LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- From the sidewalk outside the Louisville Free Public Library at the intersection of South Third and York Streets, Rachel Roper and James Duehring said they don't know the name of the neighborhood where they're standing.
“Yeah, I guess Old Louisville would be what I know it as?” Roper said.
“Yeah,” Duehring replied. “It’s got some old buildings. The center of Louisville?"
It’s not quite Louisville’s Central Business District, and it’s not quite Old Louisville. The area is located on the south side of Louisville’s Broadway Street. According to the Louisville Metro Government’s Cornerstone 2020 neighborhood plan, the neighborhood is called “SoBro.”
The area is one of Louisville’s 19 designated Opportunity Zones, established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to encourage long-term investment in low-income communities by giving a tax incentive to investors.
The “SoBro” neighborhood is an under-served area with lots of empty buildings and parking lots. It’s close to downtown, and the president and CEO of Louisville Architecture firm, Aric Andrew, said it's ripe for redevelopment.
The firm plans to partner with InterContinental Hotels Group to transform the Old Louisville Bank Building at Fifth and Broadway into a $50 million, 195-room Hotel Indigo.
“It's an under-served building that's sort of challenged after the bank closed to be an office building,” Andrew said. “And with the need for additional hotel beds due to the expansion of the convention center and bourbon tourism, we think re-purposing that building as a boutique hotel would be a great idea.”
The project is seeking taxpayer help through a tax increment financing district. Andrew hopes the hotel will be a catalyst for other new developments in the neighborhood. The TIF district would redirect 80% of the increased property taxes generated by the building’s redevelopment back to the developer.
The proposed TIF district could rebate up to $2.7 million in property tax payments back to Luckett & Farley over the 20-year life of the incentive.
The plan goes before Louisville Metro Council on Thursday.
The Hotel Indigo should be open by spring of 2021. Andrew said he hopes it will open by the Kentucky Derby in May.
Luckett and Farley owns three properties in “SoBro.”
“We have the JEC building at Second and Broadway which we are developing with Jefferson College,” Andrew said.
The properties also include the company’s headquarters on South Third Street and the adjacent building on York Street. Luckett and Farley hopes to fill the space with offices, a bar, a restaurant and possibly a micro distillery.
“We've been vetting the zoning requirement,” Andrew said. "We got an opinion from the city, and they agree that would be a permitted use. So we don't have any concrete plans, but we do have a couple of distilleries interested in coming here.”
As the area attracts more attention, Roper and Duehring said the name "SoBro" just might catch on.
Copyright 2019 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
