The old Tonini Church Supply Building on the corner of Shelby Street and Gray Street in the Phoenix Hill Neighborhood might become housing for the mentally ill. A partnership between the New Directions Housing Corporation and the Wellspring House may bring the plan to fruition. Plans call for a 12-unit project with financial help from the U. S. Housing and Urban Development. The total cost is estimated at around $2 million.
The sustainable architecture blog Jetson Green shows just how green an alley house can be. This example from from Seattle, Washington is rated LEED Platinum and includes such green features as solar hot water, radiant heat, a green roof, and insulated concrete construction.
Louisville has a sizable stock of alley housing, most of it historic. This housing type increases the density of a neighborhood in an unobtrusive way and allows for a more varied neighborhood composition. Perhaps we could learn from the Seattle example in redeveloping our historic neighborhoods? Read the full article at Jetson Green (many more photos).
The ZirMed Towers on the corner of 9th Street and Market Street are undergoing installation of their curtain wall system. Crews are beginning on the lowest floors and working up, revealing its only a matter of time before the concrete skeleton gets shrouded in glass.
Take a look back at previous construction updates here, here, here, and here.
To those interested in the new Allied Health Building under construction on the downtown campus of the Jefferson Community & Technical College, a new construction cam has been installed bringing live updates from the giant hole in the ground.
The project is a complicated one, hugging the existing concrete building and wrapping itself around into the former courtyard. This delicate construction takes time, so you may need to be a little patient at first with this one. Architectural design provided by Arrasmith, Judd, Rapp, Chovan.
The old Ursuline Convent called St. Angela Home in the Highlands was once home to the Center for Sacred Psychology and housed Catholic nuns teaching at nearby schools. Nearby residents recall the nuns walking single-file around the neighborhood and increasing the diversity of the area. The nuns are gone, but the brick mansion they called home still sits empty. The Tyler Park structure at the corner of Edenside Avenue and Norris Avenue cannot find a buyer after a redevelopment proposal fell through last year.
The three-story house failed to sell at auction last week and is now on the market at a substantially reduced price. Originally, Juniper Beach Property bought the property last year for $500,000 with plans to turn the 8,800 square foot, 20-room building into condos. Those plans never materialized and the house went onto the market for $825,000. After the recent failed auction, the group cut the price $150,000, landing at $675,000. The house has been appraised for $750,000.
The new fire station under construction on Spring Street at Beargrass Creek has recently begun showing its brick. The new station will replace a century old station at the corner of Frankfort Avenue & Pope Street.
The old Still Station will be sold upon completion of the new station. Located at a prime corner on the Frankfort Avenue Corridor in Clifton, the building will likely be renovated and put to retail use. Architectural services for the new building were provided by Studio A Architecture located off Bardstown Road.
Rundell Ernstberger Associates, a landscape architecture office based in Muncie, Indiana, will be opening a Louisville office on West Main Street between 6th and 7th streets. The office is known for such projects as Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit and is scheduled to open in September. GBBN Architects, based in Cincinnati, OH, is opening an office on the same block; in fact, in the next building over.
Construction has been going on to transform the original Museum Plaza showroom into an architect’s office. Here’s what the company says about their impending opening:
The saying is “Louisville, Do Something Original,” and that’s exactly what GBBN Architects intends to do when it opens its doors for business at 609 West Main Street in August.
The 50-year-old, international healthcare design firm is expanding its practice to Louisville, and bringing nearly 2,000 healthcare projects worth of experience with them.
“I’m thrilled to be able to bring our healthcare design expertise to my hometown,” said David Proffitt, AIA, who will oversee the day-to-day operations of GBBN Louisville. “We’ve assembled a team of immensely talented healthcare planners and designers who have experience both local, regionally and internationally.”
The addition of these two firms takes the tally of architecture-related offices on this single block along to seven; several additional offices are located in adjacent blocks as well. When combined with the plethora of creative advertising firms in the area, art museums, and Museum Plaza with the University of Louisville’s MFA program, West Main will continue to be a creative asset for Louisville.
Mr. Clean may soon be soaping up to wash your car. Procter & Gamble has announced it will begin branding full-service car washes in the Louisville market if local franchisees show interest. After rolling out a few concept facilities in Cincinnati last year, the company is ready to sell the $35,000 franchise rights for the Mr. Clean Car Wash. Each location will feature convenience stores with wide-screen television and employ 30-50 people.
Phase II of the Waterfront Park Place condominium tower is now complete marking the end of construction at the parkfront site. The waterfront development has scrapped plans for its third phase which would have included studio apartments for rent and additional retail space immediately west of the current building. Instead, that site will be paved for a surface level parking lot.
The building is currently about 75 percent sold but has yet to lease any of its existing retail space. Original plans for the building called for a small grocery store but those plans never materialized. One large retail spot on Floyd Street that has been boarded up since Phase I is being eliminated altogether. The space will instead be used for 12 parking spots. Crews were on site today preparing a new curb cut to allow cars to drive into the building.
Currently, there is interest from several businesses for the Witherspoon Street retail space that borders Waterfront Park including a coffee shop, cafe, and sit-down restaurant. Given the tower’s location on the park and adjacent to Slugger Field, Humana, and the rest of downtown Louisville, it is surprising this space has been vacant for so long.
