Back in 2008, when the Ohio State University began to rumble that sophomores would be required to live on campus, eight of the largest off-campus landlords commissioned a study to assess what could happen to their rental market. The study hypothesized if OSU were to pull the trigger it could lead to a “long-term collapse of the area,” and result in a “doomsday scenario.”
The landlords were talking about their own rental properties. And the trigger has indeed been pulled as starting next school year OSU is requiring all sophomores to live on-campus.
What the landlords and others didn’t see coming was that running parallel to the sophomore requirement is seismic change off-campus. Changes initiated over two decades ago by the city and university partnership that is Campus Partners, which redeveloped south campus by turning it into South Campus Gateway.
Campus Partner’s desire to remake campus into its own vision is again at full speed ahead. Underway is a massive redevelopment effort gutting all parcels surrounding 15th Avenue and N. High Street. Arising from the demolition of Bernies and Mama’s Pasta and Brew will be a “boutique hotel” with retail.
Now a proposal is in the works to redevelop most of north campus’s historic Pavey Square. The entire block between Northwood Avenue and Oakland Avenue is being targeted for mixed-use, including an 11-story apartment.
Furthermore, a significant number of higher-rent apartment developments across off-campus are being built by deep-pocketed developers, such as Edwards Communities and personal injury attorney Scott Schiff.
It doesn’t end there. A long-time off-campus real estate agent from HER Realtors told The Free Press that more deep-pocketed investors are interested in acquiring properties in all directions. Including, for example, properties from Lane Avenue to Hudson Street, and not just Pavey Square.
Richard Talbott, owner of Inn-Town Homes and Apartments, is also a long-time campus real estate agent and considered a good landlord by many. He loved the old south campus, hanging out at Mean Mr. Mustards and Papa Joes. Ask any Buckeye alum or campus veteran from the previous century – except those at Campus Partners and the increasing numbers of high-level OSU administrative staff – and they will tell you the sterile corporate atmosphere of South Campus Gateway, well, kinda sucks. Friday nights before football games is just not the same.
No surprise is that South Campus Gateway has had trouble holding on to tenants and the latest to leave is Eddie George’s Grill 27.
Talbott is also on the University Area Commission and he voted to approve OSU’s massive overhaul of 15th and High. The 60-something Talbott said he did so with a heavy heart.
“All of what we know and love about campus could go away,” he said. “The first part was south campus in the 1990s. But we still had some character left, on 14th Avenue, 15th, 16th and 17th, and now that’s all being destroyed.”
But he also believes there’s no other way to go. It is after all one of nation’s elite public universities and the powers-that-be were going to force change where they deemed necessary so to remain elite, he said.
“There’s a part of my heart that wishes this wouldn’t happen, but it will happen anyway, and this is the best outcome we can get,” said Talbott. “It’s a matter of doing it well and a matter of doing it worse, and I think they are doing the best they can.”
Nevertheless, mobilizing against the Pavey Square proposal is a growing number of concerned north campus residents. As Campus Partner’s vision creeps further north The Free Press asked the owners of two iconic establishments – Dick’s Den and the Blue Danube – whether they have been tempted with huge amounts of cash to sell.
The owner’s of Dick’s Den, who also holds the property’s deed, insisted they would never sell-out.
“We would never sell the bar, we love this bar,” said Dick’s Den co-owner Aaron Snyder.
As for the Blue Danube, the restaurant’s owner, Bob Swaim, said the actual property is held by the Danube’s previous owners – the Margetis family. Swaim told The Free Press, “I occasionally get inquiries from investors about the property, but nobody has made a serious inquiry.”
However, Steve Margetis said not to worry and was on the verge of anger when asked whether his family would ever sell the Danube’s property.
“I would never sell, my dad would kill me,” said Margetis referring the family’s patriarch who once ran the restaurant. “They could offer me ten times the amount the property’s worth and I wouldn’t sell.”
Indirectly, Campus Partner’s mission to transform campus is calling out uncaring absentee landlords. Telling them to shape-up because they have done a disservice to OSU students for far too long. OSU has also said the sophomore requirement is about improving “academic life.”
But are the seismic changes coming to campus also about the bottom line for both the university and the city’s tax base?
According to an OSU web site the expected revenue from the sophomore requirement could reach $80 million annually.
“All revenue from housing fees goes to offsetting operating costs, repairs and maintenance and to retire the debt service on new facilities,” said Office of Student Life spokesperson Dave Isaacs.
HER real-estate agent Brad Bennett, who owns and rents properties in the campus area, says a new type of resident is moving in. They necessarily are not OSU students, but they like the campus environment, he said. Unlike most past campus peoples, they want more amenities and are demanding better housing, he adds.
Citing the higher-rent apartment complexes in the works, Bennett said once the new apartments begin renting this will convince most off-campus landlords to improve the quality of their properties.
“The cost of rent across the campus area will rise,” said Bennett.
