Ohio State’s New North Residential District

Students moved into the first new buildings in OSU’s North Residential District in the fall of 2015. Construction of the remaining buildings – all located west of High Street, between Lane and Woodruff avenues – continued until right before move-in this past August. This semester, the first in which sophomores are required to live on campus, marks the first time that the new district is being used to its full capacity. Ohio State’s New North Residential District is definitely starting to look amazing!

OSU Associate Vice President of Student Life Molly Calhoun recently gave Columbus Underground a tour of the new district, including the new dorms, the new North Recreation Center, a multitude of event and study spaces, and the two-story cafeteria, which seats 920 and is larger than any restaurant in Central Ohio.

Calhoun emphasized the importance of outdoor space to the project, including the long brick pathway leading from High Street west through the heart of the district, following the route of what used to be West Frambes Avenue.

[CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS]

The path ends at what has been dubbed Town Square, a large open space framed by the new, three-story recreation center and the new buildings Noskar House, Scott House and Blackburn House.

“Early on in the planning process, we said, ‘think about the spaces between the buildings as much as you’re thinking about the spaces in the buildings,’” said Calhoun. “We’ve historically done a really good job relative to indoor programming space, but we wanted to emphasize the programmatic aspects spilling out into the green spaces.”

Space was created for the many large plazas, courtyards and greens by tearing down a number of low-rise buildings. Twenty of 22 large trees identified as “heritage trees” on the site were able to be saved, and 225 new trees were planted.

CLICK HERE to view the full photo album.

A rotating cast of student volunteers provided input from the very beginning of the planning process, which started in earnest in 2010.

“I tell the incoming students, when you guys were in the fifth grade we were thinking about where you would be living when you came to school,” said Calhoun.

Other highlights of the new district:

• Each residential building contains common areas accessible to all students living in the dorms, complete with billiard and ping pong tables, video game stations, and party/event rooms.
• Dining options include a made-to-order breakfast station (open all day), gluten-free options, a Mongolian grill, and booths designed for large groups of students.
• The basketball courts located on Lane Avenue outside of the new recreation center are now only accessible to students. They’ve also been designed so that they can be covered at some point in the future, with outdoor courts placed on top of the new building (that’s in anticipation of Jessie Owens North, which currently contains indoor courts, eventually being replaced with an academic building).
• The new trees planted in the district all have a trunk diameter of six inches or more, “so that they are substantial, and it wouldn’t be 60 years until you had a tree canopy,” according to Calhoun.
• In response to student input, all laundry rooms are designed to be open, well-lit spaces. They are located on the first floor of each residential building.
• The new dorm buildings all feature a similar layout, with two, 40-person communities on each floor (and one Resident Advisor for every 40 students). The rooms are mostly two-person suites with quarter-baths, but larger suites at the end of each hall – with full bathrooms and private living areas – are available for second-, third-, and fourth-year students.

Ohio State’s New North Residential District

Central Ohio Home Sales Remain Strong Headed Into Fall

There were 3,116 central Ohio homes and condos sold during the month of August, a 4.8 percent increase over the previous year and a 1.5 percent increase over July. This was the highest number of closed sales for the month of August ever recorded and the second highest month for 2016, according to the Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service.

“Central Ohio home buyers are still being very aggressive in their decisions to purchase homes” said 2016 Columbus REALTORS® President John Royer. “Since demand for homes continues to be so high, potential sellers are encouraged to get their home on the market – they don’t have anything to lose”!

The average sales price of a home in central Ohio during the month of August was $204,629, a 3.3 percent increase over August 2015. The median price of a home sold in August was $174,000, up 5.5 percent from one year ago. Year to date (January through August), both the average and median sale prices are up 5.1 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, from last year.

The average sales price is the total volume divided by the number of homes sold. The median is the midpoint — half the homes sell for less, while half sell for more.

The number of homes for sale in central Ohio during the month of August was 6,270, a 2.1 percent decrease from the previous month and a 21 percent decrease from August 2015.
There were 3,389 central Ohio homes and condos added to the market during August, a 2.6 percent drop from the same month one year ago and a 12.3 percent decrease from July.

“Inventory and new listings are beginning to taper, but this is to be expected as we head into the fall selling season” Royer said. “However it’s still a terrific time to list your home as buyers remain eager for inventory and home values remain high!”

During the month of August, central Ohio homes and condos spent an average of 34 days on the market, which is 29.2 percent (14 days) shorter than last year and just 1 day longer than July.

“Homes are continuing to fly off the market, even as inventory begins to dwindle,” Royer said.”

According to the latest Housing Market Confidence Index by the Ohio Association of REALTORS®, 98 percent of central Ohio REALTORS® would describe the current housing market as moderate to strong.

When asked what the single most important factor that they believed limited their buyers from purchasing a property so far this year, 92 percent said difficulty finding the right property (low inventory), four percent said ability to sell existing their home, two percent said low consumer confidence and 2 percent said no factor limited buyers.

Central Ohio Home Sales Remain Strong Headed Into Fall