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.
