Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment
Columbus, Ohio
An urban design plan and development guidelines to strengthen the 2.5-mile High Street corridor, traditional front door to The Ohio State University.
Recognition:
National American Planning Association--2010 Planning Excellence Award for Implementation
Society for College and University Planning/AIA-CAE--2004 Excellence in Planning Award
Project Highlights:
The sorry state of High Street prompted Campus Partners to launch this planning process. In the wake of three decades of disinvestment, parking lots had replaced buildings; bars had driven out many other uses; and increasingly mobile students and urban residents had turned elsewhere for housing, shopping, and entertainment. Surrounding neighborhoods reflected the street's decline—one area of the district contained the highest concentration of Section 8 certificates in Columbus.
Strategy:
Goody Clancy led a multidisciplinary team in creation of a plan that would:
- integrate neighborhood and regional attractions in retail, office, residential and entertainment uses;
- stimulate land assembly, new development, and rehabilitation;
- incorporate streetscape improvements;
- implement urban design and development guidelines; and
- establish a parking authority.
The project involved extensive community participation through stakeholder interviews, meetings with a broad-based steering committee, and a three-day charrette to develop the details and final form of the vision, plan, and implementation strategy.
The resulting High Street Plan for a 21st Century Main Street and its companion design and development guidelines have helped re-established High Street as a primary destination for the university and the larger Columbus community.
South Campus Gateway, a 500,000-square-foot mixed-use center at the heart of the district, opened in 2005 and has drawn other development. Total investment commitments from the city, the university, and private investors now exceed $100 million.