How did Columbus Compact wind up developing Heritage Square?
Getting Heritage Square on the map, Beard says, has been a combination of huge potential and huge hurdles. First and foremost, the Near East Side is a densely populated area with a low cost of living, low tax base and proximity to downtown. The 14,000 cars traveling Main Street daily are a plus for prospective retailers. “We also understand that 90 percent of people don’t live here, they just drive through and get the impression by the abandoned buildings, broken windows and vacant lots they see,” Beard says. On top of a general image problem, the area’s 35-foot-wide lots, many of which were mired in decades of family ownership drama, made growth an easy turn-off for larger developers. But the need for a grocery store and other retail led Columbus Compact to make Heritage Square a “mission” of sorts. The first 19,000 square feet of Heritage Square Marketplace on Main Street features Save-A-Lot and Simply Fashions stores. The second phase, set to break ground this fall, will have an add
