Loading...To celebrate this milestone in downtown residential development, the cathedral is planning a public dedication and reception with the mayor, the bishop and other officials at 1:30 p.m. (EDT) Oct. 3. Members of Christ Church and their friends will have a private tour of the facility on Sunday, Sept.17, following the morning services.
Located on the southern part of the cathedral campus, next to Diocesan House, the apartment building, under construction for the past two years, has 40 units and 2,700 square feet of commercial space to rent. Another part of the Cathedral Commons project, renovation of the Howard Hardy House, was completed earlier this summer. The historic residence, largely concealed by additions to the old Miller restaurant, has been restored to its 1830s exterior. It is the last pre-Civil War house still standing with its slave quarters intact in downtown Louisville. Its tenant, H. John Milner and Associates, an architecture firm, moved into the space in late June.
In 2003 the cathedral chapter, the equivalent of a parish vestry, voted to undertake the project and, to finance it, has formed partnerships with banks, the Kentucky Housing Corp. and other organizations, including four (Norton Hospital, Well Spring, Kentucky Refugee Ministries and Prodigal Ministries) that have employees and clientele that would be eligible to rent a unit. At the groundbreaking ceremony Feb. 3, 2005, Mayor Jerry Abramson praised the cathedral’s vision and initiative to make affordable housing available in the downtown.
At the last Trustees & Council meeting, Sam Dorr, the cathedral’s operations director, described the importance of this community project. While there are “permanent shelters” for the poor and homeless in Louisville and “they can always get something to eat… clothes if needed… usually medical care,” he said, downtown Louisville has no “affordable housing” for the working poor. He said there should be no difficulty in renting the apartments according to their market studies; Norton Hospital, for example, has about 900 employees that fall within the required income bracket.
The four-story brick apartment building, designed by John Milner & Associates, contains architectural details and masonry that give the modern structure a traditional flavor. It has seven two-bedroom apartments, 32 one-bedroom units and one studio apartment. Two apartments (a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom) are handicapped accessible; one one-bedroom unit is set up for the hearing impaired. Although unfurnished, each apartment comes with major appliances, including a washer and dryer and access to a common garbage chute.
Perhaps the most unusual feature of the facility is its geothermal heating and cooling system, which uses the earth’s constant temperature to heat the building in winter and cool it in the summer. According to Dorr, it is both ecologically and economically friendly.
The first-floor, unfinished commercial space, still uncommitted, features a nicely appointed storefront facing Second Street between Muhammad Ali Boulevard and Liberty Street, what the mayor described in his talk as one of Louisville’s most visible sites. A commercial leasing agent was recently hired to show the space to prospective tenants. Dorr said planners initially imagined the space housing a restaurant, deli, bookstore and/or coffee shop but it would also be suitable for other types of businesses.
To insure the apartments are rented only to those who qualify, the Cathedral Commons Corp. hired Beacon Property Management, which manages affordable housing developments in Kentucky and neighboring states. Michael Loy, the community manager for Beacon, began receiving applications and showing a model apartment in August. He conducts background and credit checks on applicants, and determines eligibility following a complex formula used by Beacon and other management companies.
