Access Louisville

We cover a number of topics on this week's Access Louisville podcast.First, we chat about the University of Louisville ending its long-running management of an early childhood center near campus and severing its ties with Family Scholar House due to budget constraints. Louisville Scholar House includes 56 apartments, the Owsley Brown Frazier Academic Services Center and an Early Learning Campus (ELC), which provides care and early learning for children ages six weeks to four years old through the College of Education and Human Development.After that, we talk about the Louisville Kings, a United Football League franchise that will start playing in March at Lynn Family Stadium. Reporter Stephen P. Schmidt tells us about efforts to build local support for the new team — particularly among the business community. We also chat about what we think of the team's newly unveiled jerseys, which feature a forrest green meets lime green aesthetic. Late in the show, we switch gears to go over the recently announ

A new pizza joint is coming to NuLu and a new place for steak burgers is coming to the South End. We talk about both — and more — on this week's Access Louisville podcast. We start out around Dixie Highway. Reporter Michael L. Jones recently covered a press conference from Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg. During the Feb. 10 conference, the mayor announced the first four restaurants to receive grants from the city’s $1 million Dixie Highway Corridor Fund:LongHorn Steakhouse will open a full-service restaurant at 7401 Dixie Highway;Crumbl Cookies, one of the nation’s fastest-growing dessert chains, will open its first South End store at 10970 Dixie Highway;Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers will build a new restaurant at 8700 Dixie Hwy; andDerby City Pizza will expand its location at 12900 Dixie Hwy to include an event space and outdoor game yard.We also chat about the first Southern Indiana chef to be considered by the James Beard Foundation. Red Yeti’s Chef Michael Bowe was selected as a semifin

You can't be a suburb of nowhere.And that means that Downtowns are important to communities, including Louisville. Jeff O'Brien, executive director at the Louisville Metro Cabinet for Economic Development, made that point during Access Louisville: Heart of the City, a live event put on by Louisville Business First on Feb. 5 at the Baird Conference Center at 500 W. Jefferson Street. The event doubled as a live recording of the Access Louisville podcast. Lee Weyland, of Core Real Estate, Hank Hillebrand, of the Poe Cos., and Rebecca Fleischaker, of the Louisville Downtown Partnership were on the show as well. Louisville Business First Senior Reporter Joel Stinnett moderated the discussion.The panel spoke about the importance of development in Louisville's urban core, not just in downtown but also NuLu, Butchertown and elsewhere. It was a particularly timely discussion considering all the recent news on new developments.On Tuesday, Feb. 3, Louisville-based Poe Cos. announced it had officially sign

Access Louisville: Heart of the City: Our next live podcast is 4 p.m. Feb. 5. Join us as we talk about development within Louisville's urban core with Lee Weyland, of Core Real Estate, Hank Hillebrand, of the Poe Cos., and Rebecca Fleischaker, of the Louisville Downtown Partnership. Details and registration here.Imagine if Louisville landed three new hotel towers.Seems far fetched, right? But there are actually three such projects floating around out there. We talk about those on this week's Access Louisville podcast. The latest (and focus of the show) is a recently unveiled plan for a J