Plans teased for Starks Building hotel, apartments
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Investments in downtown Louisville continue. Friday night, word that the historic Starks Building may be renovated to include a 200 room hotel and 100 rental apartments was posted on a company's website.
Hudson Holdings is the company looking to make the deal.
Rebecca Matheny, the executive director of the Louisville Downtown Partnership said, "Louisville does a great job of being authentic, attractive and what we call place-making."
[SLIDESHOW: Victorian homes in Louisville]
Before it was pulled from its website, Hudson Holdings had an announcement posted describing plans to renovate the historic 400,000 square foot Starks Building located on South Fourth Street.
The company based out of Delray Beach, Florida has a history of bringing old buildings back to life. The company did not return calls made from WAVE 3 News Friday evening, but according to their website it is embarking on national and state historic tax credits for what's known as adaptive reuse.
The plans state the Stark Building retail space at the street level would stay the same. The rest of the building would be turned into 200 hotel rooms and 100 rental apartments.
"We're seeing a lot of national interest so regional and national developers like the Starks developers out of Florida," Matheny said, "I think they're really seeing Louisville as an emerging market."
The Hertz Investment Group owns the building. Mendel Hertz said he couldn't comment on the development, but national players continue to bring support and interest in downtown Louisville.
"Outside of the Ohio River bridges project, this is the obviously the largest single investment occurring in Louisville," he said.
Rumors of the project come on the heels of the $289 million Omni Hotel project. With many other new hotels, restaurants and bars opening up the city is going through an unprecedented period of growth.
The $175 million expansion of the Convention Center will also continue that.
Matheny said, "I look at the next three years and I think we have a really unparalleled, modern opportunity here."
A large number of housing projects are popping up downtown, but according to Matheny, a recent update of the city's 10-year Master Plan found the demand is there.
Copyright 2015 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.
