Demolition work at the Belknap Crossings site on Fourth Street should be nearly complete as the year is coming to an end. As we previously reported, the mixed-use project will bring 20,000 square feet of retail space and 220 units or student housing to a seven-acre site adjacent to the University of Louisville. The Courier-Journal recently offered a few more details on the project.
With a cost that could reach up to $40 million, the development team comprising Councilman Tom Owen, his wife Phyllis (who hold a 51 percent stake) and their children Andrew and Elisa Owen (holding the remaining 49 percent). Andrew Owen is serving as the managing team member for the project. Much remains uncertain on the unfinanced project, but the group will seek a rezoning of the site early next year. According to the C-J:
Tom Owen said he will abstain in voting on a rezoning case for the property when it comes before the council for a final decision, and also will not take part in any discussion of the case.
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William Bardenwerper, the Owens’ zoning attorney, said the Belknap Crossing group plans to file a rezoning request, probably early next year, for a change from industrial to an enterprise-zoning category on the site. He told the Louisville Metro Planning & Design Department, which manages the Metro Planning Commission, in a Nov. 14 letter that the EZ-1 category would ensure proper use of the site, in case the Belknap Crossing plan “cannot, for unanticipated reasons, be accomplished.”
A construction schedule remains to be set and the Owens are working with U of L on an affiliate agreement that aided in the development of other student housing projects in the area. Photographer Clynt Dudleson stopped by the the site in early November and snapped a few photos that he has agreed to let us share here. Take a look at his other industrial photography on his Flickr page.
