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

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).

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If the Government shuts down, will Columbus Real Estate follow?

What is a Government shutdown’s impact on real estate? As it turns out, not too much…

WASHINGTON – April 7, 2011 – The federal government may or may not shut down after Friday. Lawmakers have drawn a line in the sand and, as of today, it appears they won’t reach agreement by the current deadline of budgeting. However, that could change. Or lawmakers could agree to extend the budget by only another week or two to give themselves more time to negotiate. Or lawmakers could surprisingly pull out a budget agreement at the last minute.

If the government does shut down, it won’t impact all federal programs equally. A specific impact depends on whether the agency is privately funded, semi-separate from the government, and other factors. Even insiders aren’t sure what will happen if the government shuts down.

However, the National Association of Realtors issued a list of likely scenarios on how Realtors may be impacted if the federal budget fails to pass:

Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
FHA cannot offer endorsements for any new loans in the Single Family Program and cannot make commitments in the Multi-family Program in the event of a shutdown. FHA will maintain operational activities including paying claims and collecting premiums. Management and marketing contractors managing the REO portfolio can continue to operate.

VA Loan Guaranty Program
Lenders may continue to process and guarantee mortgages through the Loan Guaranty program.

Flood Insurance
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) confirmed that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) would not be impacted by a government shutdown.

Rural Housing Programs
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s field staff is not considered essential personnel, and only essential personnel continue to work during a government shutdown. As a result, the people who typically issue conditional mortgage commitments, loan note guarantees, and modification approvals will not be able to do so, and lenders will not receive approvals during the shutdown.

However, a lender that already received a conditional commitment from the Rural Development office may proceed to close those loans during the shutdown. A conditional commitment, good for 90 days, is given to a lender once a USDA underwriter approves the loan. If a commitment was issued, funds were set aside at that time, and the lender may still close the loan at its leisure.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
The Government Sponsored Enterprises will continue operating normally, as will their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back over half of all mortgages originated in the U.S.

Treasury
No official word as of yet, but the Making Home Affordable program, including HAMP and HAFA, may not be affected since the program is funded through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which is mandatory spending and not discretionary.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Should the federal government shut down, the IRS cannot process federal income tax returns or issue refunds. If a buyer expects a refund and hopes to use it toward a downpayment, the closing may have to wait.

© 2011 Florida Realtors®