LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville company is proposing a nearly 300-unit apartment complex in St. Matthews near Westport Road and Ridgeway Avenue on a rare swath of the suburban city’s undeveloped land.
LDG Development filed plans Monday for the project, which would displace an existing apartment building, offices and The Plant Kingdom garden center and raze those structures. It calls for three buildings on the 8.7-acre site, including a five-story structure, a clubhouse, parking garage and dog park.
The land is now approved for residential, office and commercial uses, but LDG is seeking to have it all rezoned for multifamily living. Part of the property already is zoned for apartments.
If the plans are approved, LDG hopes to buy the land later this year, said Christi Lanier-Robinson, the company’s executive vice president.
Unlike some of the company’s other work that focuses on lower-income housing, the St. Matthews complex would be leased at market rates.
“People think of us as an affordable housing developer, but this is really kind of reflective of the growing trend of multilevel multifamily housing in general,” Lanier-Robinson said. “I mean, a significant portion of our portfolio now is market rate in Kentucky.”
The site is near the intersection of Westport and Ridgeway just north of the main railroad line through St. Matthews, an unusual area where cars moving north on Westport over the railroad tracks don’t have to stop. But there is a two-way stop for vehicles on the north side of the tracks.
The LDG plans call for a new traffic roundabout at Ridgeway and Westport, “which we believe will improve the traffic pattern for everybody,” Lanier-Robinson said.
The Plant Kingdom has been notified of the development plans, Stewart Howe of HGH Development said in an email Tuesday morning. HGH Development is a partner on the project with LDG.
"All leases on the property remain private and active as we continue to work through the terms of our purchase agreement," he said.
Asked to comment on the development plans, The Plant Kingdom's co-owners, Shelly and Tony Nold, said in an emailed statement: "We are looking forward to another exciting season as many beautiful, spring plants will be arriving very soon. It is business as usual for us here at TPK."
The apartment project would be named Gilman's Point Apartments after Daniel Gilman, a prominent 19th century citizen of the city that became St. Matthews.
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