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    Downtown Commission: Pizzuti Apartment Project, Plan for Unique Building Heard

    The Downtown Commission this morning weighed in on a unique proposal for a postage stamp-sized lot in the Arena District. The project calls for a six-unit, seven-story building at 116 Spruce St., a vacant lot that sits at the corner of a dead-end ally called Armstrong Street.

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    The lot is located next to the rear parking lot for the AC Hotel by Marriott. Clocking in at .06 acres, the options for what to build on the small parcel seem limited, but that hasn’t stopped the property’s owner, Darryl Tanner, from thinking big.

    “It’s been a dream of mine to do a custom-build in this area,” Tanner told the commission. “I’m so in love with the Short North and the Arena District, I’ve lived here on and off for quite some time, [and] owned this property since 2016…and it’s always been a dream to develop it.”

    The project was scheduled for a conceptual review, meaning it will need to come back to a future meeting for a vote, and Tanner explained that he was just looking for feedback and suggestions from the commission on the initial concept.

    Commission Chair Steve Wittmann said it was a “very interesting proposal, a good use of a 25 foot lot…scale-wise, I don’t think its crazy.”

    “I think it’s quirky and interesting,” added commissioner Bob Loversidge.

    Other comments focused on the ground-floor parking garage – which in the plan is open to the street and would require a continuous curb-cut along Armstrong Street – and the back wall of the building, which commissioners suggested could be adorned with some type of mural or other design. Commissioners also pointed out that a different material could be used to make the building’s elevator shaft more visually interesting, and that there might be a benefit to putting the balconies on the Downtown side of the building.

    The initial design for 112 Spruce Street – rendering by Brown and Bills Architects.

    Library Park Phase Four

    Pizzuti Companies was back before the board to talk about its proposal to build a 117-unit apartment complex at the northwest corner of Oak and South Ninth Streets. The developer presented a more fleshed-out design for the new building than it did when the project was first brought before the commission in April, and requested a vote to permit the demolition of the existing two-story apartment building on the site.

    However, the new building – although received well by the commission – could only be reviewed conceptually, since the detailed drawings needed for the board to review and vote to approve a certificate of appropriateness for the project have not yet been prepared.

    In exchange for a demolition approval, Pizzuti’s representatives proposed building a temporary surface parking lot on the land and committed to coming back within two years for approval of the new apartments

    Several commissioners said they were reluctant to set a new precedent, since the group’s guidelines discourage approving any demolition without first approving a certificate of appropriateness for the replacement building, and the demolition proposal was withdrawn.

    Jon Riewald, Pizzuti’s VP of Development, said that they would try and return with more detailed plans for approval before the end of the year.

    Other Projects Heard by the Commission

    After getting an initial round of feedback from the commission in December, a plan to transform the parking lot of the 11-story, 223-unit Jaycee Arms building was back for further review. The plan, which calls for three new five-story buildings on the site, would bring a mix of market-rate and workforce housing, retail and a new culinary training facility to the block bounded by East Rich Street to the north, Franklin University to the east, South Fifth Street to the west, and East Main Street to the south.

    Commissioners requested changes to the landscaping and additions to the facade of two of the buildings, and the applicant – the North Columbus Jaycee Housing and Development Foundation – agreed to make those changes and to come back to a future meeting with more detailed plans.

    Also presented to the commission this month was a plan from Orange Barrel Media to erect a large digital sign on the side of the AC Hotel by Marriott at 517 Park St. Questions were raised about the impact of the proposed sign – which will also need to be approved by the Historic Resources Commission and will require the sign-off of the Ohio Department of Transportation – on drivers passing by it on I-670, residents who live within view of it, and on visitors to Goodale Park, which sits across the freeway from the building.

    For more information on the Downtown Commission, see www.columbus.gov.

    A rendering showing one of the proposed designs for the digital sign on the hotel – by Orange Barrel Media.
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    Brent Warren
    Brent Warrenhttps://columbusunderground.com/author/brent-warren
    Brent Warren is a staff reporter for Columbus Underground covering urban development, transportation, city planning, neighborhoods, and other related topics. He grew up in Grandview Heights, lives in the University District and studied City and Regional Planning at OSU.
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