A community group in west Louisville wants to purchase the Nia Center from the city’s bus company.
The small business hub has been at the center of a fight between tenants, the Transit Authority of River City (TARC) and Goodwill Kentucky, which wanted to turn the Nia Center into affordable housing. Goodwill’s plan to demolish and redevelop the Nia Center fell off after the nonprofit failed to get funding for its purchase.
Now, the West Louisville Dream Team is stepping in with their own offer. Like Goodwill, the Dream Team has submitted a letter of intent to TARC to purchase the property for $2.1 million.
Shaun Spencer, the founder of Dream Team and a Nia Center business tenant, said the Dream Team’s goal is to invest in the building and make it a community asset again.
“We see the Nia Center reborn as the beating heart of west Louisville’s renaissance, humming with Black- and brown-owned ventures, civic gatherings and community people and dollars circulating to build generational wealth,” she said.
The Nia Center was built in 1998 to provide below-market-rate office and retail space to West End entrepreneurs. But the building, which is owned by TARC and managed by Louisville Metro Government, has been neglected in recent years. Some of its biggest tenants right now are city agencies that don’t pay rent.
Spencer said the Dream Team is trying to raise $3 million from public and private sources to buy the Nia Center and then upgrade some of the amenities, like modern finishes and faster broadband internet. She also promised that the center, which currently has about 10 business tenants, will grow to 90% occupancy within the first three years.
The West Louisville Dream Team is partnering with the local nonprofit Center for Neighborhoods, so it can accept tax-exempt grants and donations.
This alternative purchase offer has already received the support of some Metro Council members, including District 1’s Tammy Hawkins and District 3’s Shameka Parrish-Wright, both Democrats representing parts of the West End.
At a press conference in the Nia Center lobby Wednesday, Hawkins said there are a lot of businesses and offices located there that are important resources for West End residents.
“This building being placed in the hands of any other developer or person that is not from the community does not speak to generational wealth,” she said. “It does not speak to listening to the peoples’ needs.”
Hawkins also addressed concerns she said she’s heard from some officials that it’s a risk to hand the Nia Center over to a grassroots not-for-profit organization.
“There’s no bigger risk than what we take when we put it in people’s hands that are not from the community and we don’t know what their intentions are,” she said. “So, I’m willing to take that risk.”
Hawkins and Parrish-Wright said they would speak with their colleagues on Metro Council to try to get more support for the proposal.
The West Louisville Dream Team did not provide specifics on how much money they have on hand as of Wednesday, but Spencer said she is confident they’ll be able to raise the full amount to purchase the Nia Center within 30 days.
TARC’s board will first need to vote on whether to accept the Dream Team’s letter of intent and enter into negotiations on the sale.
A spokesperson for TARC told LPM News that the transit agency’s staff will take the offer to their board at its next meeting on August 26 at 3 p.m.
