An unofficial Highlands’ landmark has been listed for sale.
According to the listing agency Cushman & Wakefield, the property owners are “looking for the right partner” to help build a new mixed-use development on the 11-acre property. No asking price has been made public yet.
Mid-City Mall, which opened in 1962, is home to over a dozen businesses, including Baxter Avenue Theatres, the Caravan Comedy Club, and the Ramen House restaurant + the Highlands-Shelby Park Library branch.
According to agent Austin G. English, all of the mall’s tenants have been made aware of the sale plans and many are considering a move.
Ramen House has already solidified plans to relocate to a space on Spring Street.
Representatives of the Bardstown Road property have met with the Louisville Metro Government — including the Bardstown Road Overlay District — and both sides hope and expect that a new development would continue to include a space for the Highlands-Shelby Park Library, according to English.
Bonus: That branch of the Louisville Free Public Library moved to Mid-City Mall in 1994. Read up on the history of the Shelby Park branch that preceded it.
The property is zoned as C-2, or standard, common commercial. It’s the most permissive commercial zoning category — it includes almost everything except sports arenas, data centers, and manufacturing. This zoning type also allows for mixed residential and commercial usage, specifically apartments.
When the iconic Back Door bar closed earlier this year, Mid-City Mall’s owner Sandra Metts-Snowden said in an interview with WHAS11 that she’d received numerous offers for the mall for years.
“We are looking for something that would fit in with the neighborhood and would benefit the neighborhood,” Metts-Snowden said.
At that time, the property was valued at $11.3 million.
English shared that the Heine Brothers and Raising Cane’s buildings are on separate lease agreements from Mid-City Mall, and a potential developer would need to negotiate those spaces separately.
There is no timeline for a deal or construction. Both would be dependent on what offers come in for the land.
