Work set to begin on East Long Street apartments project
Mark Ferenchik The Columbus Dispatch @MarkFerenchik
Jul 10, 2019 at 2:19 PM Jul 10, 2019 at 4:30 PM
Work will soon begin on a $23 million, 130-unit apartment development on the Near East Side that community leaders hope will help continue to transform the East Long Street corridor.
The Adelphi Quarter is being built at 818 E. Long St. on the site of the former McNabb Funeral Home, and across the street from the Lincoln Theatre.
The developers will incorporate the old funeral home's facade, which used to be part of the original Adelphia Savings & Loan building.
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Columbus developer Borror and Kingsley & Co. are developing the project, which also includes 9,500 square feet of commercial space for restaurants and retailers.
"The community for so many years has asked for development on this site," said Boyce Safford, executive director of Columbus Next Generation Corp., a city-funded agency that focuses on redeveloping sites in the city's core areas. The developers bought the land at a deep discount from Columbus Next Generation, which purchased the fire-damaged funeral home property for $475,000 in 2017.
The rents for the studio and one- and two-bedroom apartment will be $700 to $1,500 a month.
The work should be finished by early 2021, said Doug Borror, that company's CEO.
After a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday morning, Borror called the project a beachhead to redevelop the Long Street corridor.
"While not everybody is is 100% happy, it's one heck of a beautiful project," he said of the project: four, mostly brick buildings.
But Christina Coles, who has lived on nearby Talmadge Street about about two years, called the project a "big monstrosity" that she doesn't think will help the community. She believes this kind of development is too expensive for people who already live in the King-Lincoln District, and that such projects will force people out.
"It looks like they're trying to bring Downtown to this area. It's going to raise the prices," Coles, 45, said.
But Columbus Development Director Steve Schoeny said the project is a good example of an addition to a neighborhood of mixed incomes, pointing out affordable apartments nearby, such as the redeveloped Poindexter Village site.
"This is what we want," Schoeny said.
City Council President Shannon Hardin said: " We have to make sure we grow for everyone."
Kathleen Bailey, who leads the Near East Area Commission, said she's happy with the final product.
"It's something to be proud of," Bailey said.
In June, the Columbus City Council approved $5.4 million to support the project, with the city reimbursing the developer $400,000 in design costs and $5 million in construction costs.
The Dispatch reported in April 2018 that the Next Generation board of directors awarded the project to the two companies 10 days after officials connected to the developers gave campaign donations to Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. Kingsley founder Chinedum Ndukwe, a former Dublin Coffman, Notre Dame and Cincinnati Bengals football player, gave $5,000 and four Borror employees contributed a total of $2,000. A Ginther spokeswoman then said there was no connection between the donations and city-subsidized development contracts.
mferench@dispatch.com
@MarkFerenchik