Clintonville Homes for Sale and Sold – Clintonville Real Estate Market Update

Written by: Joe Peffer

Recent Clintonville Sales include this lovely 1935 built, 3 bed, 1.5 bath, 1670 sf brick Tudor at 121 Northridge which sold after only 4 days for $247,900

Homes on the market: As of today there are 202 Active Clintonville homes for sale.

Averaging 1,671 sf,

• $232,523 list price
• $150.08/sf and
• 92 days on market.

If nothing else, the Clintonville real estate market has been very steady of late….

Currently, there are  50 Clintonville Homes in Contract

–contingent on financing/inspections as of today: 40

• Averaging 1550 sf
• $197,312 list price
• $138.34/sf
• 53 days on market
• One home is in contract contingent on a home sale – A Terraces on Walhalla condo
• Two homes are contingent on a lien release (usually a short sale) 399 Garden and 441 Richards Rd

Clintonville Homes Firmly In Contract passed inspection period as of today: 9

• Averaging 1677 sf
• $229,624
• $140.79/sf
• 59 days on market

Clintonville Homes SOLD- Closed from January 1 – May 15: 90

• Averaging 1627 sf
• $213,181 avg List but a $204,962 Sale price or 96+%
• $136.95/sf
• Median of exactly $200,000 and $131.33/sf
• 113 days on market – this is up considerably over most of last year and could be a weak economy, no buyer tax credits and Sellers hanging onto higher list prices longer. The median days on market, however, has been 89 days in 2011.

Significant Clintonville home that have sold so far this year 127 Irving Way–the 3000 sf 5 bedroom Tudor you’d recognize if you saw it Read the rest of this entry »

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Old National Road Celebration – America’s first Federally-funded interstate highway runs through Columbus

Written by: Joe Peffer

Floor plan for two of the rehabbed Main Street condos

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2011

CELEBRATION OF THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIONAL ROAD
AND
RIBBON-CUTTING FOR OLD NATIONAL ROAD CONDOMINIUMS

(Columbus, OH) The Ohio National Road Association (”ONRA”), in partnership with Columbus Compact Corporation (”the Compact”), will host the City of Columbus’ celebration of the Bicentennial of the start of construction of the Historic National Road on May 4, 2011. During this celebration of the National Road, the entities will be dedicating Columbus’s 200th year anniversary gift to this All-American Road: a ribbon-cutting for the newly renovated historic homes and a memorial park in Olde Towne East.

This six-state National Road Bicentennial celebration will begin on May 2nd in Vandalia, Illinois, the western terminus of the National Road, America’s first Federally-funded interstate highway. A procession of vintage vehicles will be traveling east from Illinois through Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, before arriving at the Road’s eastern terminus at Cumberland, Maryland for a May 7th celebration finale. As the procession approaches state lines, the next state will “pick up the bells” – a symbolic representation of the bells that adorned the Conestoga wagons and stage coaches that brought settlers and commerce to the newly-opened west, starting in 1811.

The Ohio National Road Association (ONRA) will “pick up the bells” in Richmond, Indiana on May 3rd. A small caravan of Model A, Model T, and other vintage cars, will carry the bells to Englewood, Ohio for an overnight stay. They will be leaving for Columbus at 7:30AM on May 4th, with plans to arrive in Franklinton, central Ohio’s oldest settled community, at National Road Mile Marker #260 near Tommy’s Diner (914 W. Broad Street) at 9:00AM.

Here City of Columbus Auditor Hugh Dorrian – serving in his 43rd year in that capacity, Franklin County Engineer and ONRA Board Chairman Dean Ringle, Franklinton Area Commissioner Carol Stewart and others will greet the travelers with a hot cup of coffee and recounting a brief history of Franklinton and Columbus. The public is invited to this informal gathering at Tommy’s Diner. The bells will then be transferred to a horse-drawn wagon, which will lead a small procession of cars through eastern Franklinton, downtown Columbus, and into Olde Towne East, following the historic alignment of the Road from West Broad Street, to South High Street, to East Main Street. Local historians will narrate this tour for invited special guests on the wagon, pointing out places of historical interest, and telling the story of the National Road in Columbus. In addition, this event will be covered by GTC-3, the City of Columbus television station for rebroadcast.

Once through downtown, the procession will travel to the Old National Road Condominiums, located at 1023 -1059 E. Main Street in the historic Olde Towne East neighborhood between 22nd and Ohio avenues. The condominiums are developed by Olde Towne East Restorations, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Columbus Compact Corporation. There, the Compact and ONRA will unveil Columbus’ 200th year gift to the National Road: newly renovated condominium units in 1890’s era houses and a National Road commemorative park in the development.
These homes are the first historic rehabs in the City of Columbus developed under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards for sustainable design and energy efficiency.

