COLUMBUS — Community leaders point to the efforts on a 12.2-acre stretch along the 23rd Street commercial corridor as a likely spark plug to reinvigorate development on the west side of Columbus that has largely remained stalled for nearly two decades.
Lincoln-based development representatives will present the first three phases of the $25 million redevelopment project to city planning commission and council officials in July. Those plans will go along with site earthwork getting underway during the month.
Redevelopment plans for the former Wal-Mart site in the 3600 block of West 23rd Street are “absolutely†going to jump-start commercial activity on the west side that has been lagging, said Loup Power District's David Bell, who serves as co-chairman of the Columbus Economic Council.
“It’s going to be exciting to see people pulled into that end of town,†Bell said.
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The first three phases of the project that city officials will be eyeing in July include a motel, apartment complex and the repurposing of half of the former 116,000-square-foot Walmart building for an expanded Bomgaars, currently at 3920 23rd St.
Walmart left the site in the spring of 2005 when the giant retailer shifted its operations to the east side of the community. Apogee, which makes calls on behalf of nonprofit organizations across the nation to schedule at-home pickups of used clothing and household items, operated a local center from 2008-2015. The building has remained empty since Apogee relocated to El Paso, Texas.
“This has been a long time coming,†Bell said. “The west end (of town) has had difficulty with retail development for many years. This should be a real boom in helping to attract more customers.â€
Although Bell said he sees the former Wal-Mart property as the key to creating a burst of commercial activity on the west side, he added he foresees less of an economic impact on residential housing and industrial growth coming from the project expected to be completed in the fall of 2019.
Current development plans call for an upscale 75-85 room motel, a multifamily complex of 40-80 apartments, a restaurant and a range of commercial retail businesses.
City Administrator Tara Vasicek said one of the three phases coming before the city in July includes a 74-unit, four-story apartment complex with a brick exterior in the northeast section of the existing parking lot. The area along the 25th Street neighborhood is already the site of apartment buildings.
A motel is currently set to go in the middle of the property to the rear of the existing Taco Bell restaurant, with Bomgaars taking the north half of the former Wal-Mart building. The frontage space along 23rd Street would include spaces for a bank, restaurant and other retail businesses.
Bomgaars is expected to occupy 55,000-square-feet of the structure.
Bell said he also sees the new multimillion-dollar fire station planned for the west side as a definite “plus†for the area but noted he doesn’t expect a flurry of residential or industrial development to accompany the new facility.
Early this year the city bought three parcels of land just north of Howard Boulevard and Highway 81 between 46th and 47th avenues for the new station. Site work is currently underway at the location.
The station will be located along the west edge of Columbus, near nursing homes and assisted care developments along 38th Street, where the fire department gets most of its calls, primarily for rescue services.
Bell said residential development should get a boost on the edges all around town and the west industrial tract is populated by smaller industrial companies that are growing, he said.
“This will be good for development in Columbus,†Bell said. “It’ll balance development on the west end.â€
The east-side corridor of 23rd Street saw by far the bulk of commercial activity during a more than a 15-year period from 1997 to 2013.
A site on the west side along 48th Avenue north 23rd Street was originally considered for The Village Center, but the developer opted to turn east. Applebee's made the decision to build near the center at about the same time.
Mayor Jim Bulkley said he believes that lopsided timeline will shift in the years ahead.
“It’s a great jump-start (for retail development) where things have gone dormant for years,†Bulkley said. “That’s the excitement I’ve heard from people around town.â€
The mayor said city officials will be seeing the detailed first phases of the redevelopment plans at their meetings the first couple of weeks in July.
The plans don’t include “speculative†construction, he said, but are earmarked for specific tenants that have entered into agreements to fill the commercial spaces. City officials will OK the individual phases as the developer finalizes construction plans.
Dan Curtis, community development director, said residential development on the west side is already in good shape, with Granville Custom Homes Inc. building a cluster of single-family homes on the east side of 48th Avenue and the development of a pair of double-townhouse buildings just south of the 48th Avenue and 27th Street intersection.
The new fire station should help prod more housing development along in the area, he said, noting that the proximity of the hospital, the growing popularity of townhouses and new single-family Granville Custom Homes development were draws for residents because the station's response times for rescue and fire services will be shortened.