Friday, March 09, 2007

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.

2 comments:

shirley said...

Don't forget the walking tour, May 17, "Lofty Ideas". I think it will generate a lot of interest in New Albany.

As you know, people in Louisville are noticing NA because property is cheaper and we are close to downtown Louisville. We need to keep promoting or fair city.

shirley said...

correctoin "our" fair city.