(This article, reprinted with permission, featuring new development in Bexley, appeared in The Columbus Dispatch on July 19, 2005)

Changes on Main
Development projects could alter the look of downtown Bexley

By Mike Pramik
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Bexley’s cozy Main Street, where owners of the Lamp Shade have been selling their wares for three decades, exemplifies downtown America.

In addition to a ‘50s-era City Hall, Bexley has a vintage movie theater, several coffee shops and an ice cream parlor where customers can still order phosphates and where teenage workers earn scholarship money for good service.

But change is coming to Bexley’s tree-lined thoroughfare. Nearly a dozen development projects are in the pipeline, and the $90 million being spent on them could change the look and feel of Main Street forever.

The development will bring gleaming new condominiums, offices, shops and restaurants. But as rental rates rise, some of Bexley’s small businesses could become extinct.

“We’ve been here for 50 years on this street and nothing’s happened; all of a sudden all sorts of things are going on,” said Jo Ann Barnett, owner of Holiday Boutique, whose beauty salon at 2550 E. Main St. could be demolished. “If we have to move, the west is not good and the east is not good.”

“It’s going to have to be a wait-and-see situation.”

While the fait of some stores is murky, changes along Bexley’s Main Street will be unmistakable.

The biggest change starts just east of Alum Creek, at Bexley Gateway, Plaza Properties’ $17.7 million condominium and retail center. The changes continue three-fourths of a mile to Roosevelt Avenue.

In between, brick, steel and glass will be assembled into a collection of buildings that will include new dorms at Capital University.

The city is spending $2.2 million to install a new storm sewer and water line to make the developments possible.

“Bexley has been pretty static,” City Development Director Dan Lorek said. “We’re adding significant commercial square footage.”

Seeing the momentum that’s building, several banks are planning to open offices on Main Street, including a new institution, First Bexley Bank. Others include Bank One, Sky Bank and WesBanco.

The westernmost project might be the most intriguing. Bexley Gateway will provide an entryway into the city. Gateway will offer 154,000 square feet of combined space including restaurants, offices and condos, some of which are expected to sell for $1 million.
Plaza Properties’ Larry Ruben also is acquiring land on the opposite side of Main Street for an additional 100,000 square foot mixed-use development. That project will include the building and land where Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant stood before closing in June.

The new retail space could provide solid opportunities for companies with deep pockets. But some small businesses fear they might be priced out of the market.

Holiday Boutique, for instance, has been at its 2550 E. Main St. location for 20 years and in business for about 50, owner Barnett said. But the building that Barnett leases would come down if a plan by Skilken Properties goes through.

Skilken wants to construct new buildings for a pizza shop and a CVS pharmacy. Barnett said that would send her looking for new real estate, the market for which is shrinking.

“I realize the cost of building is expensive,” Barnett said. “I really don’t know how they are going to anticipate getting small businesses here to afford the rents.”

Rockler Woodworking moved last year after 23 years at its Main Street location in Bexley to become part of Gahanna’s Wood Werks Supply. The change came for various reasons, an employee said.

“Rent is definitely going to go up in Bexley, I’ll vouch for that,” said Charlie Vangas, Rockler coordinator at Wood Werks Supply. “Ours went up 30 percent in April when we decided to move out.”

Bexley Antiques, 2353 E. Main St., is closing after 28 years in the city. Owner Mary Masoner said she is moving to Grandview Mercantile in Grandview Heights.

“The businesses can’t seem to stay in Bexley,” Masoner said. “The business we will have in the (Grandview) mall, with hundreds of people going through the neighborhood, is great.”

Developers, however, say Bexley’s aging downtown properties are badly in need of a face-lift. One Dawson Place, a five-story retail and condominium development was the first to break the ice. Others are following.

Metropolitan Partners, for instance, is rehabilitating and old Shell station into space for a Bank One branch office and a restaurant.

“I’ve lived in Bexley almost my whole life, and… we’re attempting to do something good in Bexley,” said Gary Robins of Metropolitan Partners. “We get besieged by people we know to put something really nice here.”

Bexley didn’t even have a development department until 2000, when Lorek left a similar post at Whitehall to fill the job. The city’s tax base has been its residents, who pay high property taxes.

But the city has been aggressively giving tax breaks to developers who wish to add retail and office properties. And “build up,” as Lorek often says, is key.

Bexley recently approved the renovation of a cleaners at Main Street and Euclaire Avenue. A confirmed tenant is Flavors Eatery, a Dayton-area sandwich chain. Other developers are eager to join Ruben in remaking Main Street.

“They’re all in play,” Stanbery Development’s Mark Pottschmidt said of existing properties on the street. “It’s hot.”

Stanbery hopes to begin construction soon on a two-story building at Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue. The building will house the company’s headquarters on the second floor and the First Bank of Bexley and an unsigned retailer on the first floor.

Changes also will be pronounced at Capital University, Bexley’s largest employer. A 100-bed residence hall is being built at College Avenue south of Main Street; and a $35 million to $45 million science building has been proposed for Main Street in the next few years.

Another change is the conversion of Mound Street, south of Main, to a pedestrian mall. The issue has riles some locals, who use Mound Street as an alternative route to Main Street.

In exchange for closing off the street, Capital agreed to pay $300,000 to construct a right-turn lane turning from College Avenue onto Main Street. It’s believed that the lane will alleviate traffic backups at the intersection.

“We’re all a little trepidatious when it comes to change,” Capital University spokeswoman Nichole Johnson said. “But if you allow that to stop you, you’ll never move forward.”

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