Downtown Historic YMCA RENOVATION. (Columbus, Commerce: leasing, purchasing, tenant)

[Fountain-of-youth]

I took this picture last Tuesday. Power is finally back on inside the building. Also looks like new ceiling beams have been put in place.

[columbusboy8]

Good progress! Can't wait to see the finished product! Thanks.

[Fountain-of-youth]

Originally Posted by columbusboy8

Good progress! Can't wait to see the finished product! Thanks.

[Fountain-of-youth]

[Columbus1984]

Making much progress?

[Fountain-of-youth]

Originally Posted by Columbus1984

Making much progress?

yes!

[Fountain-of-youth]

[Fountain-of-youth]

A multimillion-dollar renovation to a historic building in downtown Columbus will have its first tenant move in this summer — and create a vacancy at a previously renovated historic building about a mile away. The Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce is scheduled to move in early July from the 121-year-old former train depot, 1200 Sixth Ave., to the 119-year-old former YMCA building at 118 11th St. Chamber president and CEO Jerald Mitchell confirmed the pending move in an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer. He mentioned several reasons for the decision.

“It’s more solidly in the business and the commercial district, or one of them, for our community,” Mitchell said. “We thought there were a lot of things that lined up and made this the right move for the chamber and the next 175 years.” At the depot, the chamber occupies roughly 9,500 square feet. The space was needed when the chamber had 35-40 workers in the building. Now, the chamber has 14-15 employees, so the approximately 6,500 square feet it will occupy in the former YMCA will right-size its footprint, with room to grow the staff to about 20 employees, Mitchell said. Mitchell declined to specify the cost of the chamber’s current and new leases, but it’s “not substantially increasing” from the depot to the former YMCA, he said. In addition to the former YMCA’s location and space, the chamber is attracted to the significance of the building’s history matching the vision for the chamber’s future, Mitchell said. “It was one of the first YMCA buildings in the country to be integrated,” he said. “For us, from a business standpoint, what we’re really trying to do is make our organization more appealing to more of the community as we work to grow jobs and investment in our community. We believe this has an extraordinary impact on what that next version of the chamber is going to look like.”

While the chamber is focusing on generating 6,000 new jobs in the Columbus area by 2026, it also aims to add 500 new members to its list of approximately 900, Mitchell said. To exist for 175 years, he said, the chamber “had to continue to evolve, had to continue to change to suit the needs of the community. … And we’re going to continue to do that.”
Halter explained W.C. Bradley’s rationale for purchasing the former YMCA and spending “several million dollars” to stabilize and renovate it. “It is one of the most significant historic buildings in Columbus,” he said via email, “and we were very excited to get control of the building and bring it back to life.” The L-E didn’t reach Gamache for comment before publication. While the chamber will occupy the entire second floor of the three-floor, 23,000-square-foot former YMCA, an undisclosed tenant will occupy the entire third floor, and the first floor is available for lease, Halter said. Halter put this project in perspective. “The building is the third-oldest YMCA in America and is centered in Uptown, walkable to restaurants and other lifestyle,” he said.

“The building has been sitting empty as a shell for years, and it is exciting to be able to breathe life into the building and further develop the Uptown area.” DEPOT’S FUTURE The Ledger-Enquirer didn’t reach any representatives of Columbus Depot LLC for comment before publication, so it’s unclear whether a new tenant has been finalized. The L-E reported in 2016 that five of the 10 shareholders of Columbus law firm Pope McGlamry bought the depot from the chamber for $1 million: Neal Pope, Mike McGlamry, Jay Hirsch, Kirk Pope and Paul Kilpatrick Jr. They’ve been leasing the building back to the chamber since then, and the law firm has used approximately 13,000 square feet of the depot for its offices.

Read more at: https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news...#storylink=cpy

[columbusboy8]

Originally Posted by Fountain-of-youth

A multimillion-dollar renovation to a historic building in downtown Columbus will have its first tenant move in this summer — and create a vacancy at a previously renovated historic building about a mile away. The Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce is scheduled to move in early July from the 121-year-old former train depot, 1200 Sixth Ave., to the 119-year-old former YMCA building at 118 11th St. Chamber president and CEO Jerald Mitchell confirmed the pending move in an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer. He mentioned several reasons for the decision.

“It’s more solidly in the business and the commercial district, or one of them, for our community,” Mitchell said. “We thought there were a lot of things that lined up and made this the right move for the chamber and the next 175 years.” At the depot, the chamber occupies roughly 9,500 square feet. The space was needed when the chamber had 35-40 workers in the building. Now, the chamber has 14-15 employees, so the approximately 6,500 square feet it will occupy in the former YMCA will right-size its footprint, with room to grow the staff to about 20 employees, Mitchell said. Mitchell declined to specify the cost of the chamber’s current and new leases, but it’s “not substantially increasing” from the depot to the former YMCA, he said. In addition to the former YMCA’s location and space, the chamber is attracted to the significance of the building’s history matching the vision for the chamber’s future, Mitchell said. “It was one of the first YMCA buildings in the country to be integrated,” he said. “For us, from a business standpoint, what we’re really trying to do is make our organization more appealing to more of the community as we work to grow jobs and investment in our community. We believe this has an extraordinary impact on what that next version of the chamber is going to look like.”

While the chamber is focusing on generating 6,000 new jobs in the Columbus area by 2026, it also aims to add 500 new members to its list of approximately 900, Mitchell said. To exist for 175 years, he said, the chamber “had to continue to evolve, had to continue to change to suit the needs of the community. … And we’re going to continue to do that.”
Halter explained W.C. Bradley’s rationale for purchasing the former YMCA and spending “several million dollars” to stabilize and renovate it. “It is one of the most significant historic buildings in Columbus,” he said via email, “and we were very excited to get control of the building and bring it back to life.” The L-E didn’t reach Gamache for comment before publication. While the chamber will occupy the entire second floor of the three-floor, 23,000-square-foot former YMCA, an undisclosed tenant will occupy the entire third floor, and the first floor is available for lease, Halter said. Halter put this project in perspective. “The building is the third-oldest YMCA in America and is centered in Uptown, walkable to restaurants and other lifestyle,” he said.

“The building has been sitting empty as a shell for years, and it is exciting to be able to breathe life into the building and further develop the Uptown area.” DEPOT’S FUTURE The Ledger-Enquirer didn’t reach any representatives of Columbus Depot LLC for comment before publication, so it’s unclear whether a new tenant has been finalized. The L-E reported in 2016 that five of the 10 shareholders of Columbus law firm Pope McGlamry bought the depot from the chamber for $1 million: Neal Pope, Mike McGlamry, Jay Hirsch, Kirk Pope and Paul Kilpatrick Jr. They’ve been leasing the building back to the chamber since then, and the law firm has used approximately 13,000 square feet of the depot for its offices.

Read more at: https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news...#storylink=cpy

Thanks! Hopefully Mr. Gamache, who I think owns the Rialto Theater property, and the Bradley folks will work together to bring life back to the Rialto AND Bradley Theater! So many entertainment possibilities for our booming downtown area.

[Columbus1984]

Originally Posted by columbusboy8

Thanks! Hopefully Mr. Gamache, who I think owns the Rialto Theater property, and the Bradley folks will work together to bring life back to the Rialto AND Bradley Theater! So many entertainment possibilities for our booming downtown area.

Renovations have started right?