Rogue Fitness, the gym equipment manufacturer that set up shop in Milo-Grogan six years ago, will soon be building a whole new product in the neighborhood.
“We are very excited to build a bicycle factory in Milo-Grogan,” company spokesperson Ashley Smith told Columbus Underground. “This is a really cool addition to our manufacturing campus…we are currently waiting on a few supply chain issues to begin setting up all the machinery and to begin building.”
The new factory is being built out in an existing warehouse at 470 E. Starr Ave. The building has been modified and added to over the years, but parts of it date to the 1920s, when the Timken Company first moved into the area. It is located immediately south of the 600,000-square-foot building Rogue built in 2016 to house its manufacturing, distribution, office and retail operations.
Smith described the new bike that will be produced there as an “urban hard tail,” with “geared, single-speed, and electric hybrid variants..the frame will be made with US steel then laser cut, TIG welded then assembled at our factory.”
“The plan will be to have an old-school bike shop in the retail area,” she added. “You will be able to test ride your bike on property.”
Details Scarce About Other Area Projects
Rogue has been less willing to provide information on a pair of other projects in the area that the company is involved in.
City Council approved a zoning variance last summer for a four-story, 90-unit apartment building at 986 Cleveland Ave., across the street from the Rogue facility. Despite gaining that approval, construction has yet to start on the site, which encompasses the block of Cleveland from Gibbard to East Third Avenues.
A Rogue-affiliated company called 5CL Properties LLC is listed on zoning documents as the applicant.
Franklin County Auditor records show that the same LLC purchased a 38-acre parcel of land at the southwest corner of Joyce and Windsor Avenues – along with three other parcels on the north side of Joyce – in August of last year for $6 million. A zinc smelter facility run by a company called ASARCO operated on the land for decades and left it heavily polluted.
5CL Properties applied for a grant from the state’s Brownfield Remediation Program to clean the site up, but was not awarded funding in the program’s most recent round.
When asked what Rogue plans to build on the Windsor Avenue properties, and for more information on the Cleveland Avenue apartments, Smith provided the same response for each question, via email; “we do not have any updates on this project.”
Joel Yakovic, a Principal at Colliers International who has worked with Rogue on its real estate deals, told CU last fall that the apartment project was still active but that final plans, including pricing, had not yet been worked out.
Additional Reading:
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