Residents Discuss, Dissect Columbus Commons

NBC 4: From City Center to Columbus Commons, a plan has been set in motion to redesign the center of downtown and it sparked a flurry of feedback from NBC 4 viewers and nbc4i.com users. Columbus Commons will be a mix of residential, retail, office space and a park—an will cost $165 million.

Developers and the city will be making large investments with the hope of at least $15 million from the federal government. City Center will be demolished in May and the goal is to have the commons finished by Fall 2010.

There were more than 50 responses on how the plan for City Center is going to work in a city that is struggling with massive budget problems. One person said, “How about getting us out of the red and keeping us safe with more police officers. A green park is nice, but $165 million?“

NBC 4‘s Mikaela Hunt found taxpayer money that could theoretically be used to help with the city’s budget will not be used for the majority of the project. “Phase 2: residential, retail and restaurant—that component of the site will be privately funded—also office space,“ said Guy Worley, of Capitol South. “We’re not going to be able to get private sector financing for retail, residential … until we remove the impediment for redevelopment.”

It’s not that easy, according to Capitol South, the private non-profit group that coordinates research and financing for the project. A casino wouldn’t be legal in Columbus. More importantly, when they reached out to potential tenants for City Center, remodeling the site would cost from $200 to $250 a square foot. To demolish the site and rebuild, it would cost $140 to $160 per square foot. Another viewer asked, “Is this housing at Columbus Commons going to be affordable? Less than $200,000?“

NBC 4 had the same question. A housing study conducted on downtown said high-end condos are at full capacity, but there is a demand for affordable rentals. “We’re doing it right next door at Lifestyle Communities. This is a new development and rentals are from $700 to less than $1,000,“ said Mayor Michael Coleman.

Several viewers also questioned whether federal stimulus money could actually be used to keep police officers on the streets. We’ve heard repeatedly from Gov. Ted Strickland and Coleman that federal stimulus money must go toward shovel ready projects or those that have a green component.

But NBC 4 came across an interesting comment from President Barack Obama’s press secretary, talking about stimulus money for Columbus. Straight from a White House press briefing transcript, when asked about the stimulus package on Monday, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said about Columbus Ohio, “I think it’s safest to assume that the president’s package … which address the need to ensure public safety isn’t threatened … and money specifically for police officers … my sense is that Columbus, Ohio is probably going to get some of that money.”

But that was not part of Coleman’s federal stimulus request a few weeks ago because he didn’t know about it until recently. “We’ve also heard there is money available for possibly police,“ said Dan Williamson, of Mayor Coleman’s office.

So we went straight to the source that may know the most about the package in Ohio—Senator Sherrod Brown. “Why hasn’t this been talked about at the local level until this point?“ Hunt asked.

“I think it wasn’t clear what was going to be in the package,“ Brown said. “As the bill has progressed, there’s been other things to help communities, like police programs and firefighter programs.”

This is just the cusp of what the money can be used for—revised by the Democratic Policy Committee on Thursday. Ohio is set to get $6.8 billion for infrastructure and science, education and training, energy, protecting the vulnerable, law enforcement, unemployment benefits and tax cuts. “We will be at the table. They mayor will be at the table, fighting hard for those dollars,” Williamson said.