Fall 2007 Newsletter of the

Morse Road Special Improvement District (SID)

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING

The Annual Membership Meeting of the Morse Road SID is scheduled for November 14, 2007 at 3:30PM at the Huntington Northland Center, 2361 Morse Road. The purpose of the meeting is (1) to elect members to the board of directors and (2) to receive a report of the District’s activities. At this time five directors will be elected to each serve a two year term. Members wishing to nominate another member or to serve on the SID Board of Directors should contact the nominating committee c/o NAI Ohio Equities. The membership of the Morse Road SID is comprised of all real property owners within the SID boundaries.

“The City could not have completed this first phase of the Morse Road Streetscape or contemplated starting Phase 2 without our neighborhood partners,” Mayor Michael B. Coleman said. “By creating a Special Improvement District, the Northland community is ensuring that the street medians stay green and thrive for all to enjoy.”

The City will continue to work with the contractor to ensure that everything is in proper order, including signal timing systems striping, paving, signage, plantings, trees and other detail work to make sure the contractor has fulfilled all of its commitments as agreed.

The median has been re seeded this fall as the spring planting did not have a chance to germinate before drought like conditions arrived in the summer. The trees and shrubs are covered under warranty for two years. They will be replaced under this warranty, as needed, to ensure they are getting a healthy start.

With cooperation from the railroads, the area’s appearance will get another boost in the summer of 2008 when the railroad bridges adjacent to I-71 are repainted. Negotiations are currently underway between the City, CSX and the Norfolk–Southern railroads to determine the final details of the plan.

In 2008 the City will continue with Phase 2 of the Streetscape Project. It is scheduled to get under way in May of next year. Plans call for a landscaped median from Karl Road to Cleveland Avenue, new curbs and gutters, street trees, sidewalks, curb ramps, improved streetlights and traffic signals, and pedestrian crossing upgrades at intersections. Total cost is estimated at $12.3 million. The 1.5 mile stretch will tie into the project completed by Franklin County a few years ago.

In related area activity, the City of Columbus continues to fulfill it’s commitment to the Morse Road community and is investing $19.4 million to redevelop the former Northland Mall site, including acquisition of land, utility improvements and new roads for the redevelopment plan.

PHASE ONE A WINNER

The City of Columbus, ms consultants inc., and Complete General Construction received this years’ American Society of Highway Engineers Central Ohio 2007 Project of the Year Award for the Morse Road Improvement Project. The project was selected based on originality, innovation, technical engineering application, complexity, cost savings, and sensitivity to environmental impacts.

The project made important improvements to the Morse Rd. corridor that will not only serve the surrounding areas, but will impact other areas around the City by the example it has set. The cooperation between the City of Columbus and the community working together for the betterment of the neighborhood has created renewed interest and excitement for the area.

PHASE 1 CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

The City, in partnership with the Ohio Public Works Commission, completed $12.5 million worth of improvements in late 2006 to the 1.4 mile section of Morse Road between Indianola Avenue and Karl Road.

Morse Road Special Improvement District (SID)

ACTION LINE

You can now contact the Morse Road SID staff with questions, requests and comments at 614-629-5295 and the City of Columbus’ action line is 311.

BANNERS FLYING

The first banners along Morse Road between Indianola and Karl

Rd were installed in the early morning hours of September 15th.

They recognize area organizations working to revitalize the

Northland community and feature a “Shop Northland” theme.

Future sponsorship of banners will be available to area businesses

and local groups. All banners need to be approved by the City of

Columbus, and, must meet specific requirements as to content

and design to be considered. For a banner application and list of

qualifying rules, please contact the Morse Road SID Banner

Committee c/o Ohio Equities, 605 South Front Street, Columbus,

OH 43215.

LANDSCAPING CONTRACT AWARDED

Environmental Management Incorporated has been chosen to

provide mowing and other landscape maintenance for the 2007

and 2008 seasons.

