Bardstown Road is gettings its own “green building.” A new two-and-a-half story mixed-use structure is proposed for the site of of a former car wash on the corner of Bardstown Road and Edgeland Avenue and will contain a Highland Cleaners, retail space, and two condos.
Michael Jones, owner of Highland Cleaners and Doric Real Estate, hopes to set a precedent for sustainable architecture on the Bardstown Road corridor with his structure dubbed the Highland Green Building. Among the green amenities planned are passive and active solar technologies, a green roof, pervious concrete, geothermal heating and cooling, and even a greenhouse above the garage that will be able to grow food year round. Jones is also planning a sidewalk educational feature with a computer screen showing how the green technology works.
Two lofted condos are planned above the first floor retail space. One retail space will include a Highland Dry Cleaners drop off location. No dry cleaning will be handled on site due to the chemicals involved in the process.
The proposed structure was designed by Design Plus Architecture of Bardstown Road who also recently designed the Bardstown-Eastern Building housing a Heine Brothers Coffee Shop just down the street. John Warmack, principal at Design Plus, says the building will be a little more modern than the B-E Building but will still blend with the neighborhood through scale and material. The building facade will primarily be brick.
A drive-through for Highland Cleaners is planned despite the green nature of the building in a walkable area, but Jones says it’s an important part of the dry-cleaning business and customers demand ease of access. Warmack said the drive-through and parking were placed at the back of the narrow site to minimize its appearance on Bardstown Road.
Construction could start as early as next month, but Doric Real Estate is still in the process of acquiring permits. The project has already been through the Bardstown Road Overlay District and a demolition permit has already been approved for the old car wash and site clearance should occur soon.
Jones and Warmack both agree tearing down the car wash and building an urban edge along the street will fundamentally improve the streetscape and create a synergy with other businesses in the area.
this article about a ‘green’ building is related to the previous article about how they’ve made the sidewalks along the bardstown road edge of this site unusable, right?!
I wonder if the dry-cleaning will be done onsite, or trucked out to another location. If done there, will it be green dry-cleaning, and whether it’s green or not, how will the business affect air quality in the condos?
And yes, the sidewalk issue is a big one on a busy street like Bardstown. You cannot expect people to cross and recross. They’ll put their heads down and sidle through traffic. It’s just not safe.
This is the same site as the pedestrian rights rally, but I believe such a rally isn’t directed so much at the developer who is just following the rules of the permit, but more at the city. If the city wants to keep a clear route for pedestrians, simply include it in the rules and the developers will follow it. Right now, a permit that says they can block the sidewalk is all that exists.
Ken, there won’t be any dry cleaning done on site. The Highlands outlet will be a pick up/drop off location.
You would have to travel to Nashville to find “green dry-cleaning.”
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?address=515+Davidson+St&city=Nashville&state=TN&zipcode=37213-1413&country=US&latitude=36.161045&longitude=-86.758077&geocode=ADDRESS
Anything is an improvement over that Car Wash. I grew up on Edgeland and have hated that thing since the day it opened. My question is why couldn’t Michael Koch have been hired to design this building?
I wish the developer had fought a little harder to go with a zero set back at Edgeland as I think holding the corner would have helped the building and the street edge. I suspect the ‘park’ they propose will end up looking about as sad as the photo above with the puny tree poking out of the brick pavers next to the wino bench.
Hard to tell from the renderings – but is the parking entered off Edgeland? I wish the developer had included a site plan of how the building fits the site.
All in all, a decent building that could be better but definately improves upon the existing condition.
This is the “developer”. 1) Sidewalk closure will be minimimal, but think about it for one second, if buildings on Bardstown Road are to be built to the lot line, it is physically impossible to do this without occasional sidewalk closures. The builder is working very hard every day to keep closures to the absolute minimum. 2) Setback on Edgeland is deed restricted. 3)Dry cleaning will not be done on the premises, but the good news is that Highland Cleaners has been a national leader in green dry cleaning technology for many years. Our proceedures and processes ensure great dry cleaning at the same time mimimal envirnmental impact.
Thanks Michael. I understand Deed restrictions are difficult to overturn, and you surely didn’t feel like taking on the added expense and time delay – it was just my 2 cents. As I said above, holding the corner with the building would be more successful than the park – but as a developer I’m sure you did the cost benefit analysis on the added retail/rental space vs. the court fees and delay.
So – is the parking on Edgeland? It looks like the entry to the residential occurs there, but it’s hard to tell from the rendering.
Thanks for making this project happen. Despite my criticisms, you’re doing a good job.
Yea!!! I am so proud of my neighborhood having it’s own green building. This is a big plus for one of Louisville’s most walkable areas. Very exciting.