LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A nearly vacant building sits on one of downtown Louisville's busiest corners, its first floor a shop advertising cigarettes and lottery tickets with vacant space upstairs behind a wall of broken windows.

But the space at 5th and Market, just down the block from the gleaming new Derby City Gaming and in the shadow of several of Louisville's tallest buildings, could soon be home to downtown's newest hotel.

"I think smaller style, boutique-style coming to downtown, you are starting to see is really going to help the walkability and, of course, that generally just speaks to our pocket," Wayne Sweeney, director of operations at Merle's Whiskey Kitchen on Main Street, said Tuesday.

Doug Bennett with Louisville Tourism said his office fields about four calls per month from developers who have ideas of what should go in downtown and where.

"Louisville is garnering a lot interest, and this project is exciting," Bennett said. "It helps downtown. Downtown is our core."

And Bennett believes the planned boutique hotel location at 5th and Market streets is a perfect fit.

"The density of foot traffic, the proximity to the convention center and special event venues and certainly the attractions, I couldn't think of a stronger corner to put this type of project on," he said Tuesday.

Earlier this year, a building in that block caught fire overnight. More than 100 firefighters spent hours battling the massive flames.  

5th and Market Streets

Developers Bill Frey and Todd Underhill bought the property at 5th and Market streets for just under $1 million last fall. Jan. 2, 2024. (WDRB Photo)

"Dish was there for years (and) it was successful," Sweeney said. "The Gruv was successful. Osaka was successful. It's sad that a fire kind of pushed that out, but, obviously, we are all excited for new blood and new energy coming in downtown."

Developers Bill Frey and Todd Underhill bought the property for just under $1 million last fall. Their plans call for a 20-room hotel with a portion of the first floor dedicated to a new bourbon experience.

The building is part of the city's opportunity zone, a plan that offers tax incentives to buyers to help transform an area that would economically benefit the city.

Just down Market Street, the new six-story Canopy by Hilton hotel is being built, a $60 million project that will have 168 rooms and be done later this year.

"I am a believer in the smaller-style boutique hotels," Sweeney said. "It makes the city look cuter, so to speak. It gives it more of a hometown feel."

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