Years ago- originally in 2013 and later reposted in 2016- I made a rather crude map of how I thought the Westland Mall site should be redeveloped.. It seems that the mall may finally be torn down soon after a long period of deterioration, so I figured it was time to revisit this map once more, but this time update it in detail and give a much clearer sense of how redeveloping Westland Mall would drastically change the entire West Side.
One of the problems with the original map was that it really didn’t take into account the massive size of the entire site and how many decent-sized buildings could truly fit within it. While on the old map I used single, general boxes to convey multiple buildings, this time I actually laid out nearly 50 of them. These mixed-use buildings are all a minimum of 4 stories and contain residential, office, hotel and retail/restaurant space. Each of these buildings could hold 100 or more residential units, so there could easily be several thousand new residents in this neighborhood. 3 parking garages of various sizes are also included, with enough combined space for thousands of parking spaces. The garages would mostly be covered by new walk-up condo or apartment units. A new park avenue street grid connects these garages and all other buildings, with a central roundabout plaza flanked by retail and restaurant locations. Between the streets, a series of pedestrian-only alleyways provide convenient places for outdoor patio seating for any restaurants and retail locations. One of the biggest changes on the new map is that the park space has become significantly larger, almost doubling in size to more than 18 acres. This would be a significant new park for the West Side, something this part of the city doesn’t have much of. The closest park is also fairly new- Wilson Road Park- which opened in 2017, but its out-of-the-way location makes it somewhat underused. The new Westland park would be lined with retail and restaurant space overlooking it, and a new outdoor market would sit on the northern end- perhaps another extension of North Market similar to what Bridge Park received? There are also new connections to the park and overall development. Multi-use path connections could be built on the eastern end along the old Shopper’s Lane, a western connection that travels under or over I-270 to the large residential area south of Lincoln Village, and a southern path would connect directly to the Camp Chase Trail. The old Lincoln Park West apartment complex would also have adjacent access. A rapid-transit station could go on West Broad Street in front of the entire complex as part of the LinkUS plan. Finally, another big difference between this and the old map is that I tried to be a bit less Sim City about it, meaning that I largely stuck with the existing Westland site and didn’t go beyond it. However, the light yellow areas are all potential future redevelopment locations. These areas are mostly low-density retail strip centers or big box stores with large parking lots. Over time, these areas could be redeveloped to create an enormous, 160-acre redevelopment of the Westland area. For comparison, Dublin’s Bridge Park is only about 40 acres and Jeffrey Park in Italian Village is about 42 acres, with both developments being good examples of what could be done on the Westland site. In fact, Easton is the only comparable area. The potential is incredible and would finally give West Siders the destination and transformative development they’ve been asking for.
To date, there have been no solid plans released about the future of the Westland site by its owners. However, given that they’ve already sold off a small part of the site on Broad Street for a gas station, the chances that they have any significant, urban vision for it seem to be very slim. In reality, I would expect a suburban-style apartment development with fast-food outlets and another strip retail center, adding to the car-dominated stroad hellscape that already exists on West Broad Street now. The only way to avoid that outcome is for residents to demand better.
Columbus continues to develop rapidly as the population grows. Demand is high and homes have been in short supply for years. Unimaginative developers creating poor projects and proposals seems to be the norm, however. Some of these proposals sacrifice historic buildings, others promote an entirely car-centric environment unfriendly to transit, bikes and pedestrians, while still others are a massive waste of site space.
Here are just a few recent examples of proposed projects that are baffling in their lack of creativity, access, accommodation and site potential.
167-191 S. High Street The Plan The 3 buildings pictured on this Downtown block of High Street are all in imminent danger. In a recent Columbus Business First article, it was reported that the 3 buildings were purchased by Cleveland-based Harsax Management Company, a construction and development firm. While the 1914 Ohio National Bank building at 167 S. High is supposedly the most likely to stay, the other two early 1910s buildings at 171-177 and 181-191 S. High are already likely to be demolished according to the company’s CEO. No specific reason is given for the demolition proposal, only that the company plans to develop the site at some point afterwards. So the suggestion is that these buildings may be demolished without any actual plan in place to replace them, so they’d end up- at least for a short time- as an empty lot or parking. The Problem Not incorporating the southern two buildings into a new development is an entirely unnecessary wasted opportunity, and High Street and Downtown lose at least 2 more of of their old streetscape for no good reason. While the prospect of new development is exciting, the fact of the matter is that preservation can take place while still getting a new dense, mixed-use project for the site even if most or all of the existing buildings are saved.
