May 23, 2025 • 9 mins
Mark Somerson of Columbus Business First has a look at local business news including the latest on the "Golden Bear" project in UA
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm looking forward to doing something this weekend and maybe
(00:04):
getting out getting about seeing the town. I don't know
if you're on my Facebook page. I was in downtown
Columbus last Sunday and oddly found an auto repair place
that was open on Sundays. Really I needed some work
on the van, so took it down there last Sunday morning,
and while they were doing their work, I had a
reason to walk around. There's so many nooks and crannies
(00:29):
and you know, little bars and restaurants, and they were
all hopping on a Sunday morning in downtown Columbus, people
having brunch out on.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Patios and so forth.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And it's stuff that you don't notice when you're in
a car at thirty five miles an hour, paying attention
to traffic and trying not to be run into or
run into anything.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Oh yeah, I've lived in Columbus now for ten years
and have yet to discover a lot of things. But
I lived in Dayton, Ohio in Centerville for almost forty years,
I mean a long time, and you still couldn't discover
all the nooks and crannies in the little There was
always a neat, little surprise, so it doesn't surprise me
at all that you drove by and saw hustle and
(01:09):
bustle in some of those smaller areas.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Yeah, and on foot it's amazing. There's condos and so
forth down there that I didn't even know there's a
place on.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
It had Third Street, I think it's Third Street. It's
very colorful.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
The doors are orange and blue, and I can't really
figure out the floor plan looking at the buildings. It's
hard to figure out what the floor plan would be inside.
But it's a very attractive space, nice big courtyard area
for the residents to gather and so forth. I encourage you,
if you get a chance this weekend, go see your city.
Yeah you know, go find a free parking space, a
(01:47):
parking meter or whatever where you don't have to pay.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
And just walk around downtown.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
The two things that you can do to really to
kind of get to know the city one go actually
see a second is to to read this guy's stuff
and his staff over at Columbus Business Verst. I'm talking
about Mark Summerson, who is always a joy to talk to.
Good morning, Mark, how are you, good morning?
Speaker 4 (02:08):
How are you I am?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I am fine.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
And in case you can't tell I'm a little inspired
about the goings on here in central Ohio. It's always
good to hear you talk about him, good to read
about them in the paper. But when you actually get
down there and put your put your tennis shoes on
the ground and do some walking around, there's a lot
going on in Columbus.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
Yeah. We have a breakfast that I'm at right now.
We have these monthly and this one's at Jaeger Square,
the new apartment complex that Pazuti Companies put up right
at the border of German Village and Schumacher Place. It's
it's amazing. It is a brand new people are starting
to move into it. It is massive. You'll see it
(02:46):
right off of Wittier in the German Village area. Come
over here and look at it. Used to be a
giant eagle. It was torn down and now it's this
humongous apartment complex that is really pretty. I'm in one
of their common rooms, locked away because it's sort of
sound proofed, but it's super cool. Again, I had not
seen this until we had this breakfast. Got to walk
(03:08):
through and look at the apartments and all of the
artwork that the Buzuldi companies put up at s gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I imagine that's one of the reasons for your generally
bright disposition is because you get every day. I mean,
this is the kind of stuff you're looking at, paying
attention to, and writing about and bringing to readers in Columbus.
So to the north of what I was talking about,
walking around downtown, up at the corner of Norwich and
High there's a little bar oddly called the Little Bar,
which is right in.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
The middle of I don't know.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Is it a controversy what they wanted to develop this spot,
but not everybody's in agreement.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
I lived on Norwich in college and it was an
ihop at that point, so we used to go there
slightly hungover on Sunday mornings and get our pancakes. It
turned into a bar at some point, and now it's
going to be raised. That and a church next to
it which is moving over to High Street. And this
is project's been around for about two years. It's an
(04:04):
Austin based developer called American Campus Communities. They're presenting plans
are dead on Thursday at the University Impact District Review Board.
They're basically going to demolish the bar. They're going to
demolish the church as well, making way for a nine
story mixed use building with student housing and it'll have
(04:24):
a church on the ground floor. So the overall project
includes two buildings for the pedestrian walkway. It's huge. I
mean it's really big. They're looking at this at the board.
They'll see if they come back, because it's slightly bigger
than the first time they propost it. So yeah, going
back before these review boards is kind of a dicey
moment for these developers to make sure all the eyes
(04:46):
are dotted and the teaser crossed and see if they
can get it approved. If so, they should start working
on this thing. There's going to be a lot of
bedrooms for students and those who just like to live
in the campus area. So we'll keep an eye on
this one as we have for two years and see
how it progresses.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
And you said students there, because that is a curiosity.
