LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The city is continuing its efforts to redevelop the Sheppard Square housing complex in the Smoketown neighborhood.
All families at the complex near Preston and Jackson Streets have been relocated. Demolition of the buildings will begin next week. Until then, the city has erected fencing to secure the site.
In all, 267 families relocated from Sheppard Square. Some moved to other Louisville Metro Housing Authority housing developments or scattered sites, Section 8 sites, while others moved on their own without assistance from the Louisville Metro Housing Authority.
The redevelopment of 70-year-old Sheppard Square has been underway since the announcement of receiving a $22 million grant in the federal HOPE VI revitalization program, in May 2011. This $101 million project will result in a mixed-income neighborhood, with new amenities and energy-efficient housing. The project is modeled on Louisville Metro Housing Authority's two award winning HOPE VI sites, Villages of Park DuValle in West Louisville and Liberty Green in east downtown Louisville.
"The new development that will occur in the heart of Smoketown, just south of Broadway, will transform this neighborhood, connecting it to the nearby Medical Center and central business district," said Mayor Greg Fischer. "Securing the site is the first step in creating a vibrant neighborhood."
The revitalization plans for the new Sheppard Square community have been decades in the making, and involved an extensive collaborative process with neighborhood residents and community stakeholders.
Plans call for razing all 36 existing Sheppard Square buildings and replacing them with a combination of on-site and off-site subsidized and market-rate apartments and homes. The former Presbyterian Community Center, a significant landmark in the neighborhood, will be completely renovated.
Construction is expected to be complete by end of 2015.
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