The property was in a part of metro Louisville that needed workforce housing, and yet hadn’t seen any new apartments built in more than 30 years. Homebuilder Jason Orthober looked at the site, and envisioned a new building with 100 affordable units that could house teachers, nurses, firefighters and their families. The project was near an older apartment complex, and even had a stub road leading to it. In basketball terms, it felt like a slam dunk.
Until it wasn’t.
“It was an area where a lot of blue-collar families lived, and we were going to provide housing for people who needed it,” recalled Orthober, owner of Orthober Custom Homes. “But there was a street with maybe 10 people on it who appealed to someone on Metro Council, and they shot it down. It was great for those 10 people, but I could have put 100 families in a relatively affordable, new apartment complex that would add tax dollars to an area that needs them.”
It’s but one example of the battle fought every day by members of the Building Industry Association of Greater Louisville, which for decades has advocated for professional standards and helped connect consumers with builders, remodelers and other industry pros. Everyone needs a roof over their head, and BIA members are the ones who build it. When it comes to someone else’s roof? That’s where it tends to get complicated, and where the battle overgrowth in Louisville truly begins.
“We’re always fighting,” said homebuilder Trevor Brown, president of Trevor Brown Construction. “Everybody wants their dream home, but they want to be the last person who gets it. They don’t want anybody to come in after them. People always fight development, but no growth is worse. Stagnancy is what kills communities more than anything.”
Generating jobs and tax dollars
On average, each new home build supports around 800 jobs—from the on-site carpenters and electricians, to workers at lumber yards and concrete plants, to the truck drivers hauling the materials. And for every 100 single-family homes constructed, a local area reaps nearly $4 million in taxes and other revenue, according to the National Association of Homebuilders.
“Construction equals jobs from the get-go, and all kinds of jobs. It's everything from non-skilled labor to people with the highest level of degree engineers, architects and attorneys. We employ just about every type of professional that you can think of when it comes to construction and development,” said Juva Barber, executive director of the BIA of Greater Louisville.
“And the opportunity to put a roof over peoples’ heads has a positive economic impact. Jason’s apartment complex would have increased revenues for city and state governments through property taxes. Our schools are funded off property taxes, and Jefferson County schools suffer when there is not continued growth and development, because you're not adding new properties to the tax base. It’s an interconnected problem that 10 people can stop because they don’t want something in their backyard.”
To Brown, the current president of the BIA of Greater Louisville, the disconnect is evident every time an industrial project receives tax incentives and a ribbon-cutting for bringing in fewer jobs than the housing industry does in the greater Louisville area—this, when the region is more than 30,000 homes short of where it needs to be. “We’re trying to provide that,” he said, “but everything is so swayed at a local level. It’s such a hard thing to fight.”
Orthober just shakes his head. America’s cities were built on housing units constructed on small lots in dense developments—something echoed today in tonier projects like Norton Commons in Prospect, where the tagline is “More Life Per Square Foot.” But propose something similar at an attainable price point for teachers and police officers, and sentiment seems to change.
“People keep asking us for attainable housing. I cannot do that on a 75-foot wide lot. It is not going to happen. But a 30-footer, I could do something really pretty, make it old school,” said Orthober, treasurer of the BIA of Greater Louisville. “If you went into some neighborhoods outside of downtown Louisville 100 to 150 years ago, there’d be 30-foot lots everywhere. They understood that back then. It’s interesting how perceptions have changed over time.”
Dream homes for everyone
The need for more attainable housing is reflected in two marquee events the BIA of Greater Louisville hosts each year. The Tour of Remodeled Homes, held in early August, showcased the value added to homes through remodeling, as well as the BIA-member professionals doing the work. And Homearama in recent years has pivoted from an event dedicated exclusively to luxury homes, to one displaying a variety of homes at different price points.
“Historically they’ve been dream homes, but we have to remember that everyone has a dream—whether it’s an absolute mansion, or a first home,” Barber said. “We have something for everybody in Homearama. It’s a showcase, one showing off not just what builders and subcontractors can do, but also one where the whole community can dream a little bit about housing.”
The 2026 version of Homearama will be over three weekends beginning Sept. 11, 18 and 25, and include 18 custom or model homes in different subdivisions and at different price points. “It's a chance for people to find out what opportunities are out there across the whole spectrum of homebuilding,” Brown said. “Yes, we still have the $2 million homes, but we also have starter homes. We cover the gamut of all the options out there.”
All the while, the BIA and its members continue to pound the drum for prudent growth and development, and narrowing the housing gap in Louisville. Homebuilding provides jobs, generates tax revenue, helps fund schools and provides people with the safety and self-worth that comes with having a roof over their heads. That is, until 10 people on one street get in the way.
“We can't let the desires of the few outweigh what is best for the overall community,” Barber said. “We have to get back to thinking about the long-term success of the overall community. We have to get past the mindset of what the individual wants is paramount over what is best for the community. Because when the community overall is doing well, that means everybody, every individual in the community, has a better chance of doing well.”
Interested in more information on how homebuilding benefits the community, or where to find a building professional for your building or renovation project? Contact the Building Industry Association of Greater Louisville at (502) 429-6000 or BIALouisville.com.