I mean, even though it's called American campus communities, this
almost sounds like something that frankly, maybe a little more
high end than your typical campus dwelling.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Well, if you've been around campus lately, you'll see that
a lot of the typical campus dwellings are now high end. Okay,
a lot of students want the amenities. They want pools,
they want game rooms, they want some really interesting spaces
to hang out, and they want a coffee shop on
the first floor. So either they're making a lot of
money or their parents have a lot of money. Yeah,
(05:37):
my first apartment cost me basically one hundred and twenty
five dollars a month in rent. This is going back
forty years. Of course it's slightly higher now.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
You might have been one of my neighbors back then,
because I was in a place on fifteenth Avenue.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
It was high end. If the water ran that day.
So I I.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Was just telling the Queen the night before last, as
this announcement came out of out the redevelopment of this
of the former y there on Long Street, that I'm
not necessarily a downtown guy, but the location of that building,
if I were to be a downtown guy.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Would be very appealing to me for an apartment.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
This is developer Wodacouter Cooper. Excuse me. They just submitted
a proposal to convert this vacant building. It's at forty
West Long Street, and they're going to call it the
lofts at forty long, one hundred and twenty one units
across eight floors. This is a building the Why gave
up because it was just too expensive to maintain. It
is an old, old building. It's super cool. Architecture is
(06:36):
beautiful brick. It's got a pun of windows. All of
those are going to be replaced. They're doing minor work
on the outside of the building once they get this going.
But yeah, they're converting this into residences and it will
be affordable. They're targeting residents that make thirty percent to
eighty percent of the areaan median income. There'll be studio one,
two and three bedroom apartments. I had been in the
(06:59):
Why when there were residents in there. For some people,
it was you know, it was basically housing for people
without money or jobs. It was not a great place.
It was supposed to be for transitions from people who
were going from homelessness to getting their own places. And
it is going to be a lot different once Voda
(07:21):
Cooper works on and gets this done.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, that's where Barney five always stayed.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
We went up to Mount Pilot too, which was kind
of nice for the Why to do that kind of thing.
Oh yeah, Golden Bear Development over here in Upper Arlington.
Let's make sure we get into that.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Yeah, well, this has been delayed, delayed, delayed, and we
were checking in with the developer of this. It's our
Kadia Development. They're overseeing this seventy eight million dollar project.
It has been very slow to get off the ground.
If you drive past that area, you'll see fencing up
around it. All the buildings except for the McDonald's was raised.
There not a lot going on, so we checked in.
(07:55):
He said they're getting work done on all of the
smaller things that need to be done, electrical and plumbing, etc.
Then they're going to go vertical. But then he told
us they are now looking at phase two before phase
one really goes vertical. They're also looking to purchase the
Rby's next door and develop a phase two there that
(08:15):
we'll also have more residences. We'll have to see. It's
one of those projects that's been delayed for a long
time for all sorts of reasons. But now they've come
up with phase two. We'll see how Phase one goes
and then we'll keep track on phase two as well.
But this is something Upper Arlington officials had long wanted done.
So when the proposal came in a few years ago.
(08:37):
They're like, Okay, let's get this moving. And it's been
a little slow, so we'll keep our eyes on it
and see how quickly that can happen.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Well, anytime I hear the word residences in Central Ohio,
I'm happy, regardless of what sort of residence is, because
we need all the residences we can get right now,
of course, and before we say goodbye this morning, the
announcement is if they're not doing enough business, a Chick
fil A planning something in the Growport area, and the
bad news is there's already a line around the building.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Of course, remember when the first Chick fil A came here,
people went nuts. They're still going nuts at these places.
They have fifteen restaurants in Central Ohio. Five have opened
in the last two years. And yeah, they just announced
that they're going to build this next one. And you know,
if you like Chick fil A, you're happy about this.
And they are going to position themselves all over Central
(09:24):
Ohio to make sure all their customers can get a
chicken sandwich or whatever you get there. But yeah, you're
gonna wait in line like everyone else does, no matter
where you go.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, they built that one over there for First Avenue
and Grandview, and I've tried half a dozen times to
stop there for lunch and it's just always so so busy.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I just can't do it.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
It is.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Yeah, you got to go early for lunch. Just go
at like ten am. You'll get there by noon and
you'll be fine.
