The Kleingers Group was pleased to participate as a guest of the ULI East Central Regional Product Council which took place in Pittsburgh, PA earlier this month.  This select group of ULI members from the ULI Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh region focused on Urban Infill and Mixed-Use Development.  As the host city, Pittsburgh provided an exceptional backdrop for a discussion on how an urban core is being redeveloped thanks to many key drivers for public and private investment.

The group began the session with a walking tour of the downtown area.  The City of Pittsburgh has seen over $3 billion of investment completed over the last 10 years with another $2 billion in the planning stages.  It has transformed from a steel city to a cultural mecca with over thirty theaters in the downtown area.  Pittsburgh has a very dense, urban core with narrow right of way and relatively aged, historic buildings – a differentiator from Columbus. Mellon Square was once thought of as the “death of Pittsburgh” but is now a restored, elevated plaza surrounded by hotels, renovated office/residential buildings, and retail uses.

According to http://www.downtownpittsburgh.com, the redevelopment of residential housing within Pittsburg is rapid with 1,084 residential units opening since 2010 and 90.8% of apartments being rented at the end of last year.  The average rental rates are higher than we are currently seeing in the Columbus area and mixed-income projects are prevalent.

Mixed-use buildings are somewhat the norm and green buildings are important to the office users in Pittsburgh. PNC is currently completing a new tower building rising 33 stories above the surrounding rivers with over 800,000sf of office space.  This building is touted as the world’s greenest skyscraper and has dramatically changed the skyline of the City.

Along with the downtown area, the group toured East Liberty and Bakery Square, which are mixed-use redevelopments outside the urban core which include transit-based development and a new transit center.  Transit and light rail are important to making these developments work and the City seems committed to transportation improvements including a new bike share program.  The Bakery Square development has landed Google as a main office user in the redeveloped bakery building.  A green street featuring permeable pavement and stormwater infiltration systems has been dedicated to public use and will be maintained by the City.  This is one example of the commitment of both public and private entities together to not only implementing sustainable principles within the design and construction but also turning this new, green infrastructure over to City ownership and maintenance.

An All-Star panel discussion including representatives from the City of Pittsburgh, Urban Redevelopment Authority, Hillman Family Foundations, Heinz Endowments, and Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group made it evident that the public, private and philanthropic groups are very aligned and engaged to make these projects successful.

The number of investment groups available to developers and the dedication to mass transit is certainly advantageous to the Pittsburg region. However, the overwhelming desire of today’s workforce to live, work and play in urban areas with accessible means of transportation and the walkability to these places is a common theme that the Columbus region continues to work toward with urban development and redevelopment in our region. Methods on how to deal with this demographic shift have been characterized within the Insight2050 report established through a joint effort of MORPC, Columbus 2020, and ULI-Columbus, providing critical thoughts on how public policies will impact future land use. Public policies and transportation top the list of concerns for the continued development success of our area and how we will compete with our neighbors.  The Columbus region has embraced some transit options such as shared-use bikes and cars and Uber, but we are still at the drawing board on mass transit options and funding is a constant concern.

The “brain drain” seems to be a buzzword at nearly every engagement centered around the future success of the Columbus area.  The area must become attractive enough to keep our talent within our region to live, work and play.  This means progressive thinking and risk-taking.  Columbus2020 is one example of an economic development engine that is collaboratively bringing investment and jobs to the region as a whole. Although the Columbus region is taking strides forward every day, we were excited to learn from the success of one of our neighboring regions.

Delaware County is currently conducting a series of public meetings to gather input before they start revising their sanitary sewer master plan. The Kleingers Group recently attend the meetings and is encouraging area developers to get involved.

Two things to note:

1. The county is currently looking for input from developers. The new master plan will affect sanitary sewer plans and development throughout the county. If you are a developer who works in Delaware County, now is a great time to voice your opinions about what you would like to see happen before the planning process gets underway.
2. Delaware County is also looking for information about specific projects to incorporate into the plan. They intend to consider existing and future developments as well as economic conditions, affordability, funding, and infrastructure assessments in developing the master plan. Understanding your plans for the future can assist the county in developing the best master plan.

Getting involved is easy. There is a public meeting tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 20 at the Frank B. Willis Government Building on US 23 North or you can submit your feedback online at www.co.delaware.oh.us/sanitary. You can also find a link to the meeting presentation here.

We’ll try to keep you informed as new developments happen, but getting your feedback in early is important so it can be considered as the county develops the plan.

Traveled through Columbus lately? You may have seen construction at the new Orange Barrel Media Headquarters. The headquarters is located along I-670 just west of the confluence of the Scioto River and the Olentangy River near downtown.

It’s hard to miss the gigantic signage for the project, also under construction. Each tower for the sign is designed for a construction height of 160′! To help verify the towers were being constructed plumb, the contractor looked to our Central Ohio based surveyors to provide measurements at 20′ intervals to check the position of concrete forms. Proper adjustments were then made to ensure the towers met adequate dimensions, there is a minimal tolerance of 3/4″ for the steel between the towers.

Work is underway on the new Vance Outdoors project located in the Village of Obetz.  The 56,000 square foot retail project will be built in the growing Alum Creek Drive retail corridor. The new retail facility is unique to this camping and hunting market segment by featuring a 15,000 square foot 24-lane, state-of-the-art indoor firing range.  This project is Obetz’s first large scale retail project.  Building on this exciting project are plans to construct a public park behind the Vance Outdoors site that may include an outdoor archery range, picnic shelters and water elements.

The Kleingers Group provided the site design for this project including the civil engineering and surveying services.  This work included design for a future out-lot, public utility layout and grading.  The site currently drains toward a Village Park’s pond that served as a borrow pit for highway construction.  This pond has no outlet, so the hydrology for the site required some creative thoughts relative to impact to offsite conditions and analysis of the overall drainage area.

We would like to thank our awesome team members Quandel, M+A Architects and Schaefer for a great project experience!