Heritage Gardens is one of four plans for Heritage West, the previously proposed site of the West Louisville FoodPort. Heritage Gardens would be an eclectic mix of retail space, housing, a dude ranch and a micro rain forest.
The developers are banking on events, rental space and an agricultural distribution center to fund the project. It would also have a strong educational component, says Dana Seay, communications director of the Heritage Gardens team and a professor at the University of Louisville.
“On this property we propose that there be community gardens, that we teach residents as well as the youth about farming, and about agriculture and about science,” she says.
West End resident Denise Raine is designer of the project. Seay says it is a wide-ranging blend of Raine's ideas and perceived needs for West Louisville.
“This is what I love about this project,” Seay says. “What Denise [Raine] has done in her vision for this project is very much centralized into Louisville and West Louisville."
For Seay and the Heritage Gardens the team, the proposal is about re-imagining space in the West End.
"This is a project that we hope will get people excited again about West Louisville and have them think what other ways that we can create living space,” she says. “This is a love project. It’s one that comes from the heart. It’s very much taking the heart into consideration when we think about the residents and thinking differently about West Louisville.”
Heritage Gardens would take three to four years to develop and a projected cost of $178 million to be completed in four phases.
Other proposals for the site include a sports complex, research park, and a community-owned grocery store.
The Heritage West site is located at 30th Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard. Residents have until July 17 to comment on the proposals. Louisville Metro officials will then decide the fate of the 24-acre site and will enter into an agreement with one of the four development teams by late summer. The option to combine proposals is on the table as well.
