From Louisville’s wonderful Broken Sidewalk urban-life blog: How Travis Provencher is remaking Smoketown, one shotgun house at a time.
Tag: Real Estate
That photo, top, shows the gorgeous garden at the Gilbert house at 216 Preston St., designed by Louisville architect Jeff Rawlins.
This year’s annual tour showcases eight Louisville homes built or renovated by architects and designers, and chosen by the American Institute of Architects’ Kentucky chapter, according to Broken Sidewalk; the urban planning site has addresses and photographs of all eight.
When: June 11, noon to 6 p.m. How much: Tickets for all eight houses are $15 in advance via Eventbrite or $20 at the door of any of the houses. Proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity.
The tour also includes the historic Hendon House at 201 Crescent Court; architects for the project were Charles Cash and Mary Herd Jackson. The 1840s house is one of the best of The Courier-Journal’s weekly house features on Saturdays. The exterior:
21c Museum Hotel founders Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown won the top state award for historic preservation in Kentucky, given annually by the Ida Lee Willis Memorial Foundation and the Kentucky Heritage Council. They were honored for starting their Louisville-based boutique hotel chain in rehabilitated, historic commercial buildings here and elsewhere and for garnering “national and international attention for their innovation and hospitality,” a council spokesman told The Courier-Journal.
Founded in 2006, 21c now has locations in Louisville on West Main Street, and in five other cities: Bentonville, Ark.; Cincinnati; Durham, N.C.; Lexington, and Oklahoma City. Watch Wilson and Brown talk about 21c:
Related: 21c is a New York Times favorite.
Boulevard reviews the latest media coverage of the Oscar-winning Louisville native in our exclusive Jennifer Lawrence Diary™. Today’s news, rated on a scale of 1-5 stars:
Let’s just go for the jugular: Lawrence, all of 25, is kicking the tires at a paparazzi-proof four-bedroom, four and one-half bath condo in New York City that’s on the market for:
$14,400,000
And that’s just the asking price, because buyers often bid way above in white-hot markets like New York, San Francisco, and the city where Lawrence already has at least one home: Beverly Hills.
The building is in the Tribeca neighborhood, downtown on the west side and snuggled up to the Hudson River. Specifically: 443 Greenwich St. It’s apartment 3A — meaning, incredibly at that price: No. River. View. And hello, street noise.
Do dish more, Curbed New York:
“The swankified 1880s book bindery-turned-condo has been an easy sell among the monied elite. ‘We’re creating an environment that is genuine TriBeCa yet also paparazzi-proof,’ MetroLoft principle Nathan Berman said in a statement. Those private amenities include drive-in, drive-out underground parking and a second lobby for residents wanting to take private elevators. The building also features a central courtyard only for building residents.”
In other words, Lawrence needn’t worry about an East Coast version of the 10 paparazzi camped outside the West Coast home she bought in October 2014 from comedian Ellen DeGeneres for a mere $8.2 million. Plus, the paps would have plenty of other prey in the neighborhood: Celebrities who’ve lived there include mega Grammy-winner Beyoncé, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, and his ex-wife, Gwyneth Paltrow. Besides, Lawrence can always fall back on her Donald Trump-hunting bodyguards.
Compared to other prices in the building, apartment 3A is a steal. The penthouse is on the market for $55 million; that would be a record for downtown, Curbed says. For more perspective on 3A’s $14.4 million ask, consider the priciest home up for grabs here in Louisville is $16 million (and a recent price cut from $20 million suggests the seller is motivated).
The bottom line: For this condo’s sheer gorgeousness, Boulevard awards Curbed a rare, and coveted five-star review!
Here, by the way, is the curb appeal of Greenwich Street in front of the building; yup, that’s a loading dock on the left-hand side:
Related: how Tribeca became New York’s most desirable neighborhood.
A news summary focused on big employers; updated 4:26 p.m.
AMAZON has successfully blocked unions from organizing its 90,000 workers at giant warehouses, including in Shepherdsville and Jeffersonville, where it has a combined 6,000 employees; here’s how (New York Times). Also, the company is reportedly rolling out new lines of private-label house brands that will only be available to members of its $99-a-year Prime program; they could hit retailer’s site by the end of this month or early in June (Wall Street Journal).
KINDRED‘s business mix has changed significantly since last year’s $1.8 billion purchase of Gentiva Health Services. Now the Kindred At Home division, it was 32% of overall revenue during the 12 months ended in March, the company told analysts at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch health care conference (Business First); .pdf of Kindred’s presentation. Kindred’s shares closed today at $12.14, little changed.
GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt has listed his 10,458 square-foot home for sale in exclusive New Canaan, Conn., for $5.5 million (Boulevard thinks that’s a steal!) (Realtor). Meanwhile, Immelt’s reportedly bought a triplex near the top-drawer Boston Public Garden that was listed for $8 million; GE’s moving its headquarters to Boston (Boston Business First).
KFC: In Ohio, a man who ordered a sandwich without pickles Saturday reportedly returned to the restaurant angry about having pickles on his order anyway, and ended up throwing a phone into a wall (Mansfield News Journal). Also, the chain has leased 300 environmentally friendly electric scooters (The Star).
PAPA JOHN’S: Still in Ohio, a 44-year-old man was issued a summons for disorderly conduct after he yelled and cursed at employees during an argument about the number of toppings on his pizza (Mansfield News Journal, too). As if living in glamorous Miami Beach wasn’t enough, a landlord is advertising an apartment with an extra amenity: a Papa John’s is right next door (Craigslist).
FORD: With the month of June about two weeks away, it looks like the end of the road has come for the 2016 Ford Bronco rumors (Master Herald).
TEXAS ROADHOUSE is planning a new restaurant in Plymouth, Mass (Plymouth).
In other news, U.S. stocks were soaring at mid-afternoon, with the S&P 500 index up 1% at 2,069, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.2% higher at 17,737 (Google Finance). Nearly all stocks in Boulevard’s portfolio of big local employers were higher as well.
Finally, Louisville native and Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence may star opposite Sandra Bullock in an all-female remake of the “Ocean’s 11” franchise; the last sequel was “Ocean’s 13.” (Tracking Board).
An occasional look at premium travel from Louisville.
How big is the home-sharing vacation rental business here in Louisville? Industry leader Airbnb alone offers more than 300 choices across the city.
Our favorite is smack in the middle of tony Cherokee Triangle: an entire four-bedroom, 3½-bath home, with a kitchen we’d die for: “Dacor six-burner stove and double-oven, built-in refrigerator, microwave drawer, dishwasher, farmhouse sink, prep sink, custom floor -to-10-foot-high cabinetry, white marble countertops and 10-foot long island.” Nightly rate: just $500.
That’s right near the city-wide Airbnb average of $493 a night; at that rate, most are in the city center:
Related: Here’s The New York Times’s Louisville travel page, including this just published update to its “36 Hours in Louisville” guide. Don’t forget the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau, and TripAdvisor’s picks, too.
Boulevard 