Imaginary infill (Photo by Diane Deaton-Street, Rendering by Broken Sidewalk)

Louisville needs to start taking infill development seriously.  Infill development involves building on underutilized lots inside the city instead of on green fields (i.e. farms) on the suburban fringe.  There are vast swaths of land in Louisville, either abandoned brownfield sites, surface level parking lots, or undesirable suburban style buildings in the core that offer opportunities to increase the population density of the existing city and bring about a more walkable Louisville.  Spoiler:  This is a fake project.

While any infill site can be desirable for development, I feel corner sites offer added value in their ability to define the urban streetscape and radically change the feeling of the street for the better.  Corners are anchor sites that offer opportunities for high visibility buildings.  As such, they require a little extra design effort to create a building that appropriately addresses the challenges of turning a corner and handling two often different dynamics on each street front.

In a newly rejuvenating neighborhood, it’s cheaper and easier to renovate existing historic structures to create a viable economy to support new construction, but it’s a slow process.  (And Louisville loves nothing like a wrecking ball.)  Louisville has plenty of neighborhoods that are currently ready for such new construction in areas like Downtown, Old Louisville, Butchertown, Nulu, or the Highlands among others.

Even Bardstown Road, the most vibrant street in Louisville, has plenty of room for infill development.  (And we’re starting to see infill proposed.)  Here, I would like to point out a site as an example that could dramatically change the perception of Bardstown Road with just one building.  It’s the corner of Bardstown Road and Longest Avenue where a suburban style National City Bank branch was recently converted to a PNC branch.

The current site is dominated by a deep set back from the street, a small building surrounded by a moat of internal asphalt, and a large drive through.  Furthermore, after the merger of PNC and National City Bank, there are now two PNC branches across the street from one another on Bardstown Road.  Both buildings are inappropriate forms for an urban setting.  Check the map below.

PNC Bank Branches Across The Street From One Another (Map via Lojic)

I have spent many afternoons sitting on the patio of Heine Brothers Coffee at this location pondering the current building’s nondescript brick wall facing Longest Avenue.  Because of the angle of the historic building anchored by Carmichael’s Bookstore and the street, a well-proportioned triangular plaza is formed.  It’s spatial potential, however, is diminished by the void across the street.

For the sake of illustration, I created a quick fictional project to demonstrate the opportunity that exists on just this one site.  It’s by no means an architectural wonder, but since it’s not real and it’s not going to be built, it will do.

The theoretical building is mixed-use and includes retail space, office space, apartments, townhouses, and small parking structure in the back.  The building also demonstrates a slight increase in scale from existing historic buildings in the area without dominating the streetscape.  It will, however, be a noticeable shift from what currently exists.

While some will undoubtedly be fearful of this change, I feel it can be appropriate to build at different scales than we did 100 years ago as long as it respects the existing context.  We’re a bigger city today and growing, and we needn’t shy away from that fact.

Imaginary infill in the Highlands (Diagram by Broken Sidewalk)

In this example, the structure is divided into two segments.  The more urban side facing Bardstown Road is four stories with a fifth set back on the roof to minimize its visual presence.  Turning the corner, the height shifts downward to a series of three-story town homes forming a transition into the residential neighborhood.  The act of turning the corner is marked by a chamfered corner but architects employ a variety of techniques to better effect.

Other visual clues present a subtle architectural language that relates the building to its context.  Material changes or detailing can indicate a change of use or relate to the heights of surrounding buildings.  Setbacks and other techniques can also achieve this.

Many mixed-use structures utilize a use-pattern of retail on the sidewalk with office space above all topped by residential units.  This mix provides activity in the building at all times of the day and staggers parking demand as residents may be away during the day when office tenants use the building.  The band of office space also provides a sound buffer between residences and retail space and elevates residences above the noise of the street.

Overall, infill development has the potential to really make an impact on the urban feel of Louisville and provide the densities required for the kind of city amenities like transit that urban dwellers desire.  This kind of development can be more difficult than suburban development as it might involve environmental cleanup or additional regulatory hurdles, but it’s some of the most important for the city.

Is there a particular site in Louisville you think could benefit from an infill project?  How can we promote new construction in urban Louisville?  Are there any recent infill projects that have caught your eye in the past few years?  Discussion in the comments.

Imaginary infill in the Highlands (map via Lojic)

Planned Changes to Breland Realtors building (courtesy Breland Realtors, Google)

Located just south of Taylorsville Road, a small house turned commercial building is ready for expansion.  Breland Group Realtors plans to nearly double the frontage of the structure at 2616 Bardstown Road, filling in a parking lot, and apply a new seamless facade to the entire property.

Breland Group owns two adjacent lots to the north of the existing structure, currently a parking lot and a grassy field.  The new structure will fill the parking lot and a driveway to reach the back of the property will be moved to the grass lot.  In all, 2,300 square feet of new space is planned including 1,000 square feet of retail space to house Access Technologies.