I'm looking forward to doing something this weekend and maybe
(00:04):
getting out getting about seeing the town. I don't know
if you're on my Facebook page. I was in downtown
Columbus last Sunday and oddly found an auto repair place
that was open on Sundays. Really I needed some work
on the van, so took it down there last Sunday morning,
and while they were doing their work, I had a
reason to walk around. There's so many nooks and crannies
(00:29):
and you know, little bars and restaurants, and they were
all hopping on a Sunday morning in downtown Columbus, people
having brunch out on.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Patios and so forth.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And it's stuff that you don't notice when you're in
a car at thirty five miles an hour, paying attention
to traffic and trying not to be run into or
run into anything.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Oh yeah, I've lived in Columbus now for ten years
and have yet to discover a lot of things. But
I lived in Dayton, Ohio in Centerville for almost forty years,
I mean a long time, and you still couldn't discover
all the nooks and crannies in the little There was
always a neat, little surprise, so it doesn't surprise me
at all that you drove by and saw hustle and
(01:09):
bustle in some of those smaller areas.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Yeah, and on foot it's amazing. There's condos and so
forth down there that I didn't even know there's a
place on.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
It had Third Street, I think it's Third Street. It's
very colorful.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
The doors are orange and blue, and I can't really
figure out the floor plan looking at the buildings. It's
hard to figure out what the floor plan would be inside.
But it's a very attractive space, nice big courtyard area
for the residents to gather and so forth. I encourage you,
if you get a chance this weekend, go see your city.
Yeah you know, go find a free parking space, a
(01:47):
parking meter or whatever where you don't have to pay.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
And just walk around downtown.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
The two things that you can do to really to
kind of get to know the city one go actually
see a second is to to read this guy's stuff
and his staff over at Columbus Business Verst. I'm talking
about Mark Summerson, who is always a joy to talk to.
Good morning, Mark, how are you, good morning?
Speaker 4 (02:08):
How are you I am?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I am fine.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
And in case you can't tell I'm a little inspired
about the goings on here in central Ohio. It's always
good to hear you talk about him, good to read
about them in the paper. But when you actually get
down there and put your put your tennis shoes on
the ground and do some walking around, there's a lot
going on in Columbus.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
Yeah. We have a breakfast that I'm at right now.
We have these monthly and this one's at Jaeger Square,
the new apartment complex that Pazuti Companies put up right
at the border of German Village and Schumacher Place. It's
it's amazing. It is a brand new people are starting
to move into it. It is massive. You'll see it
(02:46):
right off of Wittier in the German Village area. Come
over here and look at it. Used to be a
giant eagle. It was torn down and now it's this
humongous apartment complex that is really pretty. I'm in one
of their common rooms, locked away because it's sort of
sound proofed, but it's super cool. Again, I had not
seen this until we had this breakfast. Got to walk
(03:08):
through and look at the apartments and all of the
artwork that the Buzuldi companies put up at s gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I imagine that's one of the reasons for your generally
bright disposition is because you get every day. I mean,
this is the kind of stuff you're looking at, paying
attention to, and writing about and bringing to readers in Columbus.
So to the north of what I was talking about,
walking around downtown, up at the corner of Norwich and
High there's a little bar oddly called the Little Bar,
which is right in.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
The middle of I don't know.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Is it a controversy what they wanted to develop this spot,
but not everybody's in agreement.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
I lived on Norwich in college and it was an
ihop at that point, so we used to go there
slightly hungover on Sunday mornings and get our pancakes. It
turned into a bar at some point, and now it's
going to be raised. That and a church next to
it which is moving over to High Street. And this
is project's been around for about two years. It's an
(04:04):
Austin based developer called American Campus Communities. They're presenting plans
are dead on Thursday at the University Impact District Review Board.
They're basically going to demolish the bar. They're going to
demolish the church as well, making way for a nine
story mixed use building with student housing and it'll have
(04:24):
a church on the ground floor. So the overall project
includes two buildings for the pedestrian walkway. It's huge. I
mean it's really big. They're looking at this at the board.
They'll see if they come back, because it's slightly bigger
than the first time they propost it. So yeah, going
back before these review boards is kind of a dicey
moment for these developers to make sure all the eyes
(04:46):
are dotted and the teaser crossed and see if they
can get it approved. If so, they should start working
on this thing. There's going to be a lot of
bedrooms for students and those who just like to live
in the campus area. So we'll keep an eye on
this one as we have for two years and see
how it progresses.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
And you said students there, because that is a curiosity.