The Old National Road Condominiums are two and three bedroom condominium units feature 1,211 to 1,496 square feet of finished space, with historic pocket doors and wood trim and contemporary finishes, including granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors, and ceramic tile kitchen and bath floors. The units are priced from $89,900 to $105,950, with up to $5,000 in downpayment assistance available to qualified homebuyers who enter into a contract to purchase before June 30, 2011. In addition, the Old National Road Condominiums offer a Lease-Purchase program, whereby qualified households that are not quite ready to purchase can enter into a two-year lease, for the unit they plan to buy. Again, the $5,000 downpayment assistance is available for families that enter into a Lease Purchase Agreement by June 30, 2011 (smaller amounts of downpayment assistance will be available after June 30th).

With the tax abatement on the value of improvements and special financing programs offered by Huntington National Bank and Fifth Third Bank, a household can expect to purchase outright (or lease-purchase) a unit in a range of $680 – $800 per month, including all taxes, insurances, and condominium fees. With the extreme energy efficiency of these units that are expected to achieve LEEDTM Gold certification, there will not be a higher quality, more affordable place to live in Columbus. These units were financed in part by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program, administered through the City of Columbus.

Included in the May 4, 2011 celebration will be the dedication of the Old National Road Heritage Park, at the corner of Main Street and Ohio Avenue; the unveiling of a plaque honoring the history of the National Road; and ribbon cuttings for each of the newly renovated houses. Mayor Michael B. Coleman will be speaking at the event and participating in the ribbon-cuttings and dedications, along with a host of other local, state and federal officials; housing developers and financiers; and neighborhood residents, business owners, and other stakeholders and interested parties.

The Compact’s Special Honored Guest is the granddaughter of the original builder of one of the homes and the commercial building, on the block. She will present several family photographs taken from her childhood, and will be available in a relaxed and informal setting to discuss her recollections of growing up in the 1920’s on the National Road in Olde Towne East. Light snacks will be served, and RSVPs torsvp@colscompact.com (or 251-0926 ext. 203) are requested.

Continuing eastward on the National Road after the ribbon cutting, a classic El Camino will “pick up the bells” from the carriage before zooming on to the National Trail Raceway near Hebron in Licking County, where they will be joined by larger vintage trucks. The procession will carry the bells to Zanesville later in the day.

The National Road was originally conceived by President George Washington as an all-weather road that would bridge the Allegheny Mountains. A bill authorizing the Road was signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson in 1806, and the National Road became the new nation’s first Federally-funded interstate highway. From Cumberland, Maryland where construction began on May 7, 1811, the Road stretches over 700 miles to Vandalia, Illinois near East St. Louis.

The National Road entered eastern Ohio in 1825, and was built through Columbus in 1833. The historic route of the National Road entered Columbus from the east on Friend Street (now Main Street), ran west down Main Street until turning north on High Street at the Great Southern Hotel and Theater, then turned west onto Broad Street and crossed the newly-built, toll-free Broad Street bridge before departing Columbus through Franklinton to the west.

The Road immediately attracted travelers and commerce, opening the state and much of the Old Northwest Territory to settlement, provided access for Ohio products to the burgeoning eastern markets, and enabled Ohio citizens to play an important role in the affairs of the new nation. At its time, an interstate highway was politically controversial, and resolution of the constitutional issues over

Federal funding of the Road was critical in defining the powers of the young nation’s Federal government for the future. It has been called “The Road that Built the Nation,” and is designated as both a National Scenic Byway and an All-American Road by the Federal Highway Administration. The All-American Road designation means the National Road is one of 31 roads that have features that do not exist elsewhere in the United States and that are scenic enough to be tourist destinations unto themselves. The National Road, known as “Main Street, U.S.A.”, has played a major role in shaping American history, culture, and lore.

Columbus Compact Corporation and the Ohio National Road Association cordially invite you to attend this event: Columbus’ recognition of the 200th year of the start of construction of the National Road, and our dedication and gift in honor of that occasion – newly renovated 1890’s era housing signaling the Road’s rebirth for the coming two centuries.

The Compact is a nonprofit community development corporation, which has a sixteen year history of catalyzing redevelopment in Columbus’s central city neighborhoods. Much of the Compact’s recent work has been in historic Olde Towne East. Recent Compact projects in the area include:

