Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

With CampusParc set to move to the South Campus Gateway by the end of the year, some local business owners said they think the change might bring more patrons to the area.

David Hoover, a spokesman for CampusParc, said the CampusParc office expects the move will happen within the calendar year. The office will be located “at the east end of the Gateway’s pedestrian plaza,” he said.

“Our new space at the South Campus Gateway is being designed with the primary intent of serving as a more efficient, convenient customer service center, while also providing office space for staff,” Hoover said in an email.

Hoover declined to provide the cost of the move, but said the move will have no impact on CampusParc staffing levels.

The Gateway, located adjacent to South Campus, includes restaurants, shops and a movie theater. It’s a subtenant of Campus Partners, which is a private nonprofit corporation that works on community planning in the campus area alongside OSU and the City of Columbus.

CampusParc is a private company that manages parking services at Ohio State. It was created after the university agreed to a 50-year lease on its parking assets for the upfront price of $483 million in 2012 with QIC Global Infrastructure, an Australian investment firm.

CampusParc currently resides inside Bevis Hall at 1080 Carmack Road, roughly two miles from the Gateway.

Hoover said CampusParc’s main focus is to be closer to main campus and in getting there, it might help local business.

“It is our expectation that customers might grab lunch or conduct other business while also attending to their parking-related business,” he said.

Some business owners said they are feeling hopeful with the news of CampusParc’s office move.

Andrea Archibald is the co-owner of apparel store Devoted, which opened at the Gateway in April. She said business has been good so far.

“Since the kids got back and football started, (business) has been fantastic,” she said.

Archibald also said the store is in support of anyone who brings more traffic to the Gateway alley, like World of Beer, a restaurant that features more than 500 choices of beer, that’s set to move into the Gateway within the school year.

Martin Lamp, co-owner of The Oxley Tavern and Grillery, which opened in July at the Gateway, said he supports CampusParc’s office move for similar reasons.

“Anything attracting office space or any students to the Gateway is a positive thing,” Lamp said. “We just want to get our name out there.”

Lamp said while business started out slow, now that students and football are back, he’s seen an increase in traffic.

At least three businesses formerly located in the Gateway closed their doors or moved to new locations between 2012 and 2013.

In addition to new office space, Hoover said CampusParc also plans on generating a way for people to work with it online. In order to do that, he said the company will be creating several kiosks for customers to use at the new office. He said the goal of the new office is for customers to be able to “self-serve.”

Office hours, customer service hours and staffed phone lines will remain the same upon CampusParc’s move to the Gateway, Hoover said.

CampusParc’s new location is set to be located near the Gateway’s garage, which Hoover said is within walking distance for the majority of faculty, staff and students and will be more convenient to customers.