By John Clark

The (Columbus) Republic

Owners of Columbus Center at Marr and National roads plan to replace the former Ames/Hills half of the shopping center with a new Target store, according to plans filed Thursday with the planning department.

The plans indicate the company will keep the half of the center that houses Big Lots and Family General but will demolish the buildings housing the Cozy Lounge, Dairy Queen, Outback Steakhouse and the former Ames and movie theater to make room for the 126,200-square-foot Target store.

Managers of the Dairy Queen and Outback Steakhouse said they had not been told of the new development or plans to remove their restaurants.

The former Ames/Hills store has been vacant since March 2001. Ames only occupied the building for about 18 months before it was slated for closing by its parent company.

Mayor Fred Armstrong said he supported the project.

“The redevelopment of Columbus Center would certainly be beneficial for the city of Columbus,” Armstrong said. “Today’s filing is only one step in a number of critical stages that need to be met before any redevelopment plan becomes a reality.

“In conjunction with plans that are currently under way for widening U.S. 31, efforts to redevelop Columbus Center would certainly give a big boost to that particular area of the city.”

The property is already zoned planned unit development. The application asks the city plan commission to subdivide the property from three lots to two and to approve the plat plan for the new development at the April 3 meeting of the board.

The deadline for filing applications for the April 3 meeting was Monday, but the package containing the application and fees arrived at the mayor’s office Monday while he was out of town and was not discovered until he returned Thursday.

Laura Thayer, deputy director of the planning department, said the application appears to have arrived in time to be considered at the April meeting.

Armstrong said he expects the city’s subdivision review committee to look at the plans March 21.

The changes will require only the approval of Columbus Plan Commission and will not have to go before City Council.

According to plans presented by New Plan Excel Realty Trust of New York, the property’s owner, the block of stores that will remain on the property’s north side will be retrofitted with a new façade.

“The center, which has a long history in the city of Columbus, has a high percentage of vacant square footage and is in need of significant redevelopment in order to recapture customers and be successful in today’s marketplace,” the owners wrote in their application.

“New Plan Excel Realty Trust is proposing a significant redevelopment to re-energize the center.”

Although the description of the plans refers only to “a nationally recognized retail building” at the remodeled center, a façade drawing was prepared by Target and shows a Target store.

The existing building including the former Ames and the vacant movie theater is about 109,500 square feet in size. The proposed Target is the smallest of the large retailers currently being built in Columbus. They include:

The proposed Wal-Mart at 10th Street and National Road — 208,000 square feet.

The proposed Menards on Jonathan Moore Pike — 162,000 square feet.

The new Lowe’s at 10th and National Road — 135,000 square feet.