Industrial Land Use Strategy

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville-Jefferson County Riverport Authority (“Riverport”) and Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government (“Metro”) engaged Development Strategies in July 2019 to analyze the industrial real estate market in Jefferson County and provide strategic direction for future investments.

This effort started with an in-depth market analysis of industrial uses in the Louisville region that evaluated development trends, key industries, and strengths of the region in the context of a global marketplace. Demand for future industrial uses was projected to understand how much land was needed to accommodate growth and where new industrial development or redevelopment was suitable.

Our Approach

The second phase of this project consisted of detailed GIS analysis to identify potential industrial sites. Topography, flood plains, non-complementary uses, transportation, site size, and a number of other factors, were layered to narrow down development options. On-the-ground field work confirmed the potential of certain sites, and helped to add sites to the list of potential options.

A strategy session with the client team helped narrow the potential sites to include those that need some degree of public intervention to develop. Development Strategies, and its partner MKSK, assessed site capacity, potential development layouts, and compared development costs to development values for several development sites.

Development Strategies used this analysis to recommend strategies and implementation steps to prioritize actions for site acquisition and preparation, identify the roles for Riverport and Metro, and identify likely industrial development typologies.