![the garage gay bar columbus ohio the garage gay bar columbus ohio](https://gaycities-featured-images-production.s3.amazonaws.com/events/originals/fb_960154_455094771231808_717655207_n.jpg)
Now, Edwards is about to tackle a third corner of Gay and High - the former Madison's Department Store and White-Haines buildings, which for years have been High Street's biggest eyesores. "That block was a missing tooth Downtown for decades it was just so exciting to to watch that stretch of High Street come back to life." "That was a fantastic infill," said West, of Columbus Landmarks. Immediately to the north, the company filled the empty block on the northwest corner of Gay and High streets with The Nicholas, an $80 million building that includes 230 apartments, 393 parking spaces and 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The company followed that renovation with a larger one, a $20 million conversion of the former Citizens Bank building, at the corner of North High and Gay streets, into apartments and what might be the most luxurious bar in Columbus. Neighborhood Launch also included the renovation of the former Welsh Presbyterian Church on East Long Street into a community center. The scale of it, the design of it, the urban qualities of it, are just spectacular," said Robert Loversidge, a longtime member of the Columbus Downtown Commission and CEO of Schooley Caldwell architecture firm.
![the garage gay bar columbus ohio the garage gay bar columbus ohio](https://gaycities-featured-images-production.s3.amazonaws.com/events/originals/fb_1043887_535736426474314_922753475_n.jpg)
"Neighborhood Launch is really spectacular. While many developers are waiting out a pandemic that has left them jittery or merely finishing projects started before the pandemic, Edwards is set to embark on a string of developments totaling more than $160 million that will transform Downtown and help bring his vision to life. "Long-term, Downtown Columbus will be great. "It's going to come back," said Edwards, 57, CEO and president of The Edwards Companies. More: Downtown, Short North business owners hoping $10,000 grants help them weather COVID storm In Edwards' vision, the new Downtown will include an elevated landscaped skywalk, a vibrant French bistro spilling onto the sidewalk, a sunken plaza with outdoor dining, public art hovering over High Street and nightlife rivaling the Short North. He saw a Downtown rising to life after a pandemic left it all but a ghost town, boarded up and empty. Late last year, in a former bank lobby that his firm meticulously restored, Columbus developer Jeff Edwards studied a map of Downtown Columbus and saw a changed city.