LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Two abandoned properties on Bardstown Road in the Highlands will soon open as a 21-unit apartment-hotel and restaurant.
The Bellwether Hotel will open in the old Highlands Police Station as well as the neighboring building, which once served as the home of Louisville Ballet. People will be able to rent the rooms in the new "apartment hotel" for a night, or long-term guests can stay up to three months.
“As Highlands residents and business owners, we’re committed to maintaining the history and character of the Bardstown Road corridor while also creating businesses that bring value to the neighborhood,” Ben Botkins, of Park Mile Partners, said in a news release. “The Bellwether allows for the preservation of two historic buildings on one of the neighborhood’s most distinct corners and will provide a space to welcome new visitors to the area. The hotel will be the gateway for up to 50 new visitors a day to explore the Highlands and support neighboring businesses, many of which are locally owned.”
The historic properties that sit at the corner of Bardstown Road and Rosewood Avenue have changed hands many times in recent years, but land records show they were purchased in 2019 for about $1.1 million.
The old Highlands Police Station and Bell South building are more than 100 years old.
The owners — Botkins, his wife, Sarah Mattingly, and Sean and Annie O'Leary — said the restoration will preserve the property's historic facade and offer guests a "modern, unique experience with each room fashioned to pay homage to community namesakes, primarily local historical figures, and key thoroughfares in the Highlands."
"What I have envisioned is something that is true to the era in which these buildings were at their peak," Mattingly said in 2019. "So Art Deco, think Great Gatsby, that kind of timeframe."
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