Louisville Airport Authority sells last undeveloped property impacted by noisy plane traffic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Decades after Louisville's Airport Authority bought hundreds of acres of land to relocate homes impacted by noise from planes landing at Standiford Field, the last remaining piece of land is being sold for $3.1 million.

The 52-acre plot located in south Louisville is being purchased by Alter Development.

"We like the area," said Alter Development President Chris Thompson. "We think that it's got great potential, and we love that it's a part of Heritage Creek, which is a mature neighborhood. So, I think this will be a great addition to that small city out there."

The Heritage Creek neighborhood, which is technically a city within Jefferson County, was developed decades ago by the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. Following expansion of the airport, it needed to relocate residents in the area who would be impacted by increased noise.

To help alleviate the noise problem, in the 1990s Louisville's Regional Airport Authority bought nearly 300 acres of land in the south end of Jefferson County to relocate homes impacted by noise from the planes.

"At that time, we obviously knew that noise would be an impact to neighbors that maybe hadn't experienced it at that level," said Natalie Chaudoin, a spokesperson for the Louisville Regional Airport Authority.

The airport relocation program began in the 1990s and was initially expected to be completed in three phases. Phases 1 and 2 became Heritage Creek, but by 2018 the voluntary relocation program was 'substantially complete' and phase 3 never happened.

Earlier this year, airport officials said it no longer needed the land which was never developed and announced it would sell the remaining land set aside for Phase 3 of the program.

"This is just 52 acres of open land for the developer to come in and create a community that meets the compatible standards of the City of Heritage Creek," Chaudoin said.

The airport authority board approved the sell in a meeting earlier this month and Alter Development is planning to break ground soon for what will add to the existing Heritage Creek neighborhood.

"Our house plans are going to be similar in nature to what is already in the neighborhood, but they're going to allow us some upgrades," Thompson said.

Alter is planning for around 180 single-family homes that will range in size from 1,200 to 2,200 square feet. The price estimate for the homes is in-between $300,000-400,000.

"We don't want to stick out," Thompson added. "We want to complement what's out there."

Now, decades removed from the airport's initial relocation plan, what became the City of Heritage Creek will continue to grow when the airport and the Alter Development close on the sale in the next few months.

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