Additionally, the original structure will be completely renovated and when complete, the project will feature offices, a conference room, and a two-car garage around back.  Individual offices ranging from 140 to 210 square feet could be leased to individual real estate agents as needed.

Financing is already underway and construction could be imminent.  Breland expects to close on primary financing this week and received a facade loan from Metro Louisville last week.  Construction could begin in around 30 days and would take about 6 months to complete.

Lamont Breland says he wanted a new facade that reflects the traditional storefronts of the Highlands.  He took photos of several existing structures he admired on Bardstown Road and worked with Joseph & Joseph Architects to craft the new facade.

The structure was once the Le Normandy restaurant and Lamont says people drop by to share memories.  There’s still a dumbwaiter that once raised food from the basement kitchen to the main floor dining room.  Back then, the building was a true live-work space with the family who owned the place living upstairs.

Overall, this is the kind of contextual project that helps to push the Bardstown Road streetscape south while referring to the simple vernacular commercial style of the area.  And it should be quite an improvement over existing facade.

Click through for current conditions.

Proposed renovation of former Cafe Mimosa site (Courtesy Architectural Artisans)

It’s been just over a year since the devastating fire at Cafe Mimosa / Eggroll Machine on Bardstown Road.  Now, Coco Tran of the Zen Garden Restaurant on Frankfort Avenue has taken over the property and plans are in the works to salvage what’s left of the charred restaurant and build bigger and better.  Plans call for rebuilding a restaurant space on the ground floor and adding a second level apartment.

The fire destroyed everything but three walls which were left in good structural condition and will be reused.  Everything else is new.  Jeff Rawlins of Architectural Artisans says the existing footprint will be maintained and parking at the back of the parcel will remain unchanged.  The new structure will have a much updated look.

Defining the exterior will be a butterfly roof, an inverted form of roof with the low point in the middle.  Rawlins says the new design will be “edgier” than what’s normally seen on Bardstown Road.  Plans call for the sidewalk level to be lined with glass doors that can be opened in fair weather.

The 4,000 square foot first floor will remain a restaurant space and negotiations are underway with a possible tenant.  No plans are able to be released yet, however.  Work could proceed quickly, however, and renovation could move seamlessly from shelled space to restaurant fit up.

On the second floor, a 1,200 to 1,400 square foot two-bedroom apartment is planned.  The second floor will also feature a butterfly roof and will be set back to match surrounding buildings: a house and an animal clinic.  The project has already been approved by the Bardstown Road Overlay District in early December 2009, but we don’t know a firm construction date.  Regardless, it will be nice to see one more missing tooth on Bardstown Road filled in.

Click through for existing conditions and another rendering.

Bardstown Road Sidewalk (photo by Public Works via CART)

After a stir this week over pedestrian rights at construction zones focusing on a high-visibility site on Bardstown Road, CART is reporting that developer Michael Jones has opened up the sidewalk two and a half weeks ahead of schedule.  CART (Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transit) held a rally at the site on Monday to draw attention to the city’s sidewalk closure permit process that doesn’t provide pedestrians a viable path around construction sites.

Kudos to Michael Jones of Highland Cleaners and Doric Real Estate as well as Councilman Tom Owen and Public Works for responding quickly to community concerns.  Thanks as well to CART for drawing attention to the needs of pedestrians in Louisville.  Now on with Bardstown Road’s newest sustainable infill development.

I have believed all along the problem is not with any particular development but is a structural issue in the permitting process.  Hopefully that issue can be resolved in the future before there’s a need for another installment of Operation Sidewalk Defense.

Rendering of the Highland Green Building (Courtesy Design Plus)

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 says 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 Distrist 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.

Click through for site photos, a map, and another rendering.

Blocked sidewalk on Bardstown Road (Image via CART)

Sidewalks are too often neglected by construction sites around the city.  It’s easy to block a sidewalk and assume pedestrians – like water –  will find a way around.  Examples abound all over the city, but CART recently picked up on a sidewalk that has apparently been blocked on heavily traveled Bardstown Road and plans a rally Monday afternoon to draw attention to pedestrian rights.

They also put together a couple videos to demonstrate the dangers of this particular crossing and how traffic could handle a quick solution.  Here’s what CART has to say about the issue:

“The city has issued a permit shutting down walking on one side of Bardstown Road for almost a month. Crossing to the other side of the road is highly impractical – Bardstown is a busy 4 lane arterial. They can require the construction of a plywood tunnel, but they have not. They can annex the adjacent flex lane for people on foot, but they have not. There’s a whole library of tools they could employ, but they have not.

