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May 29, 2008 |
| Festivities and Nature Collide in the Franklin Park Neighborhood |
| Wow! It has been a long time since I’ve blogged. It has been crazy busy here on the Near East Side of Columbus, with all the projects moving forward and such. We’re working hard on Franklin Park Condominiums – the architects are preparing final construction documents, we did some digging on the site to do final design on building foundations, we are preparing to relocate a utility line, etc. Last week we opened Phase One of a small shopping center on East Main Street, featuring a Save-A-Lot grocery store (America’s fifth largest grocery chain) and a Simply Fashion women’s clothing store. We're also moving forward with our rehab of an apartment building at Oak & Sherman, about six blocks west of Franklin Park Condominiums -- windows are going in this weekend and we expect to have a sales unit done before July (which is right around the corner). I’m writing this blog now in the afterglow of a wonderful Asian Festival last weekend. It was great to see all the people coming in to the park – those of us who live in the neighborhood love opening up our city gem for others. You see people driving slowly looking at all the grand houses along the park ... you watch them as they enjoy being out in the park … and you appreciate the place that you call “home” that much more. (You also appreciate your street parking pass during the event.) Earlier this spring, we got to enjoy Les Chapeaux dans le Jardin (“Hat Day”) – a fundraiser for the Franklin Park Conservatory. In a couple weeks, it will be time for Juneteenth – another citywide cultural celebration in Franklin Park. There will be weddings at the park all summer long, and the Franklin Park Conservatory will soon begin the next phase of its $20M renovation and upgrade, with work beginning on the headquarters of the American Community Gardening Association and the installation of new gardens along Franklin Park South (between Fairwood and Rhoads). Speaking of the Conservatory’s renovations ... you’ve got to see their plan for lighting the Palm Room – it will be a spectacular nighttime light show – one of just a handful in the world. The Antiques and Gardens Fair happens as the weather starts to cool in September, and then another series of events that I look forward to: cross-country track meets on Saturday mornings in the park, different walks of all kinds of causes, etc. This lifestyle around the park is without parallel in Columbus. What have I missed blogging about over the past couple months? How about our 20-inch snowfall? The park was simply beautiful – while everyone else in the City was shut-in, we called up some neighbors and met at the sledding hill for an hour of sledding, then back for hot chocolate. Later in the day (after the nap – hey, walking through that heavy snow is hard work, and I’m not as young as I used to be!), my wife and I walked to Alum Creek to see how the creek held up to a record snowfall. Need I say it? -- absolutely gorgeous. Then there was the time a couple weeks later that we went on a family walk, saw a flash of white in the underbrush, then watched spellbound as five deer emerged from the trees and frolicked back and forth across clearings, up the hill, and down to the water for the next half hour. Come join our family and our neighbors, living the Franklin Park lifestyle. Make no mistake: the condos are calling your name. |
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POSTED BY Jon Beard AT 02:41 PM |
January 07, 2008 |
| Whoa Nellie! The tax man treads lightly at the Franklin Park Condos |
| The first snow of the New Year made Franklin Park so refreshing for a walk. Jennifer and I were enjoying our power walk (with boots) through this winter wonderland ... snow was falling, and as we came over the rise we heard sounds of laughter – children were out sledding in the park. Young kids with their parents, teens with each other, and all were spinning and slipping down the hill on their toboggans. We don’t get much snow in Central Ohio, but when we do the kids are quick to hit the slope at the park. But enough about winter fun: if the first snowfall of the New Year brings joy to frosty nosed kids, then the first week of the New Year brings pain to home-owning adults. Property tax bills started arriving courtesy of my friend Franklin County Auditor Joe Testa, and the groans were almost audible through the streets. Do you know the Near East Side has some of the fastest appreciating property values in Central Ohio? Great for additional home equity, but you hate to pay the tax man. Not to worry, though. Owners at Franklin Park Condominiums will receive a 100%, 15-year property tax abatement on their units. And guess what – I just paid property taxes for the land the condos will sit on: a grand total of $2,095. Yep, that’s the tax bill due for the entire two-acre site. So the average owner of a unit at Franklin Park Condominiums who receives the tax abatement would have an annual tax bill of … hmmm … let’s see … about $40.29. Whoa Nellie! Now if you bought a $190,000 property somewhere else that didn’t have our tax abatement, according to the Franklin County Auditor your annual tax bill would be $2,929 – a difference of $2,888. Over 15 years that adds up to over $43,000 in property tax savings for the owner of a Franklin Park Condominiums unit. Put that money in the bank, use it to travel around the world, add to your retirement saving, go on a shopping spree to New York every year – do what you want with the $240 per month you will save each month for 15 years. Can you say “Ka-ching!”