Mike Wolanin | The Republic Work has begun on the downtown site for the city’s mixed use development project at the southeast corner of Second Street and Lafayette Avenue in downtown Columbus.
Work has begun on the downtown site for the city’s mixed use development project.
Property at the southeast corner of Second Street and Lafayette Avenue has been fenced off, and construction equipment, including excavators, could be seen at the site as of Monday. Deron Kintner, general counsel with the developer, said this past weekend that contractors were likely to begin construction that same day.
According to Redevelopment Director Heather Pope, city officials expect an official groundbreaking next month.
The development will include approximately 200 market rate apartments and an urban grocer facility. The estimated cost of the project is about $40 million, with developer Flaherty & Collins paying about 71% of the cost.
The city agreed to invest $11.8 million into the development under the project agreement, according to Bruce Donaldson with Barnes & Thornburg. City officials have said in the past that the development’s property tax dollars will reimburse the city for its contribution. The Columbus Redevelopment Commission also committed to selling property for the development at minimal cost to the developer.
Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop said in his State of the City address — delivered in mid-February — that completion is scheduled for sometime in late 2023.
Utility relocation was expected to begin in February, with construction starting in March, Pope said. Kintner estimated construction would likely take about 20 months or somewhere in the range of a year and a half to two years.
“All replatting has been completed and recorded,” Pope said Monday at a redevelopment meeting. “A soil management plan for the former Bob’s Car Wash site has been approved by (Indiana) Brownfields. And if anyone came in that way today, you saw the construction fence is now up, so things are taking place. And we are anticipating a groundbreaking around mid-April, so stay tuned.”
The mixed use development started out as part of a larger joint project. Originally, when the city was considering developers for its hotel conference center project, companies were told that they could get “bonus points” if they brought a multifamily urban grocer partner to the city as well.
For the hotel conference center development, the city chose Sprague Hotel Developers, who partnered with Flaherty & Collins (with the latter company providing the multifamily urban grocer piece).
However, because of the pandemic, the multifamily urban grocer project and the city’s plans for a hotel conference center were later split off into two separate projects, rather than taking place simultaneously.
The redevelopment commission recently engaged Hunden Strategic Partners to complete an update to their previous market and feasibility study on the hotel project. Pope said Monday that officials expect to see the update completed by mid-April.
