Director's Take

Residential Conversions

04-23-2026

Dear Friend of Downtown,

As cities start to develop, city planners can choose to build up, which preserves the land around them and utilizes existing infrastructure, or to build out, creating more distance between various community services and uses. More to the point, as these residential and commercial developments are built, they require streets, lights, sewers, water – and ongoing maintenance of such – for people who choose to have a bigger house or yard, or live near wider roads, or simply not live in an urban center. Those infrastructure needs are typically paid for through taxes or service fees, but as we spread out from our community centers, these growing maintenance and infrastructure costs are not supported through our existing taxing structures. I’m not even talking about the geographical expansion of our community services such as police, fire, garbage collection, etc.

So, to have a funding program that is specifically dedicated to converting old downtown office buildings, that are no longer the best use for that structure, into new residential opportunities is a benefit that will help our community for generations to come.

Not only do city and state leadership, across both parties, agree on this expenditure of funds, we also are seeing a change to develop our economic development and incentive tools to help drive this much-needed residential development.

Downtown and adjacent neighborhoods occupy a relatively small portion of the city’s total land mass—about 2 square miles, constituting less than 1% of all of Louisville, yet generates more tax revenue than any other neighborhood and has the largest job center with the majority of visitors, hotel rooms, and attractions.

Doubling down on investments that save our beautiful old buildings, put new life into them, and that create additional pedestrian activity and vibrancy is not only worthy, but mandatory.

See you on the streets soon!