Land exchange will bring $40 million development to downtown Elizabethtown

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- A vacant lot in downtown Elizabethtown could soon change the footprint of the entire city now that the city has agreed to a land exchange with the current property owner.

The Jones family, who operates Herb Jones Chevrolet, has agreed to give the city a nearly 2-acre parking lot downtown and develop a mixed-use building on the remaining property in exchange for a 8.78 acre lot on Ring Road.

The downtown property at E. Poplar and E. Dixie contains a parking lot with 87 spaces. The remaining four acres of the property is home to the former dealership. It has been vacant since Herb Jones Chevrolet moved from the downtown location to its current location on Ring Road in 2005.

The Jones family's agreement to develop the property will bring about a $40 million dollar space that will contain around 200 living units and retail space on the ground level.

"We've got Impellizzeris, we've got J.R. Neighbors, we've got a lot of businesses that have come into downtown, and for those to be viable you need people living downtown," said Mark Jones with Herb Jones Chevrolet.

Business owners in the area like Bourbon Barrel Tavern's Stacy Reynolds believe the change will further the growth that downtown has experienced for the last few years.

"We spend a lot of money in Louisville, in Lexington, in Nashville," Reynolds said. "I'm not saying we won't still do that some, but I like the fact we've got more opportunities here."

The progress that has happened with new businesses and developments in the downtown district is leading to a boom for those already with prime real estate.

"If you're a developer and you're looking for a spot, this is a great spot, but you better hurry," Reynolds said.

Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory knows exactly what the development can do for a city and area that's attracting new business.

"If you look at every downtown revitalization playbook, it will tell you you have to have people living down there for it to be successful and sustainable," Gregory said. "What people that want to locate businesses here are looking at are rooftops, the amount of people that are living here and also traffic count."

Winterwood Inc. will head up development efforts, and the Jones family will look at similar developments at the Ring Road property it received in the exchange.

The contract stipulates that the development must start within the next three years. It includes that the development at the Ring Road location begin simultaneously with the downtown project, or in the next five years.