They (re)paved paradise a parking lot and put up a parking lot boutique hotel.
Another boutique hotel is in the works for Derby City. Located just south of Broadway, at the intersection of 7th and York Streets, the yet-to-be-named hotel would be constructed on what is mostly a surface parking lot.
A developer from Kansas, the TCG Group, is behind the plans, which has no specific construction timeline at the moment. Here are some of the specs, per paperwork filed with the Louisville Metro Government:
- The plans feature a two-story hotel + an unattached two-story building, surrounding an enclosed parking lot.
- The hotel will include 48 rooms, with 24 on each floor.
- Plans include a proposed area for public art on southeast corner of the property facing York Street.
- The parking lot will have room for 70 spaces.
- Construction will include improvements to the streetscape, including: 10 street trees, metal benches, and landscaped areas.
As for the unattached hotel building, it will be part of a second phase of construction, and its final design is still in the works.
The former home of “The Smiling Irishman”
The project would demolish the only structure on the property: A four-story building that dates to ~1880.
For ~40 years, the lot adjacent to that building was home to a Louisville icon. Bob “The Smiling Irishman” Ryan operated Bob Ryan Auto Sales on the property from the 1950s through the 1990s — at one time it was Derby City’s oldest car lot. An adjacent alley is named in Ryan’s honor.
Louisvillians of a certain age may remember his television commercials — you can spot that building in the background of this one from 1992. Often seen wearing a green suit, Ryan would welcome viewers with a friendly greeting of “Hi neighbors” before inviting them to, “Louisville, Kentucky’s number one used car lot.”
