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Metro Council approves TIF for Urban Government Center

The redevelopment plans for the 10-acre area just got a $20 million boost.n

An abandoned seven story brick building

The original hospital building was built in 1924, but plenty of annexes and additions have come since.

Photo via Louisville Metro.

If you’ve spent any time in Paristown Pointe or the Highlands, you’ve probably seen the massive, empty buildings between Barret Avenue and Vine Street. The property is enclosed by chain-link fencing, and tall grass covers much of the exposed concrete. A huge smokestack dominates the center of the property — it’s tough to get lost in this area if you can spot it.

This is the Urban Government Center, a ~10-acre city-owned property that served as offices for Louisville Metro Government for decades until it was abandoned in 2016. The site includes:

  • The former Kentucky Baptist Hospital building, which originally opened in 1924
  • A former Louisville Metro Police substation
  • An office building, which formerly housed part of the Louisville Metro Housing authority
  • A ~76,000 sqft parking lot along Vine Street

Over the last eight years, there have been several attempts to build on the property — a lot of developments on this development — so here’s a quick debrief to get you up to speed.

How we got here

Since the Metro Government moved out of the offices, there have been multiple attempts to redevleop the property:

  • 2017: Metro Government reached an agreement with Louisville-based developer The Marian Group to renovate the property with townhomes, shotgun-style homes, and other middle housing options.
  • 2019: That agreement fell through.
  • 2020: The city put out another solicitation of interest. It received two responses and selected Underhill Associates, which had similar plans to install housing on the abandoned property.
  • 2021: Metro Government terminated the Underhill agreement after the developer failed to identify private funding for gaps in its budget. In December, the other applicant — the Paristown Preservation Trust — signed a development agreement with Louisville Metro Government.
  • 2022: The Paristown Preservation Trust released a $183 million plan for the property that included office space, a hotel, a dog park, and cottage-style homes. At the time, the developer hoped to break ground in January 2023.
  • 2023: The site was rezoned, paving the way for demolition once funding was secured.

The current situation

On Thursday, Sept. 19, the Louisville Metro Council approved $20 million in Tax Increment Financingaka TIF — for the project in a 17-7 vote. The deal would allow the developer to keep up to $20 million of the taxes the project would generate, if the development meets certain agreed-upon critera + minimums.

Paristown Preservation Trust’s current $249 million plans for the Urban Government Center include:

  • ~200 apartments + condominiums
  • ~200 senior living units
  • 80,000-165,000 sqft of office + commercial space
  • Hotel with with 80 to 100 rooms + five rooftop condominiums
  • Public green space
  • Parking garage with space for at least 400 vehicles

A construction timeline for the project is still TBD. The current plans call for most of the buildings on the site — including the old Kentucky Baptist Hospital building and the former police substation — to be demolished.

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