South Campus Reborn

Once-blighted area adjacent to campus comes to life

Have you seen south campus lately?

If not, you’re in for a big surprise.

Since the South Campus Gateway project opened at The Ohio State University in August, a slue of businesses have popped up in the new buildings on High Street. There’s a huge Barnes & Noble that sells class textbooks; university offices; a Drexel Theatre that features indie films; nearly 200 apartments for Ohio State grad students; and plenty of eateries, including the Ugly Tuna Saloona, which has live music every night.

Campus Partners President Terry Foegler says the complex eventually will have “well in excess of 10 different places to eat, with totally different cuisines….We’ve got a Greek restaurant, we’ve got a Mexican restaurant, we’ve got a fish restaurant.” And businesses such as a bank and a cell phone store will make it easy for students to get what they need within walking distance of their classes.

The spot where Gateway now stands was a “bar district” when Ohio State and the city of Columbus formed Campus Partners in 1995.

“Businesses were starting to fail,” Foegler says. “Vacancy rates were getting quite high.”

But Foegler says the Gateway mix—offices that are open during the day, and apartments and late-night haunts such as the cinema and bookstore—gives the neighborhood just off campus an important new safety feature: “24-hour eyes and ears.”

Keep your eyes open: New businesses—including former Buckeye Eddie George’s Grille 27 and Pesto Creative Italian Bistro, owned by a 2005 Ohio State alumnus—will open through next spring. (watch the video for more details)

(words/stills/video: University Marketing Communications)

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