News about what’s going on with the Burns Bottom redevelopment project is a lot like the unsentimental husband whose wife complained that he never told her he loved her. “I told you I loved you back when we were dating,” he protested. “If that changes, I’ll let you know.”
The last we heard much of an update from the Columbus Redevelopment Authority came more than a year ago when CRA announced it had received a proposal from a development partnership created by Nic Parish of the Burns Group and Saunders Ramsey of Live Adelaide LLC. The businessmen are well-known and trusted in the community, and their collaboration under the name of Friendly City Development Partners, brought instant credibility and more than a little anticipation for the project. Ramsey’s Starkville Adelaide development on South Montgomery is one of the nicest in the city.
But since that announcement in May 2024, there has either been nothing to announce or the involved parties are keeping their cards close to their chests.
We’ve asked various CRA board members for updates about half a dozen times over the past year, and we’re typically told that an update is imminent. So far, though, nothing. We’ve not heard a closing date for the developers to actually purchase the site.
We would like to believe the project is moving along as expected and that the next phase of the project will soon commence. The CRA is sitting on $5.2 million in state and federal funds designated for infrastructure work. Columbus Light & Water is also expected to provide some in-kind work for electrical infrastructure. Columbus taxpayers have also been on the hook since 2017 to cover a $3.2 million bond for real estate acquisition.
Even if nothing has changed, we’d still be comforted by knowing that progress is being made, even if it’s only incremental.
It is not as though we have been impatient. The CRA was created 10 years ago to redevelop blighted areas in the city. A lot has happened in 10 years, but very little at Burns Bottom, which is made up by a five-block area adjacent to downtown Columbus. The CRA has acquired all of the private properties in the area, but aside from environmental studies, there’s been no tangible progress.
In the meantime, Steel Dynamics will have built an aluminum plant in a little more than two years, a $2.5 billion project that will create plenty of jobs and increase the demand for homes. An unfinished Burns Bottom misses out on that opportunity. It’s not every day somebody builds a new plant in our back yard.
Not being in a position to capitalize on housing demand from Aluminum Dynamics is probably crying over spilled milk at this point. But there is another megasite ready for recruiting more industry. Will Burns Bottom be ready when that happens?
That’s a pretty important question.
Which is why it never hurts to provide updates, even if they are minor.
Nothing may have changed, but it’s still nice to hear, “I love you.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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