The Walnut side of 181-191 S. High Street, showing its old stone foundation and other architectural features.
A Few Potential Solutions The site is more than large enough to accommodate the existing buildings with new development, and there are 3 potential configurations that show this. Option 1- The Least Destructive The red area in the above map shows the best possible option. The main part of 171-177 is saved, along with the entirety of 181-189. The small parking lot, the skinny section of 171-177, and the later, smaller addition behind 181-189 would all be replaced with a new development. The area would encompass about 1/3 of an acre, plenty of space to build something fairly significant on. With the renovations of the existing buildings and the new, taller development in back, it would be a potentially spectacular addition to the RiverSouth part of Downtown. In fact, a new project and renovation could incorporate the adjacent dead-end Walnut Alley into the plan, turning it into a market space, restaurant/bar patio, or both. It would be a shame to lose the addition as it is a cool little building itself, but if it allowed the other main buildings to be saved, it would ultimately be worth it. Option 2- The Compromise The second option would fully replace 171-177 S. High and the rear parking lot with a new build. The site would offer just under 1/3rd an acre, so it would be the smallest available option, but would still allow a taller, dense, mixed-use project with High Street frontage. It would also allow both 181-189 and its rear addition to be saved and renovated, which are arguably more important. Option 3- The Greatest Sacrifice Option 3 would require the demolition of 171-177 and the rear addition. This would allow the developer to build an L-shaped project with the new building having direct High Street frontage. It would be a greater loss than Options 1 and 2, for sure, but still a potential compromise versus full demolition. Furthermore, the new building could maintain 171-177’s facade so that the old streetscape look is still maintained. This would be similar to what was done with this hotel project on Park Street.
The fact that the developer either hasn’t considered such options, or isn’t interested in them, is unfortunate. Given its prime location, the potential for this site is extremely high, both in terms of a new build and preservation. It would be incredibly short-sighted of the Downtown Commission to allow full demolition of the site to take place, even if the developer ultimately proposes something significant for the site.
45 W. Barthman Avenue The Plan This 8.2-acre South Side site is a former industrial area that has been mostly vacant and abandoned for many years. The NRP Group, another Cleveland-based development company, wants to turn this site into a residential complex with 200 apartments in 3 buildings.
The site as it exists now.
The proposed site layout.
The Problem The 8.2-acre site is one of the largest single development sites available anywhere on the South Side. 200 units is an insultingly low density for the space. Furthermore, the layout is absolutely awful. The 3 proposed buildings are completely surrounded by surface parking lots, and the positioning of the buildings make it virtually impossible to ever add additional housing on the site later on. It’s also entirely unfriendly to pedestrians, as the site plan shows no sidewalks or pathways along Wall Street and no connections across it. There are only small sections of sidewalk between the buildings and the parking lots, but they do not connect with each other between the 3 buildings. This is about as poor of a plan as it gets. A Potential Solution A new layout is desperately needed for the site. In 5 minutes, I created this potential one. The blue box is a large parking garage- or surface lot alone if any of the buildings have parking underneath- that could easily accommodate hundreds or 1000+ cars. The black lines are new streets, including extensions of Reeb and Barthman Avenues. The yellow line is a new sidewalk along the entire site on Wall Street, and each new street would have connecting sidewalks. The orange boxes are potential buildings, each between 1/2-1.2 acres in size. For comparison, the entire HighPoint project on High Street Downtown is about 1.3 acres. That’s more than large enough to accommodate 100-300 units each depending on the number of floors. That means the 6 buildings could potentially provide 6x-9x the housing units that the original proposal provides, even with just 3 or 4-story buildings. Furthermore, any of the buildings could incorporate retail/restaurant space, something this part of the South Side really doesn’t have outside of strip centers. Those spaces would be particularly attractive facing the 1.5-acre park carved out in the center of the site. I noticed in the original plan that they have retention ponds. If they are necessary, a central retention pond could be the key feature of this pocket park and event space. You might say, however, that the developer might not have the financing to build all of this, and that’s true. However, just like Jeffrey Park in Italian Village, building one or 2 buildings at a time, letting them fill up and then building more over several years would not be out of the question. The site doesn’t have to be developed all at once. The developer can build the 3 buildings originally planned and then fill out the rest of the site over time. The point is to do it right, not fast.
