LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Construction on a new project that will provide affordable senior housing to west Louisville residents is now underway.
"Gateway on Broadway", a community resource center, will be the "affordable housing hub" for The Housing Partnership, Inc., (HPI) a Louisville nonprofit real estate development organization.
The revitalized building will also offer a significant increase in affordable senior housing for residents in west Louisville, according to an HPI news release.
The groundbreaking ceremony was on July 21. Representative Morgan McGarvey, Secretary Eric Friedlander, and Mayor Craig Greenberg were among the key speakers.
“This groundbreaking underscores the City’s strong commitment to creating and preserving affordable housing options for the Russell community,” Mayor Craig Greenberg said. “It is an honor to officiate the start of such an important project that will increase the quality of life for our residents and provide much-needed housing opportunity.”
Located at 1405 W. Broadway, the newly re-christened building will house the NeighborWorks America Homeownership Center, as well as The Broadway Community Resource Center, a nonprofit hub of affiliated community development organizations serving west Louisville.
Gateway on Broadway Senior Apartments on the upper floors are expected tp provide 116 affordable apartments for very low- to low-income seniors. The goal is to keep seniors in their neighborhood to age comfortably in place.
Fifty of the 116 units will be set aside for senior households with incomes at or below 30% area median income (AMI), and 66 units will be set aside for households with incomes at or below 50% AMI, according to the release.
HPI’s restoration of an adjacent warehouse, formerly known as the Louisville Plate Glass Co., will headquarter HPI’s Construction team and single-family housing activity.
Gateway on Broadway’s rehabilitation is a key feature of HPI’s ongoing initiative Beyond 9th: Revitalizing West Louisville through Strategic Homeownership and Affordable Housing.
Launched in 2016, Beyond 9th reestablishes homeownership and preserves affordability in historically black neighborhoods, removing blight through the quality renovation of vacant single-family homes, the rehabilitation and preservation of historic and vacant buildings, and the infill construction of new affordable housing on vacant lots.
The initiative aims to significantly increase homeownership rates, provide housing wealth opportunity, and preserve affordable housing in historically red-lined neighborhoods.
About the Gateway on Broadway Building:
- The five-story Axton-Fischer Warehouse has remained vacant for over 50 years.
- Completed in 1921 and originally used as a candy factory, 1405 W. Broadway also served as a tobacco warehouse for the Axton-Fischer Company. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- Since the 1970s, the highly visible building has largely sat vacant, creating a blighting influence on the Russell neighborhood and Louisville’s Broadway commercial corridor.
- Having acquired the property in December 2018, HPI’s 2023-2025 renovation efforts will preserve the historic façade and complete a $48 million redevelopment plan that will renovate the interior for retail, office, and residential spaces.
- Floors 2 through 5 will accommodate 116 units of affordable housing for low-income seniors, financed with 4% LIHTC, tax-exempt bonds, State Historic Tax Credits, ARPA, and Affordable Housing Trust Fund monies. HPI’s project has been awarded 100% project-based vouchers from Louisville Metro Housing Authority to provide rental assistance for residents.
HPI’s redevelopment project joins the growing momentum of revitalizing west Louisville neighborhoods within the community. The Broadway project will complement current redevelopment efforts within blocks of the site. HPI anticipates that the project will activate nearly an entire city block between 1400 and 1500 West Broadway, providing much-needed housing for very low-income seniors and community support to increase homeownership in Russell and surrounding neighborhoods.
“We are pleased to offer this $48 million development project, which combines affordable housing with critical revitalization efforts,” HPI President and CEO Andrew Hawes said. “It fulfills HPI’s commitment to historic Russell through our Beyond 9th program, which focuses on revitalizing West Louisville through strategic homeownership and affordable housing opportunities. Gateway on Broadway is part of our multi-year, at-scale initiative to revitalize West Louisville through the preservation of affordable housing and the removal of blight in Louisville’s West End.”
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