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Demo Watch: Another Development Bites The Dust, Literally
Old New World Pasta Company under demolition
Plans announced in late 2004 for 138 to 168 loft condos on Floyd Street across from Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium have come tumbling down. Capstone Development Corporation of Birmingham, Alabama had once planned condos, shops, and restaurants in the old New World Pasta Company-Kentucky Macaroni Company building on the corner of Floyd Street and Byrne Avenue, but now there’s not much left of the massive four- to five-story complex.
The project went by the names Fieldhouse Lofts and Cardinal Crossings and was intended to draw alumni and corporate buyers interested in the proximity to University of Louisville athletics. The oldest part of the complex, a one-story structure on the northern edge of the site was 84 years old according to demolition permits, and the larger structures were added after that. A portion of the complex on the corner that was once clad in metal would have been demolished for a future new building (see a proposed rendering below). Condos were tentatively priced in 2006 as ranging from $95,000 to about $500,000. The design was handled by Louis & Henry Group of Louisville. The project was supposed to be complete before the 2006 football season.
Now the building is gone. Capstone is in the process of selling the land to the University of Louisville Foundation. Terms of the sale include clearing all buildings from the site according to Rob Howland, a Capstone executive. Howland said plans fell through due to a weak condo market in Louisville. He explained that his company had quite a bit of interest in developing the unique project, but the plans never got off the ground.
We’re not sure what’s going in its place once the property changes hands, but our guess would be parking in the near-term and expansion of something U of L athletic-related later. Phone calls weren’t returned in time for this posting. It’s unfortunate the proposal never got started as the mass of the warehouse building helped give character to the street and the added retail could have spurred more sports-themed development around Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Thanks to a tipster who let us know demolition had started.
Rendering of the proposed development (courtesy Capstone Development)
Click through for more demo photos and the building in years past.
PrintPoe Companies Abandoning Irish Hill Development
Site once considered for development (photo by Live Maps)
A tipster points us to the latest edition of the Irish Hill Neighborhood Association newsletter stating the proposed development on the old River Metals and Progress Rail properties off Lexington Road first announced in 2006 has been abandoned:
“IHNA was recently advised that Poe Companies has chosen to withdraw their option on purchasing the River Metals and former Progress Rail properties. Many large Metro construction projects have slowed almost to a halt or ceased due to the poor economy. As all of us are feeling the pinch of the economy, we need to remember that eventually things will look up and chances for new beginnings will occur. IHNA believes that is true and that eventually this land will be developed into something that the neighborhood can take pride in claiming. As always, we will keep the neighbors informed with any new information in the future.”
The project, called Crossings at Irish Hill, has been controversial from the outset with neighborhood opposition to straightening Beargrass Creek and moving it to the back of the site. The plan called for a grocery store, a bank, retail and restaurants at a cost of about $35 million. It would have been located on over 30 acres of contaminated brownfields close to Downtown Louisville. Renderings and a site plan of the proposal can be seen on the Poe Companies web site. At one point the fight between the neighborhood and the Poe Companies got ugly as Poe suggested abandoning the retail development in favor of mini-warehouses. After more outcry and at the urging of Mayor Abramson and Economic Development Director Bruce Traughber, the original plan was adopted again last summer but sat quiet since. In the end, residents were split between support and opposition for the project. You can read more coverage of the story from the LEO here and here or from Business First here or explore the site at Live Maps.
Crossings at Irish Hill would have brought needed new development to a contaminated brownfield site, but would have largely retained the qualities of a strip mall, but with a better layout and plenty of green space. The plan called for 890 parking spots, and from the looks of the site plan, parking dominated the site. With the project dead in the meandering waters of Beargrass Creek, we can only hope a new proposal will crop up in coming years for the centrally located site. In 2002, Irish Hill commissioned a Neighborhood Plan suggesting routes for future development of the area. The schemes proposed a much more urban and mixed-use vision for the site with Beargrass Creek in its current path.
Irish Hill needs a development that can anchor the neighborhood and provide its missing center. Hopefully a new future proposal will have learned from the battles of the past and help fully connect the neighborhood and the city. For now, though, it will remain an abandoned wasteland.
Click through to see a proposed scheme that’s part of the 2002 Irish Hill Neighborhood Plan.
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