Do any of you know what the new capacity of the stadium is? I've seen multiple numbers floating around and don't know which one to trust.
I've seen no update on the official, normal capacity. When Sports Business Journal announced Scotts as the new naming rights sponsors, the article said the safe-standing capacity is 20,585. The new seats must push that close to 21K. Obviously, we sell tickets above those numbers when demand dictates.
If my info was correct, last year's capacity was 20,139 and this year's 20,585 (which is what's currently listed on the Stadium's website) just doesn't feel like enough of an increase after the addition of new sections.
The biggest seated capacity I've seen listed is 20,371. I agree that that seems a bit low. Just spit-balling, but I also assume there's: 1. seated capacity 2. standing room capacity 3. additional temporary seats capacity (were some temp seats added for the MLS All Star Game?) 4. Fire Marshall capacity Those suites, for example. I assume they have a standard seated capacity, but based on square footage and egress, would also have a max, code-related capacity. I mean, there's a reason why we've gotten close to 21,000 in a stadium that has never listed a capacity close to that number. But what the actual, physical capacity for a soccer game might be (how many tickets would the team we allowed to sell before it bumps up against code restrictions?), I have no idea.
This question seems to be related to some context I'm not aware of. I just know a lot about how Ohio sports stadium are structured, financially and legally.
For the longest time Quicken Loans Arena / The Q (before the big renovation in 2019/2020 and rename to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, and now Rocket Arena) official capacity was 20,562. This despite numerous changes to the seating arrangements behind the basket and around the court between 2005 and 2018. It stayed at 20,562. It wasn't until the big renovation (where they tore out the upper bowl seating on the one end) when they changed the official capacity to 19,432.
As announced by the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Crew and City of Columbus have been selected to host nine LA28 Olympic Football (Soccer) Tournament matches in 2028. Marking the first official Olympic Games competitions in Ohio, the Club and city will welcome a combined eight men’s and women’s group stage matches (July 10-11, July 13-14 and July 16, 2028) and a men’s quarterfinal fixture on July 20, 2028. Kickoff times and opponents will be announced at a later date. https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/c...otball-soccer-tournament-matches-in-july-2028
https://www.bizjournals.com/columbu...=40&cx_testVariant=cx_10&cx_artPos=2#cxrecs_s The Crew’s president of business operations Mary Shepro, says the Olympics is a pretty big deal: Shepro also said they initially expected fewer games here - 4 to 6 - because of the existence of just the one OhioHealth training facility. But the existing fanbase, coupled with the bid for a women’s team and potential of that second training facility on the south side seemed to tip the scales in our favor.
Here's a story from NBC4 from last night about the Astor Park development and & its future: https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/crews-astor-park-neighborhood-taking-shape/ And here's the video:
So ... removing the North parking lot. And, I assume ... eliminating some (all?) parking in Astor Park garage to give to residents. It's ironic the story references Wrigleyville. Until this off-season, the Cubs ownership were tagged as being more interested in real estate than winning. I don't think forcing more people to walk a half-mile one way to get to The Scott is a next positive. But I also can't work "optimism" into my financial models like developers apparently can.
Fixed that for you. Also, according to the rendering, the North Lot becomes a park which could very easily be a pre-game space. Source: https://www.pizzuti.com/projects/astor-park-offices
Re: parking. I assume that any mixed-use/residential building will have some parking integrated into the design. For example, there are proposals for both a 21 story mixed used (240+ apartments) structure and a 9 story. 88 room boutique hotel across from Astor Park at 530 W. Spring Street, currently a surface parking lot. The structure would sit on top of a 5 story, 600 space parking garage. Will this 5 story Pizzuti mixed use building have integrated parking? I can't tell from the plans and reporting I've seen thus far. However, a Columbus Business First article about this project included the following line: "There are plans for a second and third phase of development, with more apartments, parking, retail and public art." Recall that the north lot was never intended to be parking - or a park - over the long term. Initially, it was proposed as a senior living facility. Whatever it turns out being, it sounds like a "third phase" development project. The fact remains, however, that no matter how many new parking spaces get added to Astor Park and surround areas, it'll get more congested and difficult to get into and out of for Crew games as more and more businesses get based there and people start living and visiting there. And that's always been the case. It's meant to be a fairly dense urban mixed use development. At the tail end of that video, there was an awkward mention about the potential for new avenues of access/egress. Though nothing's been decided or committed to yet. That reminded me of the study, several years ago, about a potential bridge that would more directly connect the western segment of the Arena District with Franklinton (where there's lots of parking, as well). Maybe that'll get revived at some point. Timer will tell. I suppose if the Savko lot were more accessible it would have been snapped up and developed by now.
Columbus requires new builds to have a certain number of on site/off street parking spots, unless you get a waiver, which they often give.
Nationwide bought 14 acres from CSX and Savko about a month ago. Maybe the article, which is paywalled, describes exactly where, but it probably doesn't include the Savko triangle, although it might include the strip just north of there. https://www.dispatch.com/story/busi...0c116550e1113xxv115851&gca-ft=36&gca-ds=sophi
If I remember correctly, it's this lot: "The bulk of the newly acquired land sits northeast of ScottsMiracle-Gro Field and northwest of Huntington Park in the Arena District, bordered by Vine Street to the north, Neil Avenue to the east and railroad tracks to the south."
I assume they see "Astor Park" as, in a sense, one big development that will require X number of parking space since fully built out. In the image Chris included above, you see a large U-shared building with a big surface lot behind it. That building doesn't exist yet. Regardless, I'm cool with the hike down from Hofbrauhaus.
We've known about the removal of the north lot. It sucks, but it's also empty land in Columbus, so it's nothing but lost profit for Ron Pizutti. That assumption seems to be safe, unless they buid more parking. Someone mentioned they can get a variance. As we know, money talks.
There's a Venn diagram with a huge overlap: Millennials, progressives and people who absolutely despise cars. The problem being Columbus lacks public transit from the suburbs. People want to come in to downtown from the suburbs. The suburbs are notoriously unwalkable and have giant parking lots, which, as I understand it, is by partial design. In the suburbs, someone might drive .25 miles out of their development, then two miles down a road with minimal sidewalks at 35 MPH, then into a giant parking lot all for 3-4 things and that's when they don't spend $200-300 at the warehouse club. Move into the city and the mindset, especially amongst younger people, seems to be "walk to the store for what you need, when you need". Part of this is due to smaller residences. There's even a small trend to not have dishwashers, due to amount of living space. Lots of suburbanites generally don't want to walk too far, especially with kids and/or in bad weather. I had a suburbanite tell me straight-up that people wouldn't want to walk to now-SMG when they could see HCS from their car. In actuality, the distance from their car in 2026 isn't that much further isn't that much different than it was in 2019...and, oh yeah, egress is a lot better. The suburbanites aren't going to come if they don't have easily-accessible parking for their 2-3 parents and 2-6 kids. The elderly/disabled? It remains to be seen. Walking from Grandview or Front St only works for some people.
I’m taking the wording literally, which may not be the way @Meddlin' Truckstop Owner meant it, but the assumption that parking will be given to residents is certainly not accurate. The garage is a revenue generating facility for the City of Columbus. Anyone who wants a space there will be paying extra for it.