? At Franklin Park Condominiums, you have the opportunity to buy fairly early in the area’s real estate price appreciation cycle. Look around at the other great city parks – Goodale Park, Schiller Park, Whetstone Park of Roses – do you know what homes in those areas sell for? (A heck of a lot more than homes around Franklin Park – although there is one home listed for over $800,000 right on the park.) Many of the people who bought early around those other great parks say that they couldn’t afford to live there if they had to buy at the current market prices. Homes around great parks gain value and hold value. On top of that, the Franklin Park Conservatory, led by Central Ohio's most well-connected families, is well into construction for their $20 million park and facilities improvement plan. As if that’s not enough, Franklin Park Condominiums is selling the first select units at low pre-construction pricing (around 10% off) – instant additional equity when the next buyers will be paying full price. What do you call it when you buy real estate early and at a discount in a great location experiencing substantial investment with high rates of appreciation and absurdly low taxes? I call it prudent. I call it savvy. I call it smart. Show your smarts by getting in early. Don’t sit on your hands and miss the upside of investing early in the Franklin Park lifestyle. It’s a great neighborhood, and a great investment. I look forward to calling you “neighbor.” -- Jon |
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POSTED BY Jon Beard AT 07:08 AM |
December 18, 2007 |
| Parties, Trains, and Another Good Week in Franklin Park |
| Yep, its official: last week was another great week to live in Franklin Park. We started off with the Franklin Park Area Association’s Holiday Party – 40+ wonderful people meeting and greeting and spreading good cheer. The Franklin Park Conservatory hosted us in the Palm Room again. What is exciting to see is all the new families moving in and adding to our stable core of area homeowners and renters. Did you know the Franklin Park neighborhood has some of the largest and finest homes in the City? A couple newly-moved to the area from New York is expecting their first child – they’ve been restoring their house and hope to finish before the new arrival this spring. The Association President and his wife showed off their baby, now four months old. Another tike, little Carmen, was toddling around with her parents and my son in tow. Other children young and old; adults of all ages, occupations, and backgrounds; and all having a great time together in the beautiful Palm Room. By the way, during our mixer I found out that one married couple actually first met at one of the Association’s meetings! I'll say it again: this is a great community of really nice people. If you haven’t yet been -- go see the Enchanted Express garden railways by Paul Busse, now in the Franklin Park Conservatory. Installed in the Conservatory’s Himalayan Mountain, Rain Forest, and Desert biomes, Busse’s elaborate sets feature G-Scale model trains snaking around places such as the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Lost City of the Incas, the Egyptian Pyramids, and the Mayan Ruins. It was great to be immersed in the rich, warm, earthy sensations in the Rain Forest: almost like a quick trip to South America in the middle of the winter – but without the long airport lines (o.k., I said “almost!”). In addition, a fairyland exhibit in the Conservatory’s Show House includes Rapunzel’s Tower, the Three Little Pigs, and the old Woman in the Shoe. Each scene is painstakingly created by Busse from natural materials, such as moss, twigs, and leaves. All the exhibition materials – acorns, leaves, blossoms, vines -- had been culled from the plants and/or the grounds of the Conservatory. Kids will love the trains. Adults will love the trains, natural materials, and Busse’s artistry mastery. Great neighbors and award-winning exhibitions at your doorstep -- just two of the many reasons to call the Franklin Park Condominiums home. Happy Holiday Season to you and your loved ones. -- Jon |
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POSTED BY Jon Beard AT 12:59 PM |
November 29, 2007 |
| Welcome!! |
| On behalf of City Heritage LLC, I'd like to welcome you to the Franklin Park Condominiums website. We are glad you are here. This site is designed to be a comprehensive resource with information about this exciting development on the Near East Side of Columbus. Browse its pages, learn about the development, and come back often as you make your decision on where to live. Let's talk about the place: this is an incredible neighborhood. You have the award-winning Franklin Park and Franklin Park Conservatory a stone's throw away ... you have Alum Creek with its wild places, walking, and bike paths ... You have the incredible diversity of architecture in the neighborhood homes -- this neighborhood being a part of Columbus's so-called "Silk Stockings District" because this is where the gentry lived back in the early 1900's ... You have ballfields, volleyball, basketball, and so on. Oh yeah -- and did I mention that my wife and I and our two children live just around the corner? This is a place you can call home -- a place to plant deep roots. Let's talk about the project: top-notch quality architecture by nationally-known Berardi + Partners and OASpencer ... rock solid construction to be built by Ruscilli Construction Company ... brick and stone fronts, plank siding, granite countertops, ceramic tile, wood floors ... This ain't a place where you walk across the room and the china in the cabinet behind you rattles with every footstep. This is real living for adults. This is how you were meant to live. When you couple the place with the project, you have what I like to call "Life in Balance." This is a place for you to call home: a place to relax and unwind and surround yourself in comfort ... to entertain your friends ... to rollerblade, jog, walk, swim, or play in a volleyball league ... to meditate under the trees by the creek ... to enjoy the great outdoors while you are minutes from the city's nightlife. All within a few city blocks. That's what we mean, when we say "Life in Balance." Thanks for looking us up and reading. I'll be busy working on this project, but will blog regularly. Check back in often. -- Jon Jonathan C. Beard Chief Operating Manager City Heritage, LLC 1000 E. Main Street Columbus, OH 43205 (614) 251-0926 ext. 101 |
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POSTED BY Jon Beard AT 02:30 PM |
