necromantical

it's been a while......but here is an update from SSC's soulbrotha..

Museum Plaza starts with a single scoop Riverfront icon breaks ground They came by the hundreds, standing shoulder to shoulder at a museum named for one of Louisville's greats, to mark the birth of a future city icon. An overflow crowd spilled out of the garage at the Muhammad Ali Center last night, watching construction begin on Museum Plaza, the radical, 62-story skyscraper that will reshape the Louisville skyline. "Let me tell you definitively: you're ready for this," architect Joshua Prince-Ramus told an audience of more than 300 people. "If you've come this far, if you've made the innovations that you've made, if you've galvanized the community in the way that you have -- you've already taken the steps that you need to to do a project like this." Museum Plaza, to be built at River Road and Seventh Street, will include a Westin hotel, dozens of luxury condominiums and lofts, retail and office space, a contemporary art gallery and a 140,000-square-foot park and plaza. More at http://www.courier-journal.com

Museum Plaza developers unveil plans for a park Groundbreaking will be held tonight By Marcus Green, The Courier-Journal A 27-foot-high ramp will rise from Main Street over Seventh Street, studded with two sculptures filled with water -- one calm and one turbulent to echo the moods of the Ohio River. It will lead to a promenade laced with trees and park benches beneath a trio of skyscraper towers. Five arc-shaped metal fountains will shoot out a veil of mist or a sheet of water. The proposed park at Museum Plaza, the high-rise complex whose groundbreaking is tonight, is meant to reflect themes of water and nature, its designers say, including how land is sculpted by high river water. The design still must be approved by the West Main Street Architectural Review Committee, which will consider it at a meeting Tuesday. The committee accepted tentative plans for the park in May but wants to see more details before making a final decision. More at http://www.courier-journal.com

MP will be built!! -------------------------------------------------------- Museum Plaza tax plan advances State board OKs financing deal By Marcus Green The Courier-Journal FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A state board yesterday gave unanimous approval to a tax plan for Louisville's Museum Plaza skyscraper complex, a key part of financing the $490 million project at Seventh Street and River Road. The Kentucky Tax Increment Financing Commission agreed to let developers capture a portion of new taxes generated at the site to pay for public improvements such as a new park, street lighting, floodwalls and floodgates. "It was a very important step," Craig Greenberg, a Louisville lawyer and one of four Museum Plaza investors, said after the meeting. The board voted 6-0 in favor, with University of Louisville business dean Charles Moyer abstaining. The U of L business school is a possible tenant at Museum Plaza. Full article: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071020/NEWS01/710200425

covington has a massive project going on too, which is also going tp be funded by the tif bill that is making MP possible.

sweet

State accepts Museum Plaza's application for TIF district The Kentucky TIF Commission has accepted Museum Plaza's application for tax-increment financing on its public infrastructure. Negotiations now will begin among Museum Plaza developers and local and state government officials to work out the details of the project grant agreement. The agreement will return to the TIF Commission for approval before the project can get started. The TIF Commission is set to meet Oct. 16 to consider the project grant agreement, according to a news release. Jill Midkiff, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Finance Department, said she could not disclose how much the developers seek the TIF district to generate because that information is confidential taxpayer information. Museum Plaza is planned as a 62-story complex with a contemporary art museum, a Westin hotel, office space, retail shops and residential condominiums. It will be located at Seventh Street and River Road in downtown Louisville and is expected to cost $490 million. The project is slated to break ground in late October and to be completed in late 2010. More at http://www.courier-journal.com/

you should be able to, that's what the developers said the goal was. "to overlook the river"

i like that you'll be able to look out and see the river while you're at a game. and you can see the game from outside from the bridge....amazing

the final design has been unveiled...

Before After Todd Blue plans $50 million retail, office project on West Main Street Business First of Louisville In the early 1900s, the 100 block of West Main Street was home to distillers and wholesalers and earned the moniker Whiskey Row. More than 100 years later, the block -- now mostly derelict -- is about to be redeveloped as a mixed-use project with retail and restaurant space, offices and a parking garage. More at http://www.louisvilleky.gov

Museum Plaza gets state aid By Joseph Gerth The Courier-Journal FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Museum Plaza project for downtown Louisville cleared a major hurdle today when the General Assembly passed legislation authorizing the use of $130.million in state and local tax revenue for road, floodwall and other improvements in connection with the $465.million project. Final passage came after the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee made changes in House Bill 549 to allow such tax benefits for similar large-scale projects throughout the state. The bill passed the Senate 35-1. The House approved Senate changes 85-11. And Jodi Whitaker, spokeswoman for Gov. Ernie Fletcher, said he will sign the bill. Full article: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070312/NEWS0101/70312061

Museum plaza project gets a green light Monday, March 12, 2007 Mark Hebert/WHAS11 news Frankfort, Ky. -- One of the developers of the proposed museum plaza project said today, “It will be built.” Craig Greenberg says he is delighted that the key legislator has given final passage to the bill and will provide about 130 million dollars in funding for the museum, hotel, and condominium project. The state house of representatives gave final passage to the bill about eight o’clock tonight. Supporters say that they expect Governor Fletcher to pass it into law. More at http://www.whas11.com/topstories/stories/031207whasjdTopstoryMuseum.8158e4d.html

:clap: :clap: Museum Plaza bill OK'd by House Measure provides one-fourth of funding By Marcus Greenand and Joseph Gerth The Courier-Journal FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Museum Plaza is a step closer to becoming reality in Louisville after the House overwhelmingly endorsed a plan that would pay for more than one-fourth of the $465 million project. House Bill 549 now heads to the Senate, where that chamber's leaders have indicated they will support the measure. The bill establishes three ways to pay for the project's public improvements, including a floodwall and extension of River Road. They include: - An estimated $22 million in room taxes from a Westin hotel that will be built there. - Extending the project's taxing district from 20 to 30 years, capturing new taxes generated at Museum Plaza. - Rebating sales taxes on construction material used in the project. Full article: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070302/NEWS0101/703020441

the senate should pass it without a hitch.