• The complete restoration of Old National Road Condominiums, taking 8 long-abandoned and blighting housing units and transforming them into energy efficient, state of the art condos with outstanding finishes ($1.6M)
• the complete restoration of Sherman Oak Condominiums, a long-abandoned and blighted 13-unit historic building saved from demolition by the investment by the Compact and its partners ($1.1 million)
• the development of the first new grocery in the Near East Area in 26 years, through the Heritage Square development at 1179-1181 E. Main Street featuring Save-A-Lot Food Stores and Simply Fashions women’s clothing ($2.4 million)
• the coordination of development activities and partial financing of COTA’s Near East Transit Center, featuring Nationwide Children’s Hospital Close to Home Center and Revol Wireless ($2.1 million)
• the rehabilitation of commercial buildings at Main Street and Champion Avenue, and leasing to Smothered Gravy Restaurant, Our Style Boutique, Alpha Computer and Security Systems, and Larry’s Lawn Service ($250,000)
• The rehabilitation an 1890’s era commercial building at 1051-1053 E. Main Street, which currently houses ComproTax Olde Towne East and Sweet Raine’s on Main, a carryout restaurant slated to open in June ($230,000)
• The renovation of other formerly vacant/abandoned scattered site single family and duplex properties in the area ($200,000)
• In addition, the Compact was a critical link in the development of the Salvation Army Regional Headquarters and East Main Service Center, at 966 E. Main Street ($3.2M), and the financing of Central Community House’s new headquarters and day care center at 1150 E. Main Street ($2.3M)

For more information, call ONRA’s Marian Vance at (614) 570-7504or visit ONRA’s web site at www.ohionationalroad.org. Jonathan Beard of Columbus Compact Corporation can be reached at (614) 251-0926 ext. 201, or at www.OldNationalRoadCondos.com orwww.colscompact.com).

– END –

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Columbus Board of Realtors Announces official March Numbers

Written by: Joe Peffer

What's the takeaway? The Central Ohio Real Estate Market is hanging in there and there's more good news than bad. Of course, your micro-market is all that mattes to you.

Today the local Board of Realtors announced official March numbers. Numbers, being what they are, can be divulged and manipulated in any number of ways….here’s the Board’s take…..

The 1,487 homes sold last month was 31.8 percent higher than the previous month’s sales of 1,128. Year to date sales of 3,678 lag 2010 by 7.9 percent, but are still 6.9 percent ahead of the 2,178 homes sold in the first quarter of 2009.

“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we still have to keep in mind that 2010 home sales were significantly impacted by the second set of home buyer tax credits, offers Rick Benjamin, 2011 President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “By comparison, March closings are actually 9.3 percent higher than homes closed in March of 2009 when the first round of tax credits was available.”

In addition, 2,512 homes were put in contract last month touting an 11.5 percent increase over the 2,252 contracted sales in March of 2010.

Homes in central Ohio this year have sold for an average of $143,773, down 3.7 percent from the average sale price in 2010, but up 3.8 percent from the average sale price in 2009. The average price of a home sold in March was $144,975, up 2.1 percent from the previous month ($140,770).

The number of homes listed for sale last month (3,886) dropped almost 22 percent from the previous year (4,972) bringing the total inventory of homes available for sale in central Ohio to 14,370, down 22.3 percent from one year ago.

“Home sales follow the simple economic concept of supply and demand,” adds Benjamin. “When the supply is higher than the demand, the product, in this case a home, is subject to sell for less. So a decrease in inventory is a positive for our market.”

“The other positive is, of course, last month’s drop in unemployment to 7.6 percent – the lowest point since January 2009.”

There were 2,280 homes listed for sale in Franklin County last month. The surrounding counties of Delaware and Licking saw 316 and 302 new listings respectively.

Chances are, if you live in Franklin County you may not care how things in the greater Central Ohio Market are….You care about how things in your community are selling or not selling. How are things going in your neck of the wood? Ask me, I’ll let you know.

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Columbus Neighborhood Spotlight on King Lincoln/Bronzeville District

Written by: Joe Peffer

I’ve loved the first two installments of this series focusing on the Short North and German Village. Tonight, we get to see the next Columbus Neighborhood’s history come to life. The third installment in WOSU’s Columbus Neighborhoods series premieres tonight at 9pm on WOSU TV and showcases the King-Lincoln neighborhood. Learn more about the deep history of Columbus and its core neighborhoods during this one-hour documentary produced by WOSU.

King-Lincoln Documentary Premieres April 19 (tonight!) at 9pm.

About the King-Lincoln Documentary:
At its height in the 1930s, hundreds of people filled its bustling streets. The nation’s top musicians played its many theatres and clubs. African Americans of all walks of life lived and shopped there. Its two fabled streets, Mt. Vernon Avenue and Long Street, anchored the neighborhood that became the commercial and cultural heart of Columbus’s African American community.

Columbus Neighborhoods: King-Lincoln shows how this thriving neighborhood developed on land once used by Buffalo Bill when he brought his wild west show to Columbus. Because Columbus was practically—if not officially—segregated, a self-contained and self-reliant African American community developed and flourished on the city’s Near East side. The documentary explores the area’s rich and vibrant music heritage and includes features on Elijah Pierce, Aminah Robinson, Roman Johnson, and other artists. The program also explores the neighborhood’s demise as the interstate separated it from the rest of the city and shows how the renovation of the Lincoln Theatre may be a sign of the community’s rebirth.

For information on purchasing the Columbus Neighborhoods documentaries, click here.

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