329 Loeffler Avenue
329 Loeffler Avenue.
The Plan Another proposal that seeks to demolish a part of old Columbus is the 7-townhome proposal from, it seems, an R and R Construction. Most of the land for the proposal is vacant and has been for years, but there is a lone brick house at the corner of Loeffler and Carrie Avenue that the company wants to demolish for the project. The house dates back to between 1890-1905. The Problem There is, quite plainly, no reason the house needs to be demolished. While it is vacant, auditor records list the house in fair condition, so it’s hardly beyond saving. It can be renovated. Furthermore, the location on the corner means that it is not actually in the way of the project overall. The proposed layout below shows the location of the house in the red box. The Solution There is no reason that the new building on Loeffler needs to extend to the corner. It could just be a 3-unit building on that section instead of 4, with the house being renovated on the corner. It’s location does not interfere with the other 3 units facing the back alley whatsoever and the overall number of units for the project would still be 7. The house is a part of the neighborhood’s history. Regardless of how it may look at the moment, it’s condition means that it is not structurally deficient, so it can remain and should. Brick homes like this are being lost for all sorts of reasons- neglect, arson, new development- but this is a perfect example where location makes it a great candidate for saving.
While these are recent, the fact is that such poor project proposals come out almost every month, and there is often little to no pushback from neighborhood commissions or the city to do better. While solutions and better options exist, we’re missing out on creating better, richer neighborhoods that both embrace new development while encouraging preservation and higher standards for residents. I encourage anyone who can to contact these companies, the city and neighborhood commissions to speak out. Even if you disagree with my particular take on these proposals, collectively more voices should be heard in the direction that development in Columbus takes.
Photo Location: Intersection of McKinley Avenue and North Souder Avenue, looking west. Photo Date: March, 1913 Photo History: The Great Flood of 1913 was the most devastating and deadly flood in Ohio history. 6″-12″ of rain fell between March 23-27, 1913 as two weather systems followed one after the other. Most of the rain fell across the headwaters of major rivers, including the Scioto. The subsequent flood destroyed levees in Columbus and flooded parts of Franklinton- among other areas- with up to 17′ of water with a record crest. The entire riverfront suffered heavy damage with hundreds of buildings damaged or destroyed. 100 people were reportedly killed around the city. Floods like 1913- and later in 1959- eventually led to the federal government limiting new development and investment in Franklinton, which caused it to decline for decades. It wasn’t until 2004 with the completion of the Franklinton floodwall that those limitations were lifted.
The same view today.
Columbus wasn’t the only victim of this great flood. Virtually every major city saw some significant impact, but Dayton arguably got it much worse than any other.
The Housing Market Update January 2023 data, the first of the new year, from Columbus Realtors showed that home sales and overall supply continued to decline, helping to ensure most areas saw continued increases in median prices.
Note: LSD= Local School District, CSD= City School District. In both cases, school district boundaries differ from city boundaries.
Closed sales are those sales that were completed during the month. 7 of the 10 metro counties saw declines in January Only 9 of more than 40 local markets were up year-over-year. Not sure what was going on in Union County in January, but it was well above all other counties for the month. The market overall continued to be up on price year-over-year, except in Pickaway County. Overall Market Median Sales Price in January 2023: $307,289 Based on the 10 Columbus Metro Area counties, the metro price saw a more than $39,000 increase over January, 2022. Overall Market Median Sales Price % Change in January, 2023 vs. January, 2022: +14.6% Continuing home sale declines had relatively little impact on home prices overall, which saw a strong increase over the year. It seems the Intel project’s impact may finally be making an appearance in housing numbers, with the Johnstown district seeing a huge increase in median home prices versus January 2022, 2 months before the project became official. That said, New Albany had one of the areas largest declines, but that could be due to it generally being one of the most expensive markets last year. New listings across most of the metro area were down, accounting for most of the median price increase as demand remains strong in the region. Most of the decrease came from Franklin County. Total Metro New Listings in January, 2023: 1,612 Total Metro New Listings Change from January, 2022 to January, 2023: -316 Average # of Days Homes Remain on the Market Before Sale for the Metro Overall in January, 2023: 34.0 # of Days Homes Remain on the Market Before Sale for the Metro January, 2022 to January, 2023: +8.8 Homes continued to sell more slowly than they did a year ago, now more than a week more slowly on average.
