Louisville Lofts and Condos

This weekend, on Saturday, September 8th, 2007, between 10 am and 3 pm, free tours of downtown housing will be offered, featuring 22 different projects, including lofts, condos and apartments.

Downtown trolleys, offered by TARC, will circulate along two different routes, to allow easy transportation between the featured projects, part of $2 billion in downtown investment that is currently planned or already under construction in the downtown Louisville area.

Louisville Downtown Management District is sponsoring the Housing tour. It begins at 4th Street Live in the Brown & Williamson tower lobby, where booths will feature downtown projects and include maps of the project locations on the tour.

The former Artic Ice House on East Main Street has been purchased for redevelopment into 52 condominiums. The site at 217 E Main St is within a short walking distance of Slugger Field, Waterfront Park and several East Main restaurants and galleries.

The conversion will take place in phases, with the first phase (32 1-Bedroom condos) featuring the renovation of the 7-story structure, at an approximate cost of $3 million. The second phase (14 1-Bedroom and 6 2-Bedroom condos) will convert the one and two-story structures on site into condominiums and should be complete about one to two years after the first phase. The full basement with access to Washington Street will become the common lobby, fitness and entertainment area.

The redevelopment of the Ice House is being spearheaded by Dave Steinbrecher, owner of Derek Engineering, a general contracting company, and David Barhorst, head of SoFo Development and developer of Byck’s Lofts on Fourth Street.

One bedrooms are expected to cost between $189,000 to $215,000 with two bedrooms at approximately $299,000. There will be onsite parking available.

Financing is in place ($7 million from PRP Bank) and construction is expected to begin by year’s end.

The city announced the development partners to build the next phase of the Liberty Green project, a redevelopment of the former Clarksdale Public Housing site into a mixed income residential area.

The Louisville Housing Authority has chosen Bill Weyland’s City Properties Group (developer of The Henry Clay and The Louisville Glassworks Lofts) and Holly Wiedemann’s AU Associates (developer of Artek Lofts in Lexington) to develop up to 380 units for sale over the next decade. Currently, about 120 rental units have been developed, with over 100 already occupied.

The first project, 18 condo units along Hancock Street between Jefferson Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard, may be completed by Fall 2008, pending financing. The three-story rowhouses will be priced from $120,000 to around $300,000, according to Weyland.

Last month, I mentioned the expansion of 4th Street Live! into the adjacent Starks Building by Cordish Company.   In that post, I also mentioned the hints from City Hall about the possibility of a major new investment in retail in the downtown area.   The plans for that expansion are now being made public.

The new project, entitled Center City District, will cover 23 acres along six blocks of Muhammad Ali Boulevard.   The Center City District will entail a $250 million investment in housing, restaurants, a boutique hotel and movie theater by Cordish Co.  One of the keys to the project is the vision of the Center City District as a neighborhood and not just a project.  It builds on much of the planning and development work that started about 20 years ago to revitalize the downtown area.

 Key Aspects of the Center City District

• The Gardens will be renovated (possibly for a minor league hockey team)
• Housing (hundreds of units, probably Condos and Lofts–but no specifics yet)
• 1,000 new parking spaces
• Movie Theater (likely AMC, based upon other Cordish projects)
• Restaurants
• At least one structure with 15+ stories
• Timing: To be completed by 2010

Financing of Center City District 

Obviously, one of the primary drivers for this project will be the financing.  A TIF (Tax Increment Financing) district will be created for these 23 acres and up to 80% of the additional tax revenue generated by the development (keep in mind–these tax dollars wouldn’t exist without the development) will be rebated back to the development owners for street and other improvements.  Over the course of 30 years (the life of the TIF), the rebates are anticipated to be about $130 million.  The upfront investment of $250 million will be solely the responsibility of Cordish Co., without city bonds–meaning the City of Louisville will not take on financial risk if the development does not meet financial expectations.

This weekend (August 18-19), the Home Builders Association of Louisville are sponsoring the 2007 Tour of Remodeled Homes. The fee ($10/adults, $2/children) will allow access to all 13 homes featured on the tour on both Saturday & Sunday between 12 noon and 6 pm each day.

Many home shows don’t interest me, but one home on the tour this year should be particularly interesting:

• 707 East Market Street: a live/work home with the first floor as a commercial photography studio and the second/third floors as the family residence. The home, formerly a warehouse, features original heart pine floors, exposed brick, exposed ceiling joists and six (6!) original cast iron fireplaces.

Perhaps I’ll see you there.

More information can be found at the Home Builders Association of Louisville.

Park Place Lofts, view from Main Street

400 E. Main St.
Louisville, KY

Total units: 22 (condos)
Lofts: 22 units
Unit size: 792-1,802 sf
Sale price: $133,750-$315,000 (past two years)

Year built: 2005

Park Place Lofts is located directly across the street from Slugger Field, home of the Louisville Bats baseball team. It is also diagonally across from Preston Pointe and directly across the street from Fleur de Lis, another condominium project currently under construction. The lofts are located in the rapidly emerging East Main District of Louisville, one of the hotest residential areas in downtown. Many of the lofts feature balconies with great views of Slugger Field and Preston Pointe. It has on-site parking and a great location, just steps away from the Great Lawn and Riverfront park. The first floor features commercial space (a hair salon and a small coffee house, Blue Mountain, I believe), with several of the spaces currently open.

Park Place Lofts Photos

Park Place Lofts view of side balconies

Mercantile Gallery Lofts–View from the East on Market Street (with Charnette building still under renovation on the left)

The Mercantile Gallery Lofts, a $10 million development of Todd Blue (with Jim Walters of Bravura and investor Rowland Miller) includes the renovation of two historic structures (plus a third, newer building from the 1960’s for the parking area).

