay in their homes and fix up or tear down those they've abandoned.

Still, said Deputy Development Director Greg Davies, the number of vacant or abandoned houses in Columbus has jumped from 3,200 to 4,100 since Home Again began...

"Editorial: Transportation remix" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Editorial: Transportation remix
The Columbus Dispatch
November 24, 2007

The nation's transportation networks aren't entirely in step with travelers' needs and tastes.

The collapse of an interstate-highway bridge Aug. 1 in Minneapolis was symptomatic of an excessive focus on building roads and bridges at the expense of necessary maintenance. As airlines suffered from a plague of repeated delays, particularly during the busy summer vacation season, ridership on Amtrak's passenger trains increased. And an express bus service to Indianapolis and Chicago from Columbus that failed to catch on last year and soon was canceled has started up again, this time with a measure of success...

...Federal subsidies over the past 30 years or more have favored air and highway travel while relegating passenger-train service to a side rail. Amtrak's federal funding has remained virtually flat; its annual subsidy was $1.3 billion last year compared with federal funding of about $34 billion for highways and more than $14 billion for air travel. Even mass transit, primarily aimed at helping people get around within cities, drew about $8 billion in federal money...

"Rising Use of 'Impact' Fees Rankles New-Home Buyers" RealEstateJournal.com

Link: Rising Use of 'Impact' Fees Rankles New-Home Buyers
Kris Hudson
RealEstateJournal.com
November 26, 2007

...While few rocket into six figures, impact fees such as those faced by Ms. Banzon and Mr. Ahmad are popping up in a rapidly expanding number of cash-strapped U.S. municipalities scrounging for new revenue sources while federal funding for local infrastructure has become more difficult to obtain. The one-time fees, imposed on builders and often folded into home prices and passed on to buyers, are used by cities to fund construction of infrastructure such as roads, sidewalks, parks and even fire stations for rapidly growing neighborhoods. A 2006 Kansas State University survey found that 39% of the 292 U.S. cities responding imposed impact fees on new construction last year, up from 25% in 2002...

"Columbus prepares another 12.5-percent water rate hike" Columbus Local News

Link: Columbus prepares another 12.5-percent water rate hike.
Jennifer Wray
Columbus Local News
November 21, 2007

...The proposed changes would hike the combined water, sewer and stormwater bill a Columbus resident pays by a little more than $21 a quarter, or 12.5 percent, said Public Utilities Director Tatyana Arsh...

...The increases are necessary as Columbus moves forward on significant capital projects, because Department of Public Utilities is an enterprise department, which means that it is financed solely by the revenues from its rates, Arsh said...

...The city's biggest capital expenditure will come in improving its antiquated sewer system, as required by a consent decree with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

The system is adequate during dry spells, but lacks the proper capacity during heavy rain events, when stormwater flows into the city's sanitary sewer system. As a result, untreated wastewater often discharges into local rivers, according to literature from the utilities department....

"Ohio Avenue paves the way for historic schools" ThisWeek Community Newspapers

Link: Ohio Avenue paves the way for historic schools
Sue Hagan
ThisWeek Community Newspapers
November 22, 2007

The tin ceilings are still there, and the original wooden floors are polished to a soft gleam. Central hallways, brightly painted in cream and blue, are 16 feet wide and the terrazzo tile in the stairs has stood the test of time.

These are features architects wanted to keep in the original 1898 Ohio Avenue Elementary building.

On the other hand, a 1950s wing has been replaced by a new cafeteria - a bright space with soaring ceilings and a bank of windows. The computer lab is state of the art, and is supported by a technology room that the original designers of the 109-year-old building could never have dreamed of...

"City Center Macy's trudges toward its last day" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: City Center Macy's trudges toward its last day
Jeb Philips
The Columbus Dispatch
November 24, 2007

...The sign outside said the store had nine days left, but the same sign had been there for at least two days. Corporate spokesman Nathan Shore cleared up the confusion: Next Saturday is the last day for the Macy's store in City Center.

For now, everything is at least 60 percent off, but some clothes are 90 percent off. The fixtures, the display racks -- all must go.

After years of trying, the City of Columbus took control of City Center this month. Macy's officials said in September that the store would leave. Marshall Field's used to be in that spot, but it left. Then Kaufman's was there, too, and it left...

"City funding razing Schottenstein's on Parsons" Business First of Columbus

Link: City funding razing Schottenstein's on Parsons
Matt Burns
Business First of Columbus
November 20, 2007

Columbus City Council has passed legislation to take another big step in the rebirth of the south side Parsons Avenue corridor: The demolition of its Schottenstein's and IGA buildings.

Council on Monday approved legislation pitched by Mayor Michael B. Coleman to spend $325,000 to demolish the buildings on Parsons and Reeb avenues. The city has spent $2.7 million to buy about two blocks of land at the south end of the corridor, what it considers a "hot spot" to drive future growth, including $850,000 for the 76,000-square-foot Schottenstein's store...

"Holdouts resist suburban growth" The Columbus Dispatch

Link: Holdouts resist suburban growth
Martin Rozenman
The Columbus Dispatch
November 23, 2007

...Of all Columbus' suburbs, these six [Canal Winchester, Dublin, Hilliard, New Albany, Pickerington and Powell] have experienced some of the region's most-dramatic recent growth. Once small rural villages, they have become sprawling bedroom communities: Anysuburb, U.S.A.

Their locations near I-270 along with the presence of Ohio State and other universities, Battelle, Honda and insurance companies make them hot markets.

Identities rooted in combines and corn have been uprooted by subdivisions and strip centers...