Metro Council approves tax subsidy for Urban Government Center redevelopment plan

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The push to redevelop the long-vacant Urban Government Center site cleared a major hurdle Thursday after the Louisville Metro Council approved a tax subsidy for the project’s developer.

An ordinance creating a tax increment financing (TIF) district passed the council on a 17-7 vote, with one member voting "present." It is one of the final approvals needed for Paristown Preservation Trust, the group chosen by Metro government in 2021 to lead the revitalization effort.

The TIF measure will let the group get $20 million in local property taxes rebated to it if it meets certain development goals.

Mayor Craig Greenberg's administration also must get city legislators to declare the property surplus in order to sell it for $1, but the city plans to own the property during the demolition of most buildings, including the old Kentucky Baptist Hospital.

“Deciding the future for the Urban Government Center site has been a long, public process,” Jeff O’Brien, executive director of the city’s economic development cabinet, said in a statement after the vote. “We thank the Metro Council for their support. We look forward to working with the neighbors and the developer to implement the project.”

The next steps and timing haven’t been determined, according to the city’s economic development cabinet.

Paristown Preservation Trust did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Thursday night.

The council debated the ordinance for about 20 minutes before voting. The measure passed with bipartisan support, with a swath of Democrats and one Republican casting the “no” votes.

Council member Jecorey Arthur, I-4, was among those voting against the TIF ordinance. He cited the Greenberg administration’s decision to remove neighborhood representatives who served on a panel negotiating a “community benefits agreement.”

“They expressed a lot of concerns about this project, spent a lot of years working on the project, are directly impacted by the project, and unfortunately were dismissed from negotiations about the project,” Arthur said.

He noted that amendments made in a council committee may have addressed some of their concerns. “But if that were the case, why discontinue the advisory panel?” Arthur asked. “Their voices deserve to be heard, whether or not they agreed with the mayor or the developer.”

Removing the members of the negotiating panel sets a bad precedent that Metro government doesn’t keep its word, Council member Ben Reno-Weber, D-8, said in explaining his vote against the subsidy.

In moving forward with its third developer for the 10-acre site, then-Mayor Greg Fischer’s administration required the city to enter into the benefits pact with the “surrounding neighborhood associations” before selling the property for $1.

Instead, the city ousted those groups and replaced them with organizations with direct ties to the developer.

“The point is: We said, ‘Your voice matters,’ and then we said it didn't,” Reno-Weber said.

Council member Jennifer Chappell, D-15, also voted in opposition because of the way the city treated the neighborhood panel. She called the design of the Paristown group’s proposal “unremarkable” and raised concerns about the planned demolition of the old hospital building, which dates to 1924.

“I believe the behavior of the developer has been abhorrent, the decorum of our economic development department has been weaselly, to say the least,” she said. “We fumbled the ball for three years, and we can't seem to stop tripping.”

But supporters argued that now is the time to finally improve an area that has been neglected for years.

Council member Donna Purvis, D-5, who represents western Louisville, told the council that she’s familiar with looking at abandoned properties in her district.

“I just think it's time to move forward,” she said. “It's not fair to the community that lives in that area to keep going back and forth, back and forth. I feel like we may lose the interest of any future developers if we don't move forward with this.”

Also in support was Council member Brent Ackerson, D-26, who said the plan makes economic sense and is a “legitimate project.”

“It's time to get rid of the blight and bring progress,” he said. “It may not be the progress that we want. But it’s the progress that the city needs.”

Ackerson sparred with fellow Democrat Andrew Owen of the 9th District, who asked for the floor shortly after Ackerson finished his remarks. "When people speak about things they don't know anything about, then I feel like I have to retort," Owen said.

He said he questions the anticipated cost of remediating the environmental hazards on the site in former government office buildings and razing them.

Ackerson then asked to speak again.

"I'll respond to my colleague and person from District 9. And that will be this: You know, if you're talking about me speaking about what I don't know about, I say, 'Piss on you.'"

That brought a rebuke from Council President Markus Winkler, D-17, who told Ackerson to direct comments to him.

Ackerson then said that Owen is not an expert on everything, and that he is entitled to his opinion.

"I look forward to working with you in the future, sir," he said.

At that point, Council member Tammy Hawkins, D-1, moved for a vote.

A potential lawsuit still looms over the project. In July, opponents of the Paristown trust’s plan warned that they will consider legal action if the project moves forward.

They argue that the Metro government has let the trust change its plans in violation of the initial request for proposals.

O’Brien has said the plans are “substantially similar” to what the developer submitted in response to the city’s request for proposals and also what was approved when the land was rezoned in 2023.

He also said Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell’s office has been involved in discussions about the project.