A Columbus developer has revived and expanded plans for a Downtown tower that now calls for demolishing some longtime businesses.
Bluestone Brothers has proposed a 23-story tower called The Estrella, along with a five-story adjacent building, on the southeast corner of East Rich and South 4th streets.
The proposal is an expansion of a 19-story tower Bluestone proposed last year. The plan now calls for removing several buildings along South 4th Street including those that house Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace, which opened in 2009, and 16-Bit Bar + Arcade, which opened in 2013, along with the buildings at 232 and 246 S. 4th St.
The historic building that houses Little Palace and El Camino Inn restaurants would be retained.
The Estrella would also replace four single-story buildings on East Rich and East Cherry streets and require the closing of Zettler Street that runs between Rich and Main streets.
The new tower would face East Rich Street and include 290 apartments (up from 180 in the first proposal), 327 parking spaces on floors two through five, and 18,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. Plans call for an amenity deck on the sixth floor, on the roof of the parking, that would include a bar and grille and a gym.
Apartments would range from 608-square-foot studios to 1,373-square-foot two-bedroom units.
The top floor would include five penthouses instead of the rooftop restaurant and lounge included in the first proposal.
The attached five-story building facing South 4th Street (on the north side of East Cherry Street) would include 30,500 square feet of commercial space.
Bluestone Brothers, formerly called Bluestone Capital Partners, did not respond to a Dispatch query about the proposal. The firm, which also developed the 223 E. Town apartment and commercial building nearby, is scheduled to present the latest plans for The Estella to the Columbus Downtown Commission next week.
The Estrella was among several developments proposed Downtown the last few years, before rising interest rates sucked some wind out of development. Some Downtown projects, such as Preston Centre on East Broad Street, and apartments on North High Street and East Spring Street, have been completed or resumed, in addition to proposed apartments on South 4th Street and in the Peninsula development.
About 12,000 people called Downtown home last year, according the Downtown agency Capital Crossroads and Discovery Special Improvement Districts (SIDs).
@JimWeiker
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Downtown Columbus building would replace Dirty Franks, more businesses
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