Iron work in New Albany - Take a walk

It’s spring and the weather is great for walks. Something new is blooming every day and the birds are chirping as well trying to build nests in every single freaking nook and cranny of my house! I curse the birds and the d#mn squirrels too. Oh well, I guess they come with the territory. But there are times when I wish I still had the Daisy BB gun I had as a kid.

I’m digressing though. Get out and take a walk. It’s a good time to appreciate the good things in our housing diversity in New Albany. I like to focus on different things when I stroll – ornate woodwork, architectural details, iron ornamentation, etc.

Below is a small sample of the impressive iron in our fair city. I’m sure you’ll spot more as you ramble around. Happy Spring!

Adaptive Reuse on a BIG scale - Reynolds Lofts

A tour hosted by Schaefer General Contracting Services last month started at the U.S. Marine Hospital and the incredible rebirth and restoration in process there (Read more here).

Part 2 of the tour was a visit to the Reynolds Lofts – an adaptive reuse project near the University of Louisville campus. It’s a huge project and a great example of adaptive reuse for a large industrial building. According to the website, Coolspaces.com, the structure was originally built to produce Model T’s. It later served as a factory for Reynolds Metal Company.

Seventy seven loft units will fill the building. Views are stunning – Churchill Downs, Papa Johns Stadium, the UofL Campus and the Louisville skyline. Summed up in one word, the place is cool.

How does all this relate to New Albany? We have our share of large vacant buildings in the area. The M. Fine building comes to mind. So does Silvercrest. I believe it’s only a matter of time before a large scale, signature project gets underway in New Albany.

While most of us don’t have millions in the bank to invest in a project, we are certainly playing our part by investing in our homes, participating in neighborhood associations, supporting downtown businesses and just being active in community. These seemingly small things will make the decision by a developer to invest in New Albany much easier. Let’s keep up the momentum.

Interest Up in Historic New Albany

Here’s some interesting data about what I consider a key indicator for our little City. The graph shows monthly Visits to the website HistoricNewAlbany.com. This is what is commonly known as a trend – and a positive one at that.
Obviously, interest is growing in real estate available in our historic neighborhoods. Whether you like it or not, word appears to be spreading about New Albany and this is objective data that supports that conclusion.

What other positive trends are happening in New Albany?