Poe Companies has been hard at work during the 14 weeks of this series to make the RiverPark Place development a reality. With that in mind, it’s time for an update on all that has taken place:
One of the biggest stories on the Louisville restaurant scene was the closure of riverfront Tumbleweed on Nov. 15. Falls City Hospitality Group, which plans to open a restaurant at RiverPark Place, also reportedly is close to a deal to operate a Mexican restaurant at the 12,000-square-foot riverfront site.
That would give the group two restaurants within less than a half-mile. It operates Doc Crow’s on West Main Street and had La Coop, a French restaurant, on West Market Street, though it closed that operation on Jan. 1.
Taking on the Tumbleweed site won’t affect plans for the RiverPark Place restaurant at all, according to investor and attorney Chip Hamm.
“We had sort of settled on the RiverPark Place concept and menu before the Tumbleweed opportunity came up. We were already believers in the waterfront, so the Tumbleweed opportunity was an easy decision,” he said.
The RiverPark Place restaurant will serve roadhouse type of food – buckets of seafood and burgers – sort of like the chain Yard House, Hamm said, along with about 120 beers on tap.
Here’s the latest on the development overall from marketing director Nicki Sibley:
- Construction on the restaurant began during the last quarter of 2014; it’s expected to open in the third quarter of 2015.
- The first half of the new apartment building, Waterside East, is ready for occupancy and the first renters moved in last weekend. The second half should be ready within the next 60 days. About 30 percent of the units were pre-leased. The existing apartment building, Waterside West, remains 100 percent leased.
- Five condos in the planned 16-story condo tower have been sold, and interest remains steady.
- Poe Companies is close to securing the financing for the apartment tower, likely to be called EdgeWater East. “It’s quite possible we could be breaking ground on both towers this year,” Sibley said.
- The marina has been open for just over two years and is nearly 60 percent leased/purchased. She has fielded inquiries about reserving boat slips for Thunder and four major events are already on the schedule for the marina this summer.
- The amenity/pool area will be open by Memorial Day. “We expect it to be quite the hotspot with residents and their guests especially on nights of Waterfront Park events,” Sibley said. “We’re even looking at providing some kind of shuttle between RiverPark and Big Four or the Great Lawn for special events.”
For Louisville, the planned 16-story, 85-unit condo tower at RiverPark Place among the few luxury high-rise developments in the works.
The $289 million Center City project, to be developed by Omni Hotels & Resorts, however, has gained steam. The 30-plus-story tower, expected to be completed by 2018, will be topped by at least 225 swanky apartments. The complex also will include a 20,000-square-foot grocery store, a badly needed amenity for bolstering downtown living.