Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Shively Center Development Takes Nosedive

- In a sharp blow to Shively and Southwest Louisville residents, Seay Properties has settled on a "Peddler's Mall" as the tenant that will fill the old Dillard's building in the newly renovated Shively Center. "Peddler's Mall" is a modern term for flea markets that occupy shabby buildings and drive down community pride and property values. Although Southwest Louisville is overserved by this type of nonsense, Seay Properties felt compelled to help create what just may be the largest one around. Residents were hoping to spend their many green dollars at a modern department store that would anchor the development. Now, citizens are left wishing the old Dillard's building would have been demolished. Sad ending to such a promising story.

- If you are interested, the local Republicans are having a tea-bag party downtown today. Don't ask. Don't tell.

5 comments:

  1. - If you are interested, the local Republicans are having a tea-bag party downtown today. Don't ask. Don't tell.

    I'd been a lot happier if I "didn't know".(lol!!!)

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  2. The Shively Center news is discouraging. You ask why it happened? For starters, Louisville is an aging city that has been involved in an uphill battle for some time. For west and southwest Louisville the battle is especially difficult. I applaud the efforts of the Southwest Dream Team and others for their recent efforts to level the playing field.

    In its 1950’s heyday Rubber town, was at its peak, distilleries flourished and tobacco companies consumed millions of pounds of Kentucky's best tobacco leaf. During these past 50 years demographics and the economic drivers of the local economy have radically changed. My first experience with building reuse was some years working with a citizens group exploring reuse of the gigantic warehouses along 7th street road.

    As you can see with today’s revelation there are no easy answers. Dillards/Bacon's a big box design of the 1970's fell victim to those demographics. Just down the road a solution to big box is dilemma can be found at the scaled down Wal-Mart grocery on Lower Hunters and Dixie.

    For the near term there are no quick answers. For the long term, local residents to be involved in charting our future; a willingness by local government to recognize the strategic importance of Dixie highway; to begin long term solutions that bring new jobs to the area; and investment in new home construction.

    Ray W.

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  3. Here's the problem - folks in Southwest Jefferson County need to quit giving ANY money to any entity that doesn't have a presence west of, say, Taylor or the vicinity. And communicating to, say, Kohl's, Dillard's, Border's, etc. that as long as they don't need our money, we won't give it to ghem. (And trust me, that's a hardship for me, I like Whole Foods and Fresh Market.)

    There is a lot of money in Southwest Jefferson County, we just need to take as as an example the Montgomery bus boycott, it CAN work, but only if everyone gets on board and makes it clear to Abramson that it is HIS job to bring business to the area.
    My first choice - Trader Joe's.

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  4. I went to the website and took a look. Nice choice!

    Web information rate Wegmans and Trader Joes the number one and two chairs. The closest is Traders in Indy. Wegmans is not at all close. I would be most curious if either chain has been contacted during the past 10 years.

    If we do not fit their profile, where are we lacking?

    Ray W

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  5. Good question, someone needs to ask the economic development folks what they are doing to draw appropriate development to the Southwest corridor.

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