The 2010 President’s Day Snowstorm was the third and largest snowstorm to strike Columbus and Ohio during February, 2010. Models began showing the potential for another snow event in the Ohio Valley several days before. Initially, the track was well south, with only counties along the Ohio River being impacted, as this excerpt from the February 12, 2010 Area Forecast Discussion from Wilmington National Weather Service mentions: MODEL SOLUTIONS CONTINUE TO DIFFER ON SYSTEM COMING IN SUNDAY NIGHT INTO THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK WEEK. THE GEM IS STILL THE FURTHEST SOUTH WITH THE UPCOMING SYSTEM. THE ECMWF HAS TRENDED NORTH WITH THE LATEST RUN AND IS NOW MORE IN LINE WITH THE GFS. THE ECMWF NOW ACTUALLY HAS THE SURFACE LOW SLIGHTLY FURTHER NORTH THAN THE GFS. WENT WITH A GFS AND ECMWF BLEND. IT WILL BE COLD ENOUGH THAT PRECIPITATION WILL ALL BE IN THE FORM OF SNOW. MONDAY WILL SEE THE GREATEST CHANCE FOR SNOW WITH LOW TRACKING ACROSS KENTUCKY. ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE…ESPECIALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE OHIO RIVER.
As the event grew closer, however, model solutions inched northward. On the afternoon of Saturday, February 13th, Wilmington issued the first Winter Storm Watch for parts of Ohio, but the focus continued to be south of Columbus. URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 222 PM EST SAT FEB 13 2010 …ANOTHER WINTER STORM TO AFFECT THE OHIO VALLEY… .LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP OVER THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY ON SUNDAY…AND WILL TRACK INTO THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS BY MONDAY EVENING. AS THE LOW MOVES SOUTH OF THE OHIO RIVER SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY…SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD PARTS OF INDIANA…KENTUCKY AND OHIO. THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW ACROSS PARTS OF THE OHIO VALLEY…ESPECIALLY ACROSS AREAS SOUTH OF THE I-70 CORRIDOR. FRANKLIN IN-RIPLEY-DEARBORN-OHIO-SWITZERLAND-CARROLL-GALLATIN-BOONE-KENTON-CAMPBELL-OWEN-GRANT-PENDLETON-BRACKEN-ROBERTSON-MASON-LEWIS-FAYETTE OH-PICKAWAY-FAIRFIELD-BUTLER-WARREN-CLINTON-ROSS-HOCKING-HAMILTON-CLERMONT-BROWN-HIGHLAND-ADAMS-PIKE-SCIOTO- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…BROOKVILLE…VERSAILLES…LAWRENCEBURG…RISING SUN…VEVAY…CARROLLTON…WARSAW… BURLINGTON…INDEPENDENCE…ALEXANDRIA…OWENTON…WILLIAMSTOWN…FALMOUTH…BROOKSVILLE…MOUNT OLIVET…MAYSVILLE…VANCEBURG…WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE…CIRCLEVILLE…LANCASTER…HAMILTON… LEBANON…WILMINGTON…CHILLICOTHE…LOGAN…CINCINNATI…MILFORD…GEORGETOWN…HILLSBORO…WEST UNION…PIKETON…PORTSMOUTH …WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH LATE MONDAY NIGHT… THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH LATE MONDAY NIGHT. LIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SUNDAY EVENING…AS A STORM SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE OHIO VALLEY. SNOW WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY THROUGH EARLY MONDAY…WITH OCCASIONAL SNOW CONTINUING INTO MONDAY EVENING. BY THE TIME SNOW ENDS EARLY TUESDAY…THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO 6 INCHES…WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. THESE FORECAST SNOW AMOUNTS ARE HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON THE EVENTUAL TRACK OF THE UPCOMING STORM SYSTEM. IF THE SYSTEM MOVES FURTHER NORTH OR SOUTH OF THE CURRENT FORECAST TRACK…THEN SNOWFALL AMOUNTS MAY BE LESS.
