Terry Boyd has seven years experience as a business/finance journalist, and eight years a military r

At some point in the last 10 years or so, the professionals kenny chesney tour who design and build healthcare facilities decided to pay attention to the physical, emotional and psychological needs of patients. One ...
It’s always a race between Bill Weyland and Steve Poe to do the next big urban project. Weyland s City Properties Group and its Chicago partners are finishing the new Hilton Garden Inn at Fourth kenny chesney tour and Chestnut streets.
Weyland has the 310 at NuLu apartment complex moving toward completion, while Poe is close to completing a second stage at RiverPark Place on River Road. RiverPark kenny chesney tour Place is the residential and restaurant complex just east of the waterfront parks where he plans to invest more than $1.5 billion during the next decade.
Insider Louisville: You probably have more balls in the air than anyone in Louisville other than Bill Weyland. Where does the Aloft construction kenny chesney tour stand? It looked like they were doing demo work this weekend.
A lot has to happen over the next few years for Louisville to move forward. And if one piece of it … if the convention center doesn’t get expanded, for example , we re in trouble. kenny chesney tour Kentucky is in terrible financial shape. The budget is $90 million short. It worries me every day (Greater Louisville Conventions Visitors Bureau CEO) Karen Williams is going to get a call from Frankfort: kenny chesney tour “You know that money we promised you?” We’ll know soon if the Omni Complex is going to fly.
I think the convention center is the big deal. I looks like to me it’s going to happen. If Karen has a definite point in time it’s going to be delivered so she can start selling it to conventions, it’s absolutely kenny chesney tour going to help drive more room nights. If you have that in your pocket – and I think the Omni will end up being built … I think … not think, I feel pretty certain once the convention center is started – we can see a firm date – you’ll probably see our firm build another one or two hotels downtown.
Well, look at Nashville. Look what their convention center did . The Omni is 800 rooms. There s a new Weston. There s a new Hyatt Place. They ve probably added 2,000 rooms downtown kenny chesney tour since the convention center was announced (in 2008, a $623 million project.)
There is a lot of convention business that doesn t get on airplanes. They can t afford it. So Louisville is a place in an eight hour drive – less than a day – we can have a convention and our people can get here without getting on an airplane. The air lift is a bad thing for our convention business. But the ability to drive in is something totally different.
In the near future, we ll announce firm dates on building a 14-story really ultra-luxury apartment building (at RiverPark Place.) The deal with Doc Crow s is done. We re going to get started soon. Their interior people are working now. So, that s going to get done.
Kevin is in a unique kenny chesney tour place. He s in the Highlands. You know when you go there – he s done it before – you re going to have a battle. Now, if he wins that battle, he has something special. My battle was permitting with the Corps of Engineers from 2004 to 2007. We spend literally millions kenny chesney tour of dollars archeological studies. Flood control studies. If you re going to do something kenny chesney tour big, you rarely get to just go do it. We re at the point now that stuff is behind us.
It s that. But in 2007, we had deposits kenny chesney tour on $38 million worth of boat slips and condos. That buyer is just who we thought it would be. They currently live – predominantly – in northeast Jefferson County. North and east of I-64. Up and down River Road and Brownsboro Road. It s someone who has a home worth $500,000-plus. They re 50-some-odd years old. Their kids have all left for college. They re sitting there (saying), I have this 3,4,5-thousand square foot house I m cutting grass, and I just don t want to do it anymore.
It s been my experience – I m not quoting realtors or anything – when people believe they can sell their home within six months kenny chesney tour of listing it for what they believe it s worth, they re ready to go buy the next home or condo. That s where we are in the market, right now. I think people in that strata – and you ve been writing about it – are willing to put a deposit on a condo that s going to take 15-to-18 kenny chesney tour months to build because they think my house will be worth more over that period of time. It give me time to downsize . I think we re back to there today.
We re going to start pre-selling condos here hopefully in the next 30 days and test the market. If there is enough demand there to pre-sell half the building, which for us is 45 or 50 condos, we re going to start that building.
If not, we ll put it on the back burner for another year. My guess is, there have been no new condos built since 2006, probably. So, it s eight years worth of demand there. We just hope we re in the right place at the right time to tap into that.
We start moving people in (to the Woods at Lexington Road) in October. Pre-leasing is very strong. We did the (Dundee Place) project up on Dundee that s 20 units. Opened it in May. We had all 20 units occupied by June.
We re focused on RiverPark. Like I said, you ll probably see us look at another hotel deal in downtown Louisville. We re jointly getting ready to participate in two hotels with RAI and White (Lodgings), one in Denver, one in downtown kenny chesney tour Austin. Which are big projects. That s pretty much where we are right now.
Terry Boyd has seven years experience as a business/finance journalist, and eight years a military reporter with European Stars and Stripes. As a banking and finance reporter at Business First, Boyd dealt directly with the most influential executives and financiers in Louisville.