After delays, City Winery project to move forward
Restaurant, concert venue on South Side aiming to break ground this summer
Work is expected to begin this summer on the City Winery concert venue and restaurant on the South Side, after the project was delayed from its original schedule.
The New York-based chain of clubs is now targeting a 2024 opening for its Columbus location after originally planning to open early this year in the former Via Vecchia Winery, 2108 S. High St.
“We are 100% committed to opening,” said owner Michael Dorf, who opened the first City Winery in New York in 2008.
“We’re hoping to break ground in early summer. We expect six months of construction and if we’re lucky, to be finished by end of year, or the early part of 2024.”
City Winery will help anchor the $350-million Steelton Village development, which includes the former factory called The Fort and other buildings still to come, including up to 1,000 apartments.
The Columbus site will be the 17th City Winery, and will be the next to open, following a Pittsburgh club in a few weeks, Dorf said.
“When I look at Columbus from a music standpoint, there’s clearly a very strong need for our offering,” he said. “Because we’re now a multistage chain, that’s giving us opportunity to access music that is national and would maybe play in bigger rooms or skip Columbus altogether.”
The Columbus club will be similar in size to other City Wineries. The club will seat 265 to 300 for indoor shows and 300 for outdoor shows, or up to 500 standing. The outdoor venue will include bars and fire pits. The restaurant, which is separate from the club space, will seat 75 indoors.
The Columbus City Winery, like the others, will make wine on site.
The project was delayed in part because of complications from incorporating part of an adjacent building into the project.
“We had delays with the city in terms of getting our building permit and separation of the other building,” Dorf said. “Between interest rates and costs of capital, and the continued uncertainty economically, we’re approaching it slightly slower, making sure we have all the ground under our feet. We can only roll out so many new and effective locations.”
City Winery’s Columbus website mentions several acts including Aimee Mann, Art Garfunkel and Billy Joe Armstrong that Dorf said are examples of acts that play City Winery venues.
“We get bigger name acts in a smaller room,” Dorf said. “Our acts would much prefer to play two, three or four nights in a market, stay in a nice hotel and eat nice dinners.”
Dorf said Columbus fans can get an idea of who will perform at the upcoming venue by looking at other City Wineries,
because artists will often play City Wineries in different cities. Upcoming artists at the Chicago City Winery, for example, include Kamasi Washington,
Tone Loc, Hoodoo Gurus and Al Stewart. jweiker@dispatch.com @Jimweiker