A 20-story office building in Downtown Louisville will undergo a dramatic conversion after a major sale last week.
Roanoke, Texas-based real estate firm Newstream Cos. announced on its website that it acquired the Kentucky Home Life Building at 239 S. Fifth St. and will transform the property into a mixed-use concept that will include a hotel, urban loft-style apartments and retail space.
The company did not disclose the planned number of hotel rooms and apartments, anticipated construction costs or a development timeline. And it was not immediately available for comment Monday afternoon. A hotel brand was not revealed.
The Newstream website states the project is in the predesign phase.
A Jefferson County deed shows the building sold for $15 million last week, and an affiliate of Brooklyn, New York-based Madison Properties was the seller. Madison Properties lists the building as 43% occupied on its website.
Built in 1912, the Kentucky Home Life building includes more than 270,000 square feet, Newstream stated in its announcement.
More Downtown development
This is one of several Downtown buildings that have been identified for either urban housing or hotel space.
A new investor group that includes Louisville developers Todd Underhill and Jeff Underhill intends to convert the 14-story Starks Building on South Fourth Street, next to Fourth Street Live, into roughly 264 loft-style apartments that will cater to the local artist community.
The apartments would be complemented by about 25,000 square feet of artist work space and some co-working space, the investor group has said.
And Louisville Business First reported in October that Goshen, Kentucky-based Essex Development filed an application with Louisville Metro Government to renovate the two buildings at 304-310 W. Liberty St. near Third Street into a boutique hotel with roughly 144 full-service rooms.
The hotel would be accompanied by multiple food and beverage components and meeting spaces, the plans show. Those properties are known locally as the Landmark Building and total more than 130,000 square feet.
Furthermore, LBF reported Friday that private real estate investment firm 29th Street Capital closed on the acquisition of the 10-story ArtSpace building at 323 W. Broadway and will convert it into 47 one- and two-bedroom apartments. The company said the units will be about 500 to 1,000 square feet in size and will likely be leased from $1,050 to about $1,500.
