Downtown Plan

Louisville, Kentucky

Building on the success of its previous plan that was aimed at big amenities, The Louisville Downtown Partnership hired the team of Development Strategies and MKSK in 2011 to craft a fresh vision that’s rooted in market opportunity, highly actionable, and geared toward creating a more authentic place.

Our Approach

The new vision for Downtown Louisville focused on the creation of five distinct neighborhood centers to welcome new housing and local businesses. Development Strategies prepared a market-based housing strategy that identified different housing product types, at marketable price points, for each neighborhood, to achieve a target of 2,500 new units over the next ten years.

Development Strategies also developed a business development strategy to encourage business startups by investing in place, fostering entrepreneurship, and leveraging the colleges and medical center that are already part of Downtown.

Downtown Louisville made great strides over the past ten years, including the creation of an authentic and locally-driven neighborhood in Nulu, a revitalizing storefront environment at Fourth Street, the accelerated expansion of hotels, conventions, and tourism, and the further development of the Urban Bourbon Trail along historic Main Street. The team continues to advise as the Partnership implements elements of the plan.