Lodge 820 Redefines Luxury Urban Living

Lodge 820 on Frankfort Avenue

A new luxury mixed-use building on Frankfort Avenue in Crescent Hill is wrapping up construction and has now fully leased its seven sidewalk level retail spots. The project replaces a surface level parking lot adjacent to the former Dietrich’s Restaurant. Included in the Pierce Architecture designed development are seven retail spots and seven two-story condos above.

The last retail spot in the building has now been leased to a women’s boutique called “The Dressing Room” and will be under construction soon.  It’s expected to open February 1st next year. Other retail on the strip includes a wine shop and several other upscale women’s boutiques.

Just above the retail level are some of the most luxurious condos to hit the Louisville market. The building was built as a shell for about $1.7 million and the interior spaces have been built later. Some are still available for a custom build-out to a potential buyer. Currently, three units are under construction and a model has already been finished.

The condos aren’t cheap. Prices range from $495,000 for just over 1900 square feet to $865,000 for over 4,000 square feet. The interiors amenities, however, make the price seem well worth it. Units have their own private entrances off the sidewalk with video-surveillance and a ground floor foyer. From there, you can either take the stairs up to your condo or ride up on your own personal elevator. That’s right, a Louisville condo first: private elevators.

We went inside one unit under construction to take a look at the new urban infill development. Besides elevators, each unit has its own private 2-car garage off the alley and plenty of additional parking behind the building. There are 10-foot-to-12-foot-tall ceilings with over-sized doors; a modern kitchen with custom cabinets and stainless steel appliances compliments over-sized traditional woodwork and windows.

Upon entering the condo from the elevator, you are faced with a wood paneled great room utilizing reclaimed heart-pine boards from a local barn that are 181 years old. The room includes built in bookshelves and is fully wired for a home theater. There’s even a hidden office behind one of the wooden bookshelves. A marble hallway leads to the dining room and living room with a slightly more formal feel.

Upstairs (or up another floor on the elevator), is the master suite and guest room. A solarium with a giant skylight (there’s even a hose to water plants) organizes the upstairs space. Laundry facilities are also tucked away on the bedroom-level. Views from the third floor of the surrounding Crescent Hill feature tree-lined streets and an elevated park-like view of St. Joseph’s across the street. The Frankfort Avenue face of the building includes extra insulation and soundproofing to protect against noise from passing trains and traffic.

Overall, the project changes the entire feel of Frankfort Avenue, adding a distinct classic urban edge with traditional detailing and street retail. While such expensive and luxurious living might not be for everyone, the Lodge 820 pulls off upscale urban living well. The adjacent former lodge/theater, renovated as part of the development, is now home to offices and a bank as well. We’re glad to see another surface level parking lot filled in with quality urban architecture.

Topping Off At The Zirmed Gateway Towers

Zirmed Gateway Towers Top Out

A ceremony was held this morning at the construction site of the Zirmed Gateway Towers where the top floor was poured marking the end of vertical construction on the site. Our photos are from sunny but cold last Friday (today’s photos are a little dreary), but they show the building in all its glory. The 12-story $25-million facility will house ZirMed on the first eight floors and will include condos on the upper floors.

Zirmed Gateway Towers
Zirmed Gateway Towers. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)

The Zirmed Gateway Towers reflect the growth of the business behind them: the company has grown 456 percent in the last five years and has employs over 220 up from 40 just four years ago. The company will begin moving into their new building next March. The project was developed and designed by City Properties Group, but the mayor wants a little credit, too:

Zirmed is a homegrown company that is expanding rapidly—and when it needed a signature building downtown to call its own, the city was glad to step up and help with items like improving the sidewalks and offering New Market Tax Credits to help the financing.

Meanwhile, we get to watch the glass curtain creep up the concrete skeleton for the next couple months. Already, there are some nice reflections of the Glassworks (also by City Properties Group) on the Market Street curtain wall. Now that the towers are at full height, expect the tower crane to disappear in the next week or two as construction continues on the facade and interior.

In honor of the day’s special events, we’re taking a look back at out construction updates of the towers. You can find them here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here. Yeah, we love the Zirmed Gateway Towers. We’ve also dug out several photos of the tower site before construction and during its early construction days. There’ll be many more updates to come as well, this thing’s not done yet.

Special Bonus Photos: Pre- & Early-Construction of the Zirmed Towers:

Life Before The Zirmed Tower: Parking
Life Before The Zirmed Tower: Parking. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)
Preparing for the Zirmed Towers
Preparing for the Zirmed Towers. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)
Preparing for the Zirmed Towers
Preparing for the Zirmed Towers. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)

Construction Watch: Southern Seminary’s New Dome

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Construction at the Southern Baptist Seminary
Construction at the Southern Baptist Seminary
Construction at the Southern Baptist Seminary. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)

Construction on the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s new Welcome Center is moving along rapidly now as the structure recently topped out and brick has arrived at the site. We stopped by the construction site just after groundbreaking last July and spotted several renderings on the construction fence. So far, the building looks pretty close, but its still just a steel skeleton.

Stop Lite Liquors & Cafe Jumps Across River Road

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Old StopLite Location

It always seemed a little strange a liquor store named Stop Lite was perched in one of the nation’s top urban parks at a location without a stop light. The unassuming building sitting in Waterfront Park is now vacant and a reminder of how much the area has changed from industrial wasteland to green parkland in a matter of years.

