February 22, 2005
Riverfront
Project Design Unveiled
Development to have housing,
shops, marina
Apartments and condos will sit on a platform 12 feet over River
Road, with parking underneath. Courtyards will have views of the Ohio
River. A large central courtyard
will be ringed by ground-level shops, restaurants and such amenities
as a health club.
Developers of the planned $130 million RiverPark Place project on
Louisville's waterfront say they learned from visits to such
developments in Boston, Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, B.C., that
"bigger is better" and that more units help create "a sense of urban
community."
Not enough traffic and people, said Steve Poe, a partner in the
local project, could lead to "fears of a barren, no-man's land."
The Waterfront Development Corp. board will review the
preliminary plan by Icon Properties LLC for RiverPark Place
tomorrow.
According to the plan, the first phase will include up to 350
units in six four- to 14-story structures, most of which will be
built atop a platform to escape flooding, along with a large marina
and extensive pathways, piers and park space.
Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson said he has dreamed of
developing the city-owned, 35-acre area north of River Road just
west of Beargrass Creek since the late 1980s. He said Icon has the
"financial horsepower and the development expertise" to complete the
project.
Poe said the plans are "pretty grandiose. But we believe it will
be one of the best waterfront urban developments anywhere."
David Karem, the Waterfront agency's executive director, said
Icon's preliminary plans appear "strongly in keeping" with the
board's direction for Ohio River development.
The property is just upriver from Stop Lite Liquors, which is
being relocated, and is next to the newest part of Waterfront Park.
It includes the old Louisville Municipal Boat Harbor, whose members
probably will be offered slips in the new marina, Poe said.
Under a development agreement approved last fall by the Metro
Council, Icon must "substantially complete" phase one by Dec. 1,
2006. Poe said ground will be broken this fall, with first occupancy
by fall 2006.
Poe said about 60 percent of the first phase will be apartments
renting for $500 to $1,500 a month. The other units will be
condominiums selling for around $150,000 to more than $1 million.
He said several lenders have expressed interest in financing the
first phase.
RiverPark Place was a collaborative design by Goody Clancy of
Boston and K. Norman Berry Associates Architects of Louisville.
Berry has designed numerous projects along Main Street in
Louisville, and Goody Clancy has designed waterfront projects in
Boston, Cleveland, Norfolk, Va., New Haven, Conn., and numerous
other cities.
Waterfront spokesman Mike Kimmel said regulatory agencies will
review the plans, but no rezoning or further Metro Council approval
is needed.
Jim Segrest, president of the Butchertown Neighborhood
Association, said he was confident Icon will "do a great job"
developing a plan that preserves the historic character of the area.
Poe said Icon has agreed not to develop a three-acre wetlands
along Beargrass Creek that will be used for picnicking and launching
canoes.
He said Icon also won't develop an area near the old Paget House
on the west side of the tract where archaeological surveys in the
1990s turned up remnants of an 1800s riverside settlement. The Paget
House will be converted to a public use to be decided, Poe said.
The development agreement calls for Icon to pay the city 4
percent of the proceeds of all condo sales, 4 percent of the annual
rent payments and 4 percent from the sale or rental of any marina
boat slips in return for use of the land.
The Icon partners include Berry, Poe and local investors Clyde
Ensor, Mike Ehrler, Nolen Allen and William Hysinger. All but Berry
are partners in the new $111 million Downtown Louisville Marriott.