Condo OPEN HOUSE Saturday 11-1

Come see me this Saturday when I host a an open house at the Battleship Building, 444 north Front Street, across from the North Market.
I'll be showcasing unit #211, a one bedroom, one bath 651 square foot condo in the middle of everything for only $149,900.

The battleship building is the Grandmother of all downtown condominiums. It ws cool urban living long before Columbus awoke to the ease and convenience of condo life in the big city. Stop by 11-1 on SATURDAY, JANUARY 21  

73% of Ohioans are Home Owners

A study came out today that notes that 69% of Americans are homeowners and 73% of Ohioans have taken the plunge. Not bad for a state leading the country in foreclosures.

How Many Condo Units are Going Downtown?

People ask me this quite a bit. They are constantly amazed at the numbers. The City puts out a monthly number sheet from Downtown Columbus.com that indicates as of January 1, 2006, there were

873 Units under construction
there were 347 Units Approved but haven't had a groundbreaking yet
there were 1,370 Units Proposed awaiting final approval
and 1,110 units completed since 1/1/2002 for a total of

2,590 units at around $391 million dollars.

You may recall that the city is pushing for 10,000 new housing units in the central city/downtown areas. So, after all the hype, we're just over a quarter of the way here.

Those numbers aren't all condos though, there are rental units mixed in too, to the tune of about 1700 units including biggies such as Liberty Place, Brewer's Yard, Arena Crossing and The Foundary at Jeffrey Place.

Speaking of Jeffrey Place, I dropped by there today to catch up on the latest with Sales Manager Paul Bonneville. They are waiting on the OK from the city, a final approval of the master plat, to move forward and are expecting that to come in soon. Once they get that approval, it's infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure and then bam! a shiny new urban neighborhood smack dab in the middle of the city. It's a beautiful thing and I can't wait until the project finally gets off the ground.

Incidentally, Paul Bonneville also has a side gig, running a Columbus Urban Blog called Columbus RetroMetro which I enjoy. Check it out, it's full of good stuff from news clippings to city panoramas to musings not unlike my own.

Happy New Year

This is the obligatory Happy New Year post.
Make this the year you buy your next home and allow me the pleasure of walking down that path with you.
Thanks to everyone who has sent appreciation, congratulations and encouragement over the last year. It is always interesting to meet or hear from people who read and/or subscribe to this blog both locally and nationally. While my suite of websites winning the Realtor Website of the Year award from the Ohio Association of Realtors was definately a highlight of 2005 professionally, it hasn't exactly equated to a groundswell of new clients just yet--which is fine because I am sure that the ease of use, aesthetics and knowledge displayed here will help this coming year.
While I do still enjoy working in the suburbs from time to time, my passion is the midtown area as most of you know. This year I am focusing most of my time and attention to the downtown columbus condo market and the many historic neighborhoods around the city center.
I hope to do business with you soon, be it buying or selling a home in and around Columbus Ohio.