LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The $600 million One Park development in Louisville’s Irish Hill neighborhood is close to obtaining its final land-use approval, though it’s still uncertain if city and state taxpayers will help pay for the private project.
A Metro Council committee on Tuesday advanced a zoning change needed for One Park North, the expansion portion of the project that calls for a 10-story and 17-story pair of buildings on the north side of Lexington Road.
The full council is likely to give final approval to the change at its Feb. 16 meeting.
The original One Park plan, a mix of apartments, offices, stores, restaurants and a hotel — up to 18 stories tall — won zoning approval in 2019. Developer Kevin Cogan and his firm, Jefferson Development Group, are now planning a unified project spanning both sides of Lexington Road.
Cogan’s firm has been working since last fall to build support for a city and state subsidy that could direct $244 million in tax dollars to support the project, WDRB News reported exclusively in October 2022.
The proposed tax-increment financing plan would need separate approval. An ordinance related to the subsidy is likely to be introduced in the next six weeks or so, said Metro Council President Markus Winkler, who supports the proposed tax-increment financing district.
Metro Council member Andrew Owen, whose Clifton-Crescent Hill district includes One Park, praised the expansion portion of the project during the council committee meeting on Tuesday. He said dense developments such as One Park are needed to support businesses and public transit.
Whether taxpayers should help pay for the development is a separate question, Owen said.
“What we’re not doing here is discussing how this project is going to be financed and whether there will be public financing available,” he said. “That’s a conversation that we’re going to have pretty soon. And that’s probably a conversation that we should have.”