While Columbus was not included in the initial Watch, its zone forecast did call for accumulating snow by the 13th. OHZ054>056-140930- MADISON-FRANKLIN OH-LICKING- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…LONDON…COLUMBUS…NEWARK 332 PM EST SAT FEB 13 2010 .TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED FLURRIES. LOWS 15 TO 20. WEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH. .SUNDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. SCATTERED FLURRIES IN THE MORNING. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 20S. SOUTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH. .SUNDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS 10 TO 15. WEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH…BECOMING NORTHWEST AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF SNOW 40 PERCENT. .PRESIDENTS DAY…SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION 2 TO 4 INCHES. HIGHS IN THE MID 20S. NORTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH…BECOMING NORTHWEST IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF SNOW 80 PERCENT. .MONDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY. SNOW LIKELY IN THE EVENING…THEN A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. ADDITIONAL LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE. LOWS 15 TO 20. WEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 70 PERCENT. .TUESDAY…CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE MID 20S. .TUESDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. LOWS AROUND 20.
By the morning of the Valentine’s Day, models had moved far enough north with the low track that the I-70 corridor was in line for much higher totals. At 2:43AM that day, the Winter Storm Watch was expanded into Central Ohio, with predictions of 5″-8″. By late morning, the Watch was upgraded to a Warning, and totals were upped slightly to 6″-9″. OHZ054>056-150930- MADISON-FRANKLIN OH-LICKING- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…LONDON…COLUMBUS…NEWARK 409 PM EST SUN FEB 14 2010 …WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM MONDAY TO 6 AM EST TUESDAY… .TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY THIS EVENING…THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW LATE. LOWS 15 TO 20. SOUTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH… BECOMING SOUTHEAST AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF SNOW 40 PERCENT. .PRESIDENTS DAY…SNOW. SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 4 TO 6 INCHES. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 20S. NORTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH…BECOMING NORTH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF SNOW 100 PERCENT. .MONDAY NIGHT…SNOW…MAINLY IN THE EVENING. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 6 TO 9 INCHES. LOWS AROUND 20. WEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 90 PERCENT. .TUESDAY…CLOUDY. SNOW SHOWERS LIKELY…MAINLY IN THE AFTERNOON. ADDITIONAL LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE. HIGHS IN THE MID 20S. WEST WINDS 15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 60 PERCENT. .TUESDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS.LOWS IN THE LOWER 20S. WEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH.
Snow began in the area by 8:30AM on the 15th and was heavy through mid-afternoon. The bulk of the snow moved out of the area by Midnight, with only occasional wraparound snow showers continuing into the 16th.
The storm generally exceeded forecast snow totals across the region. Columbus received a record 9.7″ for the 15th, with a total storm total of 10.4″, making it one of the very rare storms to produce double-digit snowfall totals for the city. Since 1950, Columbus has had just 6 such events- the Great Thanksgiving Blizzard of 1950, April 3-4, 1987, February 14-17, 2003, March, 2008, President’s Day 2010 and February 4-5, 2014. Double-digit snowfalls have historically occurred roughly once every 12 years. It has been 9 years since the last one, but there have been decades between some of them.
Snowfall totals across Franklin County were 7″-11″, with the highest totals in the southwest. Most of the I-70 corridor south had at least 6″. Snow depths in Columbus reached record highs, with the airport having a post-storm depth of 14″, the highest February depth since at least 1939.
This was the peak event for the month, but not the end of February, 2010’s historically snowy run. A 4th, but far smaller snow event would occur towards the end of the month, bringing a general 3″-5″ across most areas. This would contribute to making the month the all-time snowiest on record for many areas. Columbus’ 30.1″ of snow for the month was the highest on record, and is the 2nd snowiest of any month to ever occur, falling just behind January, 1978’s 34.4″. Cincinnati, Dayton and other cities would also record either their top snowiest or 2nd snowiest February as well. Additionally, Winter 2009-2010 went into the record books at the 5th snowiest of all time. A truly memorable run!
If you are interested in seeing stats from other winters, records of all types can be found on the Winter Season Records page.
