If you go tonight:
-- Grandview Yard
-- Community open house
-- 6 to 8:30 p.m. today
-- 775 Yard St. (900 Goodale Blvd.)
-- Parking is directly behind Urban Active Fitness, north of Goodale
Trendy blend
The Yard, Grandview's new mixed-use project, is open to visitors tonight
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Today, the public will get its first look at what's taken the place of the old Big Bear warehouse in Grandview Heights and initially caused some concern in Columbus.
The first phase of the Grandview Yard project -- a Hyatt Place hotel, Urban Active Fitness and Jason's Deli -- will be showcased during a community open house this evening.
In addition, the final touches are being put on an office building to be occupied by M&A Architects, while the OSU-themed Buckeye Hall of Fame Grill remains under construction with an anticipated November opening.
"The community has really embraced Grandview Yard," said Brian Ellis, president and chief operating officer of Nationwide Realty Investors, which is developing the project. "I think, for the most part, there's been really positive reception to what we're doing."
It wasn't always that way.
Columbus initially balked at providing infrastructure improvements, including roadwork, near Grandview Yard, saying the project would lure jobs and business to Grandview at Columbus' expense.
That issue was resolved last month, though, when Nationwide, parent of Nationwide Realty Investors, announced it would move 1,400 jobs from Dublin to Columbus. At the same time, Columbus agreed to create a tax-increment financing district to help pay for improvements near Grandview Yard.
At an event announcing the deal, Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman called it a "win-win" situation, with the city getting an infusion of jobs without having to provide job-creation incentives.
"We're excited about the Nationwide jobs that are coming Downtown related to this," said Dan Williamson, spokesman for Coleman, adding that "the Grandview Yard project has the potential to be good for the region."
Tonight's open house will give people a chance to see the fruits of some of those efforts.
The event will begin with a short presentation and a question-and-answer session with Ellis.
"This will give us an opportunity to tell folks what's there today and what we expect will be coming down the road," Ellis said, referring to more offices, stores and housing planned at the site. No timetable for expansion has been set.
One of the centerpieces of the first phase won't be open just yet. The 7,800-square-foot Buckeye Hall of Fame Grill is expected to begin operations in November - nearly a year after the closing of a similarly themed restaurant, the Buckeye Hall of Fame Cafe, on Olentangy River Road.
The new sports bar represents only the second time Ohio State University has licensed its name and trademarks for a restaurant, said OSU licensing chief Rick Van Brimmer. A smaller licensed version of the Buckeye Hall of Fame Cafe remains open in Concourse C at Port Columbus.
"We've been very impressed with the people at Nationwide Realty Investors and their commitment to this project, their vision of what we want this restaurant to be, what we want it to look like and who we want it to serve," said Van Brimmer, the university's director of trademark and licensing services.
The Buckeye Hall of Fame Grill is expected to offer more than just bar food, said Charles LaGarce, president of Columbus Hospitality Group, which will manage the restaurant as well as the Hyatt Place hotel at Grandview Yard.
The goal is to offer seasonal specials and healthy options.
"We'll be a little more intelligent in our food as opposed to your typical sports bar," LaGarce said. "We'll still have the standard wings and burgers, but we'll have culinary flair."
The relationship between OSU and Grandview Yard is expected to be more extensive than just the restaurant. Nationwide is working on a deal with OSU to provide shuttle service between Grandview Yard and university sports facilities, including Ohio Stadium on game days.
The Hyatt Place will have regular shuttle service to points on the OSU campus, because it expects that a good portion of its business will come from those with family members, friends or business to conduct at the university.
Capitol Square Ltd., the commercial real-estate arm of The Dispatch Printing Company, which is publisher of The Dispatch, has a 20percent stake in Grandview Yard.
At a glance
GRANDVIEW YARD
Location: Eastern edge of Grandview Heights, bounded by 3rd Avenue on the north and Goodale Boulevard on the south; site of the former Big Bear supermarket warehouse
Developer: Nationwide Realty Investors, in partnership with Capitol Square Ltd.
Cost: Phase 1, $40 million; $500 million-plus estimated for total project when complete
Size: Phase 1, 8.5 acres; 90 acres total
Initial tenants include: Hyatt Place hotel, Urban Active Fitness and Jason's Deli; Buckeye
Hall of Fame Grill is scheduled to open in November
Future phases to include: A total of 1.5 million square feet of retail and office space, along with about 600 residential units that could be a combination of condos and apartments. There
is no firm timetable for future phases, which are expected to be completed within the next 10
to 15 years.
Source: Nationwide Realty Investors
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