An exciting opportunity has opened up on Market and Brook Streets at the site of the Progress Paint Company. A great four-story historic structure perfect for redevelopment has just been offered for sale and could help to continue the growth of the East Downtown area.
Stretching from Market to Main Street along Brook Street, the property contains two buildings with a total of over 140,000 square feet. Originally housing the J.F. Kurfees Paint Company, the oldest structure at 201 East Market was built in 1915. If you look closely at the front facade today, however, you can see that the building has grown over time.
Check out the photo in the gallery below dating to the 1920s showing only the original building. At the time, an ornate metal awning hung above the front entrance. As the company grew, so did its physical size. Besides the main building on Brook and Market, the company also owned a three story warehouse on the corner of Brook and Main Streets, demolished years ago to make way for a loading dock. Also for sale is another one-story warehouse building along Main Street. (See photos below.)
When it opened in 1915, the original J.F. Kurfees building must have appeared quite modern in contrast to the many older industrial and commercial buildings in the area. The building was built of concrete—not wooden timbers—and features large modern windows that are still in high demand today for their unique industrial look.
The potential redevelopment value of the Progress Paint property is huge for Downtown. It’s easy to imagine plenty of uses for the large structure and whether the Main Street frontage is added to or completely redone, this site will be important to connecting the heart of Downtown with Slugger Field and Nulu beyond.
CBRE Louisville is listing the C-3 zoned property for $5.25 million and the current owner says there is no known contamination at the site. Any takers?
[ Also, for all those history buffs out there, here’s a photo of Mr. J.F. Kurfees, president of the paint company in 1932, and his Joseph & Joseph–designed house at 235 S. Galt Avenue in Crescent Hill, undoubtedly one of the best painted homes in town at the time. ]
[ Image credit: Historic view cited as UL Photographic Archives from the University of Louisville – reference url. ]
i’ve loved this building for years. it has a lot of potential for new uses – things that would not be detrimental but could enhance its current character. would LOVE to work on a project here.