Stop Lite Liquors Jumps Across River Road
Stop Lite Liquors Jumps Across River Road. (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)

The familiar Stop Lite Liquors located on the eastern edge of Waterfront Park opened today in their new location across the street. Owners Carl & Jesse Bollinger built the new store at 1342 River Road and updated the official name of the business to StopLite Wine & Spirits, marking a sort of mini-gentrification brought on by the park. There’s also an expanded emphasis on Stop Lite’s Cafe operations. The Bollingers want their business to be a place where someone might grab a hot sandwich or hot dog and enjoy eating in the park.

Another benefit of the new building is provision for a second retail outlet. What otherwise could have been a stand-alone business now is looking to add to the vibrancy of the park. 2,250 square feet are available for lease directly facing the Waterfront Park. We’re hoping it’s filled with a business park-goers could find useful.

The land underneath the old store has already been exchanged with the Waterfront Development Corporation, and David Karem, president of the WDC, noted in his Op-Ed over the weekend that demolition is imminent on the old building. The site will likely be converted to a grassy playing field for the time being, and with much of Phase III set to open next year, a continuous green park will stretch from downtown to near the foot of Frankfort Avenue in no time.

Ice House Lofts Moving Ahead As Apartments

Arctic Building Complex

The Ice House Lofts announced well over a year ago on East Main Street will be moving ahead despite the slow economy. Plans have been slightly altered, however, to reflect the economic realities of the time; instead of selling lofts and condos, the project will be marketed as apartments. Work involves converting the old Arctic Building into 52 apartments with retail along Main Street. The entire development is estimated to cost around $7 million.

Possible view from the 6th or 7th floor
Mockup of the view from the 6th or 7th floor—does not represent what may be built. (Broken Sidewalk)

The project has been slow to start but has a complicated history. David Barhorst, developer of the Bycks Lofts on Fourth Street, and David Steinbrecher, owner of Derek Engineering purchased the building in 2007 for around $2 million and secured financing from PRP Bank, now merged with Forcht Bank. Work was expected to begin last year, but the group was approached by an out-of-town developer who purchased a one-year option on the property for a possible new Humana tower. Under that plan, the building would have been demolished. With the Humana expansion still in limbo, Barhorst says the Ice House Lofts are going ahead.

The delay could have been a blessing in disguise as it gave the developers time to respond to the market collapse and allowed time for readjustment of the development plan. The seven-story, 62,000 square foot building will include 21 studio lofts in the old ice-making factory on Washington Street. Those units will contain around 500 square feet each. The remainder of the units will be in the ice-storage tower on Main Street and range from 720 to 840 square feet. Each tower apartment will have large expanses of glass and its own balcony.

Ice House Lofts isn’t the first project to switch from condos to apartments. Recently, the Franklin Flats in Butchertown went ‘nondo’ and leased all three of its units in a matter of hours. The Whiskey Row Lofts, two blocks west of the Ice House, is also taking the apartments-for-slow-economic-times approach. This is good news for many young professionals and other would-be downtown dwellers who have waited without result for lower price condos to hit the downtown market.

Apartments at the Ice House Lofts will average $700 to $800 a month, with the top floor units will likely lease for $1150 per month (it’s the views, and they are quite nice). While each of the 52 units will have their own parking spot, Barhorst says individual bike lockers will also be provided as a selling point for the project. With its proximity to Waterfront Park and many city amenities, this represents the first project in Downtown to promote alternative transportation (Okay, the Whitestone Condos might give you an electric car, but this is truly alternative).

The Arctic Building was built in 1920 and is constructed of solid concrete, then lined in four inches of cork, and then topped off with a few more inches of concrete. The building was essentially a giant freezer, so, as you can imagine, it’s well insulated. Barhorst predicts energy costs in the units will be pretty low as a result. Large windows will be inserted into the brick veneer facade and balconies will offer views up and down Main Street. The decorative masonry on the exterior will remain, but the building will end up with a lot of glass once complete.

Overall, the Ice House project will fill a niche in downtown housing previously unmet: smaller, more affordable units. The one-story portion of the building along Main Street won’t be turned residential as the original plan called for, but will be leased as office space and saved for a possible Phase II of the project. Barhorst said that might include tearing out the loading dock and building a taller building to fill in one of Main Street’s “missing teeth,” but that is a long way down the road.

For now, 52 apartments with an industrial chic feel above sidewalk retail space sounds like the right move for East Main Street. The more people on the ground in a neighborhood, the easier it is for local business to thrive, so we may see a second East Main resurgence after all.

Morning News Roundup: Site Maintenance Edition

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    This week, we’re implementing a few upgrades to the Broken Sidewalk site to increase usability and functionality of the site. You will be seeing a few minor layout changes that should generally make BS easier to interact with. We’ll tell you more about the updates as they go online, but if you see something not working correctly, that’s the reason. Let us know is you experience any problems. Thanks. Broken Sidewalk.

    Art Car Friday: Butchertown Mod-Beetle

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      (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)
      (Branden Klayko / Broken Sidewalk)

      We bring you this week an art car from Butchertown in honor of the Beargrass Beetle pulled from the creek on nearby Mellwood Avenue. We tried to go take a photo of the creek-VW, but crews were over-zealous with their removal efforts and took it away before we got there. We overheard a local news crew say the steering wheel will likely be part of a memorial for the car and environmentalism. That’s it. Please, send what you see or hear to tips@brokensidewalk.com.