Is Downtown Louisville Growing Fast Enough To Stay Afloat?
Are too few completed downtown condos running all the new independent shops and restaurants out of business? That seems to be the case at the corner of Jackson Street and Market Street, just a block away from Slugger Field. We heard a couple weeks ago that the Market on Market, a boutique grocery that turned deli-cafe just to survive, will close up shop in a few months, but now the rumors are flying that its next-door-neighbor Primo, an upscale Italian restaurant, may be closing as well.
Market on Market opened in 2006 with hopes that new housing planned for the area around Slugger Field would create a new neighborhood. Poor sales, in part due to too few condo projects completed with potential customers living there, has now forced the Market to close.
A similar fate is less certain for Primo, but owner Bim Dietrich is apparently not ruling out closing up shop. Primo has also seen the residential development in the area crawl along at a snail’s pace, leaving one of downtown’s most active areas still not dense enough to support neighborhood eateries. Primo is open for now while the future of the neighborhood is playing itself out.
There has been good and bad news for the eastern edge of downtown west of Interstate 65. Jefferson Development Group is still planning twin 18-story office towers, the Fleur-de-Lis on Main is moving, the old Vermont-American factory still may become a retail destination, and despite a fall-out with research developer Wexford, the University of Louisville still hopes to move forward with its Nucleus Research Campus between Market Street and Jefferson Street. The Mercantile Lofts are open; so is Waterfront Park Place. The area still needs more density, however; especially of the residential sort if we are to see any semblance of a livable neighborhood emerge. All office and research space only fills the area with people for a small portion of the day.
- Market on Market (Official Site)
- Primo Restaurant (Official Site)
- Market on Market to close doors (Business First)
- Primo flirting with closure (C-J Dining Blog)
More Baxter Business Moves: Coffee Edition
Consuming Louisville brings us another update on Baxter Avenue business: it seems everyone wants to be there. The latest news is that Quill’s Coffee will open up shop next door to Flanagan’s Ale House on Baxter Avenue near Morton Avenue.
The coffee shop closed in July at its location on Kentucky Street near Barret Avenue and the word on the street is the new shop should be open in a couple months.
- It’s Official: Quills Relocating to Baxter Avenue (Consuming Louisville)
- Quill’s Coffee (Official Site)
On Your Left Cycles Still On Your Left
On Your Left Cycles officially opened at their new location on Baxter Avenue today, just around the corner from their previous location on Rogers Street. “Louisville’s Smallest Bike Shop” may have gotten slightly larger (and quite a bit more visible) with the move, but the shop insists they haven’t grown too much: “It’s not to big though, we do have to keep the title.”
Video: Hurricane Ike Footage From The Highlands
Here’s some footage of this weekend’s windstorm that nearly destroyed the River City. Some amazing shots of the damage during the storm in the Highlands where the trees grow tall and fall hard.
Downtown Panera Bread Nearly Complete
The new Panera Bread location under construction in the Aegon Plaza on Fourth Street is making progress and is scheduled to open in about a month. The 5,600 square foot restaurant sells fresh sandwiches, paninis, soups, etc. along with artisan breads and bagels and will feature outdoor seating on the plaza.
- Panera Bread To Open Downtown Location (Broken Sidewalk)
- Panera Bread (Official Site)
NuLu Green Building Announces Restaurant Tenant
The Green Building of NuLu is receiving its finishing touches on East Market Street and is scheduled to open at the end of the month. We knew there were plans for a street-fronting cafe in the building but Business First has reported that a new restaurant called 732 Social will occupy the ground floor of the LEED Platinum building.
The restaurant will be operated by the Ton brothers of Basa Modern Vietnamese fame on Frankfort Avenue, but the new concept will be quite different in style. Inspired by Avec in Chicago, the new 732 Social will be small, occupying only 1,400 square feet with seating for around 60 which could expand into the adjacent gallery and courtyard spaces for larger functions.
The restaurant won’t have “communal” seating like Avec and other modern big-city restaurants, but will have the modern atmosphere designed by California architecture firm (fer) studio. The restaurant site sits adjacent to a planned year-round farmers market and the menu is expected to change daily with the freshest local ingredients reflecting a “rustic” American heritage.
- Going for Platinum: Gallery NuLu’s Green Building (Broken Sidewalk)
- Basa brothers get ready to open restaurant… (Business First)
- Basa owners to open 732 Social on Market (C-J Food Blog)
- 732 Social (Official Site – Under Construction)
- Basa Modern Vietnamese (Official Site)
- Avec Restaurant (Official Site)
- (fer) studio architecture (Official Site)
Morning News Update: Quote Edition
So here’s a quote we found by Rem Koolhaas from 2003 in a book he published called Content. It appeared well before the Museum Plaza project, but it’s unsettling nonetheless. Koolhaas runs OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture), the firm originally hired to design the skyscraper before it split in two forming REX (Ramus-Ella Architects).
Keep in mind this is from a frustrated architect upset over the imminent loss of an unnamed project, not about Museum Plaza. However, with everyone getting antsy about resumption of full construction yet (according to our poll) remaining fiercely optimistic about Museum Plaza overall, how do you feel about the future of the project?
You suddenly sense that some kind of planetary realignment—political/economic/personal—has started to erode the viability of a project… Because you are more sensitive, have better antennae, inevitably you sense it first, even before “they” have allowed the fatal message to become fully conscious, a convenient delay that enables them to stay just this side of outright dishonesty in their further transactions. Now the possible death of a project stares you in the face—against the weaselly rhetoric of reassurance proffered by powerless proxies…”
- 250,000 without power (C-J)
- 215,000 without power (Fox 41)
- Lots of people without power (Metro Lou)
- Hundreds of thousands without… (WHAS 11)
- And no telling when it will be back on (C-J)
- But what caused the windstorm anyway? (WHAS 11)
- Check out these photos of the windstorm (WFPL News)
- Water-ville or Louis-gate? Yarmouth robbed (Fox 41)
- For the second time in weeks, mind you (C-J)
- Food service upgrades at U of L (Business First)
- For the love of Valhalla (C-J)
- For the love of celebrities at Valhalla (WLKY 32)
Boland Maloney Property Still For Sale
The Boland Maloney Lumber Yard just east of Campbell Street between Main Street and Washington Street is still on the market after closing up shop and consolidating in the suburbs. The property represents a significant opportunity for Butchertown as the property sits at the confluence of eastern half of Butchertown (near Frankfort Avenue & Spring Streets), the western half (closer to downtown), and Nulu to the south.
The 1.3 acre parcel fronts both a major thoroughfare and a quiet neighborhood street and is a bargain at just over $1.5 million. We find it slightly strange this property lasted this long on the market already.
There has apparently been strong interest in the former lumber yard from both speculative buyers (those who would redevelop the property) and industrial users (does Butchertown ever need more industry…) but according to Commercial Kentucky, a sale is not imminent. There was reluctance (of course) to admit it might take a while to sell, especially in the economic situation we are in, but this is a speculative goldmine for the area growing up all around it. We’ll see how long this one lasts, but it may be a while…