Campus Partners and Ohio State teamed up to buy two carryouts on North Fourth Street in an effort to reduce crime in the neighborhood.
OSU gave a $855,000 grant to help with the overall $1.1 million purchase of Kelly’s Carryout at 1521 N. 4th St. and D&J Carryout at 1395 N. 4th St. That money came from revenue the university generates from leasing properties, and did not come from tuition, university spokesman Dan Hedman said in an email.
“This effort is directly in line with Campus Partners’ mission to support the revitalization of the surrounding community,” Keith Myers, associate vice president of Physical Planning and Real Estate at OSU, said in a statement.
Campus Partners for Community Urban Development is aprivate nonprofit corporation that works on community planning in the campus area alongside OSU and the city of Columbus. It was founded in 1995 by OSU to help with the “revitalization of the urban neighborhoods” when the university saw a problem with safety near campus, according to Campus Partners’ website.
“There (are) better uses potentially on those sites then it’s just been before,” said Amanda Hoffsis, president of Campus Partners.
“I think our effort is not trying to remove something but add something that would be more beneficial,” Hoffsis said. “I really think that as we redevelop them, the uses will be to support the community in a much more positive way.”
Hoffsis said there’s no set plan in place for what will replace the carryouts. Campus Partners plans to talk to the community about what it would want to see happen with the spaces.
Campus Partners also owns South Campus Gateway, which had four tenants leave in a span of 10 months starting in summer 2013.
