LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A downtown Louisville apartment complex is taking the next step in its growth west of 9th Street, bringing in a new future for current and future residents.
Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Craig Greenberg joined city and state officials at the corner of 10th and Fisk streets in the city's Russell neighborhood to unveil the next chapter of the Beecher Terrace Apartments.
Crews broke ground on the final phase of the revitalization project. Once the phase is completed, it will include 210 brand new units to the mixed-income community.
Once a rundown, crime-heavy apartment community, Beecher Terrace has seen new life over the last three years.
Louisville Metro Housing Authority received a $29 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2016 to make the project a reality, creating a 620-unit live-work housing development for low-income residents, seniors and others.
It's a project Greenberg hopes goes beyond just brick and mortar, is less about structure and more about opportunity for what is known as the Vision Russell Transformation Plan.
"We need to remember these buildings exist for a reason," said Greenberg. "They exist to serve. To serve the people of Russell, to serve the people throughout our city that are in need of high quality, safe and affordable housing."
Former Beecher Terrace residents who moved out before the initial demolition will have first pick at the new units. The fourth phase will have a mix of market-rate units and low-income units.
Sharon Bumphus Mickens, who lived at the complex in the 80s, just moved back a few months ago.
"I don't know why Beecher Terrace has a bad reputation, because it hasn't had a bad reputation," Bumphus Mickens said. "It was a bad reputation because the person was bad. Beecher Terrace is not bad."
Tuesday also marked the third summer in a row that a new phase has been announced at the $213 million complex, and the last.Â
Phase 3 was finished last October, and included 185 units as well as community spaces, a fitness center and an outdoor pool.
The final phase is expected to be finished in August 2025.
The original Beecher Terrace was built in 1939 in the Russell neighborhood, between Muhammad Ali Boulevard, 13th Street, Jefferson Street and 9th Street. It has been described as a severely distressed public housing development. That's why the city has been focusing on building it back up.
Metro Housing Authority officials call it "revitalization over gentrification."
Related Stories:
- Beecher Terrace has new life, new look as city invites longtime residents to 'come home'
- Beecher Terrace celebrates grand opening of first 2 phases in $30 million project
- Senior tenants moving into brand new Beecher Terrace apartments
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