“At some level the city knows these closures result in people taking risks. But even more insidious is the destruction of walking as a viable means of transportation. When you stand in front of this closed sidewalk, no number of walkability plans will convince you that walking is valued in Louisville. Perhaps that’s why “Maintain pedestrian-ways during construction and special events” was listed as a major short-term objective (4.3) of the Louisville Community Walkability Plan of 2008. Clearly we haven’t gotten that done.”

It’s clear CART is tired of pedestrians taking a back seat, and rightfully so.  The Sidewalk Defense Rally will be held today (Monday) from 4:00 to 6:00pm at 1401 Bardstown Road.  (There may or may not be a large chicken involved?)  CART says their main goal is to help pedestrians navigate the dangerous sidewalk during rush hour and advance pedestrian rights in a non-confrontational manner.  You can RSVP on this Facebook page or just show up.

Construction sidewalk in Manhattan

As CART points out, there are easy solutions to the construction sidewalk challenge.  In New York, construction sites are so common and so many people need to get around that pedestrian safety is usually already taken care of.  Depending on the size of the street, wooden barricades anchored by massive timbers will define the temporary sidewalk in the road.  A busier street might require the full use of concrete Jersey barriers.

It’s such a simple problem to fix and a solution could be implemented very quickly.  Hopefully no one will be injured or killed before action is taken.  It’s important to remember that we have a long way to go in terms of walkability after being named the 7th Most Dangerous City for Pedestrians by the Dangerous by Design report.

Closed sidewalks at the arena site

1824 Eastern Parkway after renovation (Courtesy Diane Deaton-Street)

An unassuming wood frame rental property on Eastern Parkway near Bardstown Road has been transformed into a modern single family home.  Bob German and his partner Brent Carter hired architect Michael Koch to help transform the property at 1824 Eastern Parkway into Louisville’s newest modern town house ready for occupancy in February.

German says original plans called for tearing the sided two-and-a-half story house down and starting from scratch, but zoning rules didn’t allow the size of house that was desired.  Instead of seeking a costly zoning variance that wasn’t guaranteed to be approved, the house instead went through a breathtaking renovation.

1824 Eastern Parkway Before Renovation (via Google)

When tipsters began mentioning a new modern building on Eastern Parkway, I began searching for information.  When photos began to pour in and I learned the project was a renovation, I was really surprised.  From the outward appearance, the building looks brand new.

Bob German currently lives in the Highlands and loves the area’s walkability and urban offerings.  He often visits Chicago and wanted a modern dwelling right in the heart of the walkable Highlands and he says you can’t find a part of Louisville more walkable than Eastern Parkway and Bardstown Road.

The team began work planning the house a year and a half ago and German says despite the modern change to the property, neighbors and the city have been overwhelmingly supportive.  Even though some neighbors might not want their own modern house, they understand what living in a city and in the Highlands is all about.

Michael Koch, who designed the Gallery Square Lofts on East Jefferson Street and Clay Street, was able to provide the benefits of an urban condo with the amenities of a house all while using the original structure’s foundation.  German says choosing to renovate instead of build new did add significantly to the overall budget, and says it’s probably not the right choice for everyone.  In this case, the zoning pressures made it feasible and German believes it will be worth it in the end.

Eastern Parkway is zoned R-5 meaning a structure cannot take up more than 50% of its lot size even if the original structure has a greater density.  In this case, the original house takes up more half the .05 acre lot.

While the modern house appears to contrast its surroundings, there are important contextual clues that help it relate to the neighborhood.  The structure conforms to the same setback as the houses surrounding it and generally maintains the same building height.  The new house emphasizes the horizontal lines of its siding with a fenestrated corner.  The projected front bay can also be considered a response to the asymmetric bay windows of neighboring homes.

Click through for a couple more photos.

Collage courtesy Diane Deaton-Street

Thanks to Diane Deaton-Street, Broken Sidewalk contributing photographer, for putting together this collage of Bardstown Road in 1935 over Bardstown Road in 2009 (thanks as well to the UL archives for allowing us to show the old photo here).

As you can see, the architecture has largely remained the same while the businesses have changed.  You can see in the old photo not only a Piggly Wiggly grocery store (currently Leatherhead), but two drug stores including a Walgreens where Bombay grocery is today.  The ubiquitous above ground electric wires are still there and the vintage photo must have been taken around Independence Day from the flags on display.

The big change, of course, is transit.  Take a look at the trolley stopping to admit several well dressed riders near Bonnycastle Avenue and the Leatherhead store.  There’s a southbound trolley behind the delivery truck in the right lane as well.  Reminds me of the recent proposal to run a new trolley line down Bardstown Road.

The feel of the historic photo, to me, seems to be much more slow paced and residential than the Bardstown Road of today.  With the lush trees and the houses that still served as single family homes.  Bardstown takes on the feeling of a mixed-use Cherokee Road as the commercial district fades with the trolley stop until it will pick up again at the Douglass Loop.

Click through to see the modern photograph for comparison.