Guest lecturer, Brent Collins, delivers a presentation to the University of Louisville eMBA students regarding Urban Development in Louisville's SoBro District. Luckett & Farley, the city's oldest architecture and engineering firm, calls SoBro home. It has played a role in the original urban development of Louisville beginning in 1853, with some of the firm's historical structure still present in the neighborhood. While many studies have been conducted in recent past, the "no man's land" of downtown is searching for an identity and beginning to organize its stakeholders to play a critical role in helping Louisville realize a strong Fourth Street Corridor from Main Street to Churchill Downs.

1. METRO LOUISVILLE
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
#SoBroLou
BRENT COLLINS
Luckett & Farley
July 27, 2013

2. • Architecture/Engineering/Interior Design
• Best Places to Work
• Founded 1853 – oldest in the U.S.

4. THE URBAN PLANNING MOVEMENT
Louisville Urban Development

5. • JC Murphy, active
Louisville Urban
Planner
• One of the "founding
fathers" of the
Louisville Planning
Commission and
incorporating the
"new" concept of
zoning within the city

6. City Hall Clock Tower Replacement
1876

7. Home Life Building Addition, Heyburn Building
1922

8. German Bank, Louisville National Bank
1914

9. Snead Building (Glassworks)
1909

10. Cathedral of the Assumption
1858

11. St. Boniface’s Catholic Church
1899

12. Whiskey Row
1871, 1877, 1905

13. Waverly Hill Sanatorium
1926

15. Churchill Downs
1895 - Present

16. DOWNTOWN
Louisville Urban Development

21. WEST DOWNTOWN
Louisville Urban Development

22. James F. Irvin House
1860

23. Jefferson Branch - Louisville Free Public Library
1913

27. SOBRO
“No Man’s Land”

30. Presentation Academy
1893

31. Monsarrat Fifth Ward School
1855

32. Ronald-Brennan House
1870

33. Nazareth College
1871

35. Urban Land Institute Study
How can Louisville create an
identity for, improve
connections between, and
foster desired development
along the diverse districts of the
Fourth Street corridor?

37. Observations: SoBro
• Strong institutional assets
– Library
– Spalding University
– Presentation Academy
– Kentucky School for the Arts
– Memorial Auditorium
– Simmons College of Kentucky
– Jefferson Community and Technical College
– Churches
• Broadway is perceived as a barrier
• Perceived difficulties of new development regulations
• And…

38. Lots of Lots

39. Opportunities
• Increasing student population
• Attractive to the arts community
• Sports fields or complex for public and institutional use – Spalding
University, Presentation Academy, Saint Francis School
• Business and retail expansion prospects
• Streetscape upgrades
• Bicycle and walking/jogging pathway system
• Assemblage of publicly-owned properties for redevelopment
• Metro Parks’ upgrades and development of greenspace system of
small parcels and strips
• Available housing stock for renovation or adaptive reuse
• Tax incentives
• Re-zoning

40. Where to begin?
• Communicate
• Organize
• Benefits for stakeholders
• Support from Metro Government
• Create a unique identity and interest

41. BRANDING SOBRO
Louisville Urban Development

46. IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS
Corridor Development

47. Implementation Tools
• Public finance
– Make public land available
– Leverage assets
– Sales tax proposal
• Partnerships to direct investment in the
corridor

48. • Leverage Parking Assets to Fund Development
Priorities
– Metro controls significant portion of parking
supply
– Privatize parking garages
• Offers capital raising opportunity
• E.g., 1,000-space ramp
– Monetization – can leverage $10M
– Price Increase - $10/space, $120K/year, $1.6M net present
value
– Revenue targeted for catalytic projects
Implementation Tools

49. NULU
Success Story

50. NuLu Organizes
• 1991
• Unified voice for businesses
• Metro Development support
• Recruit businesses

51. YOUR IDEAS
What’s next?

52. Brent Collins
Marketing Manager
bcollins@luckett-farley.com
@LFMarketing