LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville leaders unveiled a new program Tuesday to help transform vacant downtown buildings into housing and other uses.
The plan funded by Kentucky legislators earlier this year is part of the "reimagination of downtown Louisville," Mayor Craig Greenberg told reporters, saying applications will be accepted until early February.
Retail, entertainment and other proposals will be considered, but Greenberg said the focus is on new housing units. The buildings must be in the central business district — an area bounded by York Street, Interstate 65, the Ohio River and 10th Street.
"We're very interested in more people living downtown," he said. "We're going to give priority to projects that include housing, particularly that includes some affordable housing. These are projects that are really important as we think about creating the 24/7 neighborhood that's growing here in downtown Louisville."
In general, there are about 10-12 buildings that are likely targets of the conversion program, said Jeff O'Brien, executive director of the city's Cabinet for Economic Development. Examples include the Kentucky Home Life Building on 5th Street, the Brown-Williamson Tower on 4th Street and the Waterfront Plaza east tower on West Main Street.
"I think we're probably going to have three or four larger projects," O'Brien said. "Again, we're filling gaps here."
City officials expect to make awards by mid-March and want projects that can be finished within three years.
There is no cap on how much money will be spent on each project, although Greenberg said some could receive in the "millions of dollars."
He acknowledged that one challenge to more downtown living is a dearth of nearby grocery stores, but he said city officials are working on several projects in the area that have those elements as part of their "residential developments." His administration did not elaborate when asked about those projects.
The funding also must be balanced against other projects included in a $100 million allocation Kentucky lawmakers approved earlier this year. One of those, the Community Care Campus for homeless people in Old Louisville, is slated to receive $22.5 million for its construction.
In addition, the state spending plan includes money for the LOUMED medical district campus; Louisville Gardens, which would be repurposed into a media soundstage; and the Butchertown Sports District, where the owners of Louisville's professional soccer teams have promised additional development.
Greenberg said officials are working to determine how much funding those efforts will receive.
Louisville's downtown office core has slumped in recent years following work-from-home trends that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. It had the highest commercial office vacancy rate in Louisville — 21% — during the July-September period, according to the most recent data from real estate broker JLL.
Humana told its employees this year that it plans to vacate the namesake building designed by architect Michael Graves at W. Main and 5th streets, folding its Louisville headquarters into the Waterside-Clocktower campus on the east edge of downtown.
LG&E also has said it will leave its 24-story building at 220 W. Main St., although the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to take some space there. The Corps has been headquartered at the Romano Mazzoli Federal Building since 1969.
Other buildings, like the Kentucky Home Life Building at 239 S. 5th St., remain vacant after promises of redevelopment. In July, police and city officials led an emergency evacuation of squatters inside the building.
Even with the newly announced city effort, there won't be enough money to help every vacant building, said Rebecca Fleischaker, executive director of the Louisville Downtown Partnership. But it could spur other developments and create "increased vibrancy."
"This really is a great use of public funds to get something moving that hasn't yet been moving," she said. Â
Jeff Underhill, a Louisville developer working to revive the vacant Starks Building, said ideas like the new city fund are part of reevaluating how high-rise structures are being used especially as the city's growth has slowed. "The reality," he said, "is that they are empty today."
"There are numerous buildings in our downtown that we don't have answers for filling today," he said.
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