An emergency hazard order has been issued by the city for a pair of connected buildings at the corner of Neilston and Naghten Streets Downtown. The buildings – one four stories tall and the other six – contain about 100,000 square feet of space and are over a century old.
The emergency order means that the buildings need to either be demolished or repaired immediately.
“Advanced deterioration has occurred in the structure,” said Anthony Celebrezze, Deputy Director of the city’s Department of Building and Zoning Services. “The owners are to remediate the threat immediately. Once they pay for their permits they can move forward with a demolition of the structure without any further review.”
The city arrived at that determination after bringing in an independent structural engineer to examine the buildings last week. Neilston Street between Naghten and Mt Vernon Avenue was closed off earlier this winter after bricks from the parapet of the six-story building fell onto the street.
A third connected building, located at the northern edge of the complex and standing two stories tall, is not covered by the emergency order.
Hackman Capital Partners, a California-based company that has accumulated significant holdings in the immediate area, bought the complex of buildings at 260 E. Naghten St. in 2018.
Emails to a Hackman representative asking about their plans for the buildings were not returned, but Celebrezze confirmed that the company had previously filed for a demolition permit for the entire complex. The company was told at the time that the Downtown Commission would have to sign off on any demolition request, and that typically the commission does not approve demolitions without also reviewing and approving a plan to replace the building in question.
Now, because of the emergency order, Hackman is permitted to demolish the four- and six-story buildings without a vote from the commission, but would have to get the board’s approval to take down the two-story section.
In October, a lawyer representing Hackman appeared before the commission to speak about a proposal to demolish a small one-story building on North Sixth Street, telling the board that the company owns seven nearby surface lots and 12 buildings, and is “looking at large-scale redevelopment in the area.”
Hackman is marketing the area as the Columbus Warehouse District. One project that is already in motion in the neighborhood is the renovation of the former Bureau of Vital Statistics building at 225 Neilston St. into a 33,000-square-foot entertainment complex called The Kee.
In 2019, a proposal to renovate the majority of the complex at 260 E. Naghten St. was presented conceptually to the Downtown Commission. That proposal was never brought back to the board for a vote.
Dr. Rebecca Kemper, CEO of Columbus Landmarks, said that the complex dates to 1914 and was originally known as the Bobb Company Building. Built as an ice house (to store the large blocks of ice used for refrigeration at the time), it was later known as the Neilston Warehouse Company and the Creasy Corporation buildings.
She said the building’s demolition “could reflect another lost opportunity for Columbus.”
“Structures like the Bobb Company Building not only tell the story of our city’s history but are in high demand currently within other Ohio cities, such as Cincinnati and Cleveland, attracting and retaining new businesses in their downtowns,” Kemper added. “Losing the Bobb Company Building means losing space for our innovative industries.”
For more information on the Downtown Commission, see www.columbus.gov.