A request from the Pizzuti Companies to demolish a small apartment complex was denied by the Downtown Commission yesterday. The demolition request is part of a long-term plan to build a seven-story, 117-unit building on the site that would be marketed as the fourth phase of the developer’s Library Park project.
Located at the northwest corner of Oak and South Ninth Streets, the two-story building and adjacent parking lot were bought by the company in March for $1.1 million, according to the Franklin County Auditor’s website.
Several commissioners pointed out that group’s guidelines discourage approving any demolition without seeing – and approving a certificate of appropriateness for – a detailed proposal for what will replace the building.
The developer’s representatives presented preliminary drawings of the replacement building, but said that the immediate plan for the site was to replace the existing building and its small parking lot with a larger surface parking lot. That use would be temporary, they said – a new building would be constructed on the site within the next two years.
It’s an issue the commission has dealt with many times before, including in January, when the board denied developer Robert Meyers’ request to tear down a five-story building on East Broad Street without a firm plan for its replacement.
“We have a longstanding policy…that a building doesn’t come down unless there’s a replacement use,” commission chair Steve Wittmann said at the time. “And then the standard is; is the new building better than what goes away?”
The commission did approve a plan to demolish the Main Bar last summer – to be replaced initially with only a parking lot – but in that case, the applicant made the argument that the building was unstable and needed to come down for safety reasons.
The initial phases of the Library Park development required the demolition of three out of seven 1940s-era buildings known collectively as the Grant Oak Apartments. Although the original plan called for taking down all of the buildings, under the approved plan, four of the buildings were renovated and are now part of the overall project. The latest phase of the development, located at the northeast corner of Oak Street and Grant Avenue, recently opened.
Becky West, Executive Director of Columbus Landmarks, made the case to commissioners that the existing building at Oak and Ninth was also worth a second look.
“When this garden apartment building was constructed in the 1930s, its developer sacrificed lot coverage to provide residents with better light and air circulation,” she said. “Those amenities, along with affordable rent, have been valued for over 80 years in this excellent Downtown location.”
West added that the building had only been vacated recently, and that, with its “timeless art deco style,” it could be a good candidate for renovation, with the help of state historic tax credits.
Also discussed at yesterday’s meeting was a plan to build a three-story, 24-unit apartment building behind an existing two-story apartment building at 602 E. Town St. The new building will sit on the alley, where a historic carriage house that had deteriorated and was demolished several years ago once stood. The proposal, which had already been approved by the Historic Resources Commission, was approved unanimously.
For more information on the Downtown Commission, see www.columbus.gov.