YOUR MORSE ROAD SID BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS

Jim Shea, Chairman (‘08)

Doug Krieger, Vice-Chairman (‘08)

Aaron Gilbert, Treasurer (‘07)

Kent Stuckey, Secretary (‘08)

Liborial Alcauter (‘07)

David Bush, Columbus Mayoral Representative

Connie Caldwell (‘07)

Susan Crotty (‘07)

Fred Damsen (‘08)

Greg Gerhard (‘07)

Wyatt Kingseed, Columbus City Council Representative

Charlie Smith (‘08)

Action Line

SID MANAGEMENT COMPANY CHOSEN

The Board of Directors awarded a management contract for the

administration of the District to NAI Ohio Equities. The company

will be responsible for many aspects of the SID’s administrative

requirements as well as over seeing the streetscape and

landscaping contractors. The company will function as the staff for

the SID and receive and act upon calls related to services,

requests for information and complaints. The banner program will

also be administered by the management staff. The Management

staff includes Ken Vaughn as manager, Gail Kurz, administrative

assistant, and Julon Dixon, staff accountant. The telephone

number for information is 629-5295.

$80 MILLION REVIVAL

Developers unveil plan for Northland

Saturday, May 12, 2007 3:28 AM

BY ROBERT VITALE

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Developer Mo Dioun remembers Northland Mall as more than a Lazarus and JCPenney.

He lived about a mile to the north when he first came to Columbus in 1980. Back then,

before newer malls sprouted and Northland died, it was as much a community center as

a shopping center to Dioun and his young family.

Near the JCPenney store that's now vacant, Dioun announced an $80 million plan

yesterday to revive Northland Mall as Northland Village, a mix of offices and shops that

he said will be a "gathering space and civic hub" for the area.

Menards, a Wisconsin-based home-improvement chain, will open its first Columbus

store on the eastern edge of the nearly 60-acre site.

The former JCPenney will be renovated into office space for one or more tenants

during the second phase of the project.

More than a dozen smaller spaces for shops, restaurants and businesses will be built

around a town-square-style courtyard with a Morse Road entrance to cap it off.

"This project is very important to me (because of) the time I remember spending at

Northland Mall," Dioun said.

It's important to a lot of people nearby.

Neighborhood leaders stood at Dioun's side yesterday and said the project would be a

boost for area residents and businesses.

"I have a lot at stake. We all do," said Dave Cooper, chairman of the Northland Alliance.

"You're going to see a whole new look on this piece of ground."

Much of it has been empty since Northland Mall closed in 2002. The city and its

nonprofit development arm, Columbus Urban Growth Corp., bought the land months

later.

Mayor Michael B. Coleman, who has dealt with revitalization of the aging Morse Road

commercial corridor since his days as a city council member, said the work to get the

project started has been worth it.

"It will lift up this entire area," he said. "Some people said it couldn't be done. We had

doubters all over."

By the time Northland Village is completed, the city will have spent $19.4 million at the

former mall site, including the money to buy the land. City officials have agreed to

improve utilities and extend roads for the new development by Dioun's Stonehenge Land

Co.

Urban Growth President Mark Froehlich said the plan closely mirrors what Northland

residents requested.

Although early plans included housing on the site, they were not included in the final

drafts, Froehlich said.

Office workers will help fuel demand for the cluster of shops and restaurants, Dioun

said. He said he's in discussions with possible tenants for the Penney site; the former

Lazarus already has been converted to offices for the Ohio Department of Taxation.

Menards will be a "destination retailer" and another anchor for the project, he said. The

chain operates in 11 Midwestern states and has Ohio stores in Defiance, Findlay,

Holland, Lima, Marion and Sidney.

No other retail or restaurant tenants were announced yesterday.

"We've still got some details to work out," Coleman told three neighborhood residents

as he pointed out features on a map after yesterday's announcement.

"Close enough to announce it, though," he said.

Froehlich and city officials said the city will continue to own the land as development

begins, although a sale to Stonehenge is possible.

rvitale@dispatch.com