As of July 23, 2007 there are 8 condos that have been sold (the project began marketing about a month earlier, in June 2007) and the condos are now officially complete and open for occupancy. The units range from $179,000 to $400,000 (with a penthouse for $850,000). The development features a first floor common area with billiards/poker table, theater room, fireplace lounge, fitness facility and laundry.

Although the project is essentially complete, buyers can still have the finishing touches of each condo customized upon purchase.

The Fleur de Lis on Main is an 82-unit development that is now under construction at the corner of Preston & Main St in downtown Louisville. The five-story development will feature street level retail space and secured, underground parking. Each of the units will be on floors 2-5 and will feature a balcony (with either courtyard or street views). There are fifteen different floor plans, from 1,067 sq. ft to 2,016 sq ft in a variety of formats. All of the units have two bedrooms, but some are lofts, some have dens and others are in a townhouse format, with prices from $240,000 to about $440,000, dependent on configuration and views. In May, the developers announced that 30% of the development was pre-sold, just prior to the end of pre-construction pricing (June 1, 2007). Based upon my review of the currently available units at Fleur de Lis on Main, about 33% have been sold as of mid-July.

The condo/loft development is being constructed in the middle of the fast developing East Main District, directly across the street from Preston Pointe and diagonally across the street from Slugger Field, baseball stadium home of the Louisville Bats. On the opposite side of Preston street are the Park Place Lofts. There are 11 (!) residential developments either built or planned within one block.

I took a few pictures to show the current construction status. The foundation and underground parking appear to be substantially complete. Work has already begun on the first floor’s steel infrastructure. Work began last year (August 2006), but appears to now be making substantial progress.
Fleur de Lis on Main from Preston Street (July 2007)

Fleur de Lis on Main–View of underground parking and first floor steel construction from alley with Preston Pointe in background (July 2007)

One of the biggest complaints (for years) has been that downtown Louisville is dead after work. Obviously, this has a negative impact on the whole region: if the center is dead, the rest of the city is soon enough down the same path.

A couple of years ago, as part of the continued revitalization work for the downtown area, 4th Street Live! opened in the old galleria space (a downtown mall that had lingered well past its prime). I can’t really say that I’m a huge fan of 4th Street Live! (a bit too sterile and mass market friendly), but it has done its job and acted as a magnetic for the downtown area, both day and night.

As evidence of its success, The Cordish Company (owners of 4th Street Live!) have now announced a major $6 million expansion of the original project into the adjacent Starks building (20,500 sq ft on the first floor). The Courier-Journal also reported this may be a prelude to an even greater expansion (destination retail) on the old water company block.

All of this is good for condos and lofts, as more attractions stimulate even more demand for living space where there’s energy and vitality. Bill Weyland and his City Properties development group are in the process of completing the renovation/restoration of the YWCA building, just a block south of 4th Street Live!, a multi-use project with commercial space, apartments and condos. As this area continues its renewal, I expect to see many more condo and loft projects underway.

I-64 is closed for the next month. If you believed all of the hype, you would think that the world would end because of this event. In reality, it was much of a non-event. Traffic was a little worse. Travel to/from Indiana to Louisville takes longer. It’s not pleasant, but nothing earth-shattering. Even with the closure, the traffic is nothing compared to larger cities, such as Chicago.

If you live close to downtown, the I-64 closure isn’t any trouble at all.

This brings me to two points I want to make:

First, there has been a movement for some time to reevaluate the plans for two new bridges in the Louisville, KY area (one bridge downtown and one bridge on the east end). This movement, 8664, persuasively argues that I-64 through the heart of Louisville–cleaving the downtown from its historic, riverfront roots–was a mistake in judgment when the interstate system was first conceived for the Louisville area. I-64’s closure between 22nd Street and Third Street is more or less the section of I-64 that 8664 proposes be removed and turned into a boulevard along the river. The current situation is not really a fair comparison to the 8664 proposal for two reasons: (1) The East End Bridge doesn’t exist and (2) 8664 proposes a boulevard where I-64 currently travels, enabling easy access to downtown from the West End and Indiana. However, I do think that the current closure shows that traffic can still move–even with major construction underway.

Second, the disruption caused by the closure of I-64 is magnified because of Louisville’s lack of a true mass transit alternative to commuting by car. At more workplace, however, there has been positive interest shown in at least considering the bus for commuting. But, let’s face it. There are only a handful of routes from Indiana to Louisville. Moreover, the buses also must deal with the same closure of I-64 as all other vehicles. That’s not very conducive to gaining ridership.

What does this have to do with Louisville Living?

For Louisville, KY (and the surrounding region) to continue its development, it needs to improve the quality of life–especially in the urban/town centers. A vibrant center energizes the entire region.

For downtown, I-64 is an ugly blight. It’s removal would greatly improve the quality of the downtown area, creating new open space and connecting the city center to its river heritage. It would open the riverfront area for development and revitalization (especially the Riverport area just west of 9th Street) and lead to a renaissance along the river. Moreover, it would likely prove to be a financial boon–potentially saving taxpayers more than a billion dollars by making the constuction of a second downtown bridge for I-65 unnecessary.

The money saved could then be funnelled into another project to improve the quality of life for the entire region: a real transportation plan. Today’s plan isn’t much of a plan: build more roads (even though current roads can barely be maintained). A true transportation plan would encourage more travel choices (more choice=more satisfaction) to the entire Louisville community.

For example, Vancouver, Canada has an innovative transportation plan that explicity states “there should be no increase in road capacity, with the intention that other modes are preferred in the following order:

1. Walking
2. Cycling
3. Transit
4. Goods Movement (trucks)
5. Single Occupant Vehicles

Louisville should likewise develop a comprehensive transportation plan, focused on quality of life and true transit choice.