5.25.10
Long wait for Menards will be worth it, officials say

* The company finally has broken ground on one of the anchors for a redeveloped multiuse site where Northland Mall once stood.
By KATHLEEN L. RADCLIFF - www.snponline.com
It's been a long process that officials said will be worth the wait.

Two years after the Northland Community Council's development committee approved variances regarding a planned Menards store at Northland Village, ground has been broken on the project.

Columbus elected officials, Menards representatives and developers, Northland community leaders and residents gathered at the site at the corner of Morse Road and Tamarack Boulevard for a groundbreaking celebration Monday, May 24.

Wisconsin-based Menards, a home improvement store, is a key component of the planned mixed-use Northland Village development.

"We've come a long way," Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman said, since the city bought the site after the mall's 2002 closing.

"We bought the Northland Mall site on faith and belief, and we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."

Once complete, the Menards at Northland Village will represent an investment of $11.5 million and provide an estimated 80 full-time jobs, he said.

"That $11.5 million -- that is Menards investment, and we are grateful for their investment," Coleman said.

Upon project completion, the city will have invested more than $38 million along the Morse Road corridor; that investment will produce an estimated 800 new jobs, he said.

The investment includes $19.4 million on site redevelopment, including acquisition of land, utility improvements and new roads for the redevelopment plan and $18 million in improvements along Morse Road for the corridor from I-71 to Cleveland Avenue, according to information from the city.

"Those new jobs are on top of the 1,000 jobs at the (Ohio) Department of Taxation down the street," Coleman said.

"This is not only a celebration of the resurgence of Northland Mall as it is a celebration of the resilience of the Northland community," Councilman Andrew Ginther said.

"The Northland community never gave up on the redevelopment of this site."

Northland Community Council President Dave Paul recalled the history of the mall, which opened for business in 1964 and closed in 2002.

"It was the original hub in the neighborhood, and there was a hole left behind when Northland Mall left," Paul said.

He also recalled many of the homes in the neighborhood that were built by first-generation owners or were still in the planning stages.

"Many of those homes are now 30 to 60 years old, with second- and third-generation homeowners -- a ripe and ready customer market for Menards," he said.

"We're looking forward to a long and prosperous relationship."

"We're extremely excited to break ground," said J.R. Menard, corporate treasurer.

"The exact square footage is not available, but the store will be built in our largest format, similar to all of our other new stores," Menards spokesman Jeff Abbott said via e-mail. "It will be a similar format to our stores in Chillicothe and Lancaster."

Construction is expected to be complete in early 2011, Abbott said.

The groundbreaking ceremony this week didn't end without Coleman making a small request of Menards officials.

"I want to be your very first customer," he said.

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