Downtown Columbus Strategic Development Plan
Columbus, Indiana
IPA Hoosier Planning Award: Outstanding Plan (2006)
Columbus, Indiana is a community renowned for its modernist architectural heritage throughout the nation. Despite its inventory of modernist and historic structures, Downtown Columbus had suffered economic woes. The City’s Redevelopment Commission hired Development Concepts to determine specific redevelopment projects and initiatives that would revitalize downtown Columbus.
Through its market-based approach, DCI discovered significant gaps in the market that could serve as economic drivers, particularly in the hospitality and retail markets. DCI also identified opportunities to create a “Live-Work-Play” environment through a newly established Entertainment District.
Since completion of the Plan in 2005, over $155 million in public and private money has been invested in Downtown Columbus. This includes a new hotel, a new office building for Cummins Engine, adaptive reuse loft condominiums, various retail rehabilitation projects, and two new parking garages. Another $120 million of investment, including a new apartment building, an indoor community gathering space with retail storefronts, and an indoor sports facility are currently planned or under development.
We asked DCI to work with the community to create a redevelopment plan for our downtown that was practical and implementable. It was important that the plan be based on sound economic development strategies that would generate private investment. DCI recognized the hidden assets of the community that became the basis of our strategic development plan.”
Tom O. Vujovich, President, Columbus Redevelopment Commission
