LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville foundation provided more than half a million dollars to a local nonprofit that promotes affordable housing.

The James Graham Brown Foundation gave a $575,000 grant to Housing Partnership, Inc. The nonprofit serves as a real estate developer that creates affordable housing opportunities to encourage family stability, revitalize neighborhoods and promote economic growth, according to a news release. 

The funding will help complete the first-floor build out of the Gateway on Broadway project. It's a restoration effort at a vacant five-story warehouse at 1405 West Broadway in the Russell neighborhood. 

Gateway on Broadway

Rendering for Gateway on Broadway at 1405 West Broadway in Louisville, Ky.

"This funding will help us create a vital Community Resource Center and relocate HPI’s offices to the West End, where we can better serve our neighbors and provide essential services to the community," HPI CEO Andrew Hawes said in a news release. "With the James Graham Brown Foundation’s support, we are not only building out a space, but fostering opportunity, accessibility, and growth in the Russell neighborhood."

Sherie Simumba lives in the Russell neighborhood. She waits at a bus stop across from what could be her new home at 15th and Broadway. The $51 million housing project will create more than 100 apartments for low-income seniors.

"It's been abandoned for a while, Louisville has a lot of empty buildings around here," Simumba said. "I am glad they are trying to make it out to an apartment."

The old, rundown warehouse is steeped in history: it was a candy factory, a cigarette manufacturing facility and a veterans affairs office, where Muhammad Ali would appeal his draft classification for religious reasons. It will now offer affordable housing for low-income seniors. 

"Sad to know that a building of this size has been blighting the community for that long and it is going to have a tremendous effect on revitalization efforts in west Louisville in addition to providing housing," Hawes said. "It should have been a no brainer but unfortunately it took a long time to be able to secure the site."

The first floor of the building will be a community resource with housing headquarters for several nonprofits, service providers and a meeting space. The James Graham Brown Foundation has distributed more than $1.7 million to Housing Partnership, Inc.

“The James Graham Brown Foundation eagerly supports work that lifts communities and elevates neighborhoods, advancing the image and national perception of Louisville and Kentucky. HPI’s work aligns with those goals, so we were delighted to be a part of this project," Mason Rummel, president and CEO of The James Graham Brown Foundation, said in a news release. 

HPI has leveraged more than $1 billion in affordable housing development and has created over 10,000 affordable housing units to help support low-income individuals and families since it was founded in 1990, according to a news release. 

Developers first announced plans to transform the property in 2019. 

Gateway on Broadway Senior Apartments will provide 116 affordable apartments for low-income seniors. 

"I think that is a great idea," Simumba said. "There's a lot of great buildings around here they don't use."

Two floors will be ready by December. The entire project is expected to be completed in May. 

For people interested in leasing an apartment, click here or call (502) 656-3601. 

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