The first phase of the Scioto Peninsula development will include three apartment buildings, two hotels, an office building and two parking garages. Eventually, plans call for 1,800 residences, 2 million square feet of offices, 400 hotel rooms and 200,000 square feet of retail on the site, immediately west of COSI Columbus.

Work is expected to begin in the spring on the first four buildings in the massive transformation of the Scioto Peninsula across the river from Downtown.

“This is the largest first phase of a development in the city’s history,” said Guy Worley, president and chief executive officer of the Columbus Downtown Development Corp., which is overseeing the project…

Columbus will have to wait a little longer for a new skyscraper.

The plan for a new 21-acre mixed-use district just west of COSI is moving forward without the twin 30-story residential towers initially envisioned, as Indianapolis-based Buckingham Companies was officially named late Tuesday as the selected developer.

The Dispatch first reported the expected selection of Buckingham in October.

Buckingham was chosen from a field of seven…

In some cultures, cranes are a good omen. It’s said the regal, long-necked birds are symbols of longevity, good fortune and success.

Want to know what’s in store for Columbus’ Downtown area?

Look for the cranes — the mechanical ones.

Crawler cranes, tower cranes, articulating boom cranes migrate like mammoth metallic birds, popping up in the sky whenever an area is deemed “promising,” “up-and-coming” or “full of potential.”

“I think right now we can be coined the ‘Crane City,’” said Guy Worley, president and CEO of the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation.

When the nonprofit development organization was formed in 2002, it had a lofty goal: to make Columbus one of the most-attractive center cities in the country.

“I think if you go back 10, 15 years, we were a downtown with a lot of dreams,” said Worley…