I mean, even though it's called American campus communities, this
almost sounds like something that frankly, maybe a little more
high end than your typical campus dwelling.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Well, if you've been around campus lately, you'll see that
a lot of the typical campus dwellings are now high end. Okay,
a lot of students want the amenities. They want pools,
they want game rooms, they want some really interesting spaces
to hang out, and they want a coffee shop on
the first floor. So either they're making a lot of
money or their parents have a lot of money. Yeah,
(05:37):
my first apartment cost me basically one hundred and twenty
five dollars a month in rent. This is going back
forty years. Of course it's slightly higher now.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
You might have been one of my neighbors back then,
because I was in a place on fifteenth Avenue.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
It was high end. If the water ran that day.
So I I.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Was just telling the Queen the night before last, as
this announcement came out of out the redevelopment of this
of the former y there on Long Street, that I'm
not necessarily a downtown guy, but the location of that building,
if I were to be a downtown guy.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Would be very appealing to me for an apartment.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
This is developer Wodacouter Cooper. Excuse me. They just submitted
a proposal to convert this vacant building. It's at forty
West Long Street, and they're going to call it the
lofts at forty long, one hundred and twenty one units
across eight floors. This is a building the Why gave
up because it was just too expensive to maintain. It
is an old, old building. It's super cool. Architecture is
(06:36):
beautiful brick. It's got a pun of windows. All of
those are going to be replaced. They're doing minor work
on the outside of the building once they get this going.
But yeah, they're converting this into residences and it will
be affordable. They're targeting residents that make thirty percent to
eighty percent of the areaan median income. There'll be studio one,
two and three bedroom apartments. I had been in the
(06:59):
Why when there were residents in there. For some people,
it was you know, it was basically housing for people
without money or jobs. It was not a great place.
It was supposed to be for transitions from people who
were going from homelessness to getting their own places. And
it is going to be a lot different once Voda
(07:21):
Cooper works on and gets this done.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, that's where Barney five always stayed.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
We went up to Mount Pilot too, which was kind
of nice for the Why to do that kind of thing.
Oh yeah, Golden Bear Development over here in Upper Arlington.
Let's make sure we get into that.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Yeah, well, this has been delayed, delayed, delayed, and we
were checking in with the developer of this. It's our
Kadia Development. They're overseeing this seventy eight million dollar project.
It has been very slow to get off the ground.
If you drive past that area, you'll see fencing up
around it. All the buildings except for the McDonald's was raised.
There not a lot going on, so we checked in.
(07:55):
He said they're getting work done on all of the
smaller things that need to be done, electrical and plumbing, etc.
Then they're going to go vertical. But then he told
us they are now looking at phase two before phase
one really goes vertical. They're also looking to purchase the
Rby's next door and develop a phase two there that
(08:15):
we'll also have more residences. We'll have to see. It's
one of those projects that's been delayed for a long
time for all sorts of reasons. But now they've come
up with phase two. We'll see how Phase one goes
and then we'll keep track on phase two as well.
But this is something Upper Arlington officials had long wanted done.
So when the proposal came in a few years ago.
(08:37):
They're like, Okay, let's get this moving. And it's been
a little slow, so we'll keep our eyes on it
and see how quickly that can happen.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Well, anytime I hear the word residences in Central Ohio,
I'm happy, regardless of what sort of residence is, because
we need all the residences we can get right now,
of course, and before we say goodbye this morning, the
announcement is if they're not doing enough business, a Chick
fil A planning something in the Growport area, and the
bad news is there's already a line around the building.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Of course, remember when the first Chick fil A came here,
people went nuts. They're still going nuts at these places.
They have fifteen restaurants in Central Ohio. Five have opened
in the last two years. And yeah, they just announced
that they're going to build this next one. And you know,
if you like Chick fil A, you're happy about this.
And they are going to position themselves all over Central
(09:24):
Ohio to make sure all their customers can get a
chicken sandwich or whatever you get there. But yeah, you're
gonna wait in line like everyone else does, no matter
where you go.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, they built that one over there for First Avenue
and Grandview, and I've tried half a dozen times to
stop there for lunch and it's just always so so busy.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I just can't do it.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
It is.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Yeah, you got to go early for lunch. Just go
at like ten am. You'll get there by noon and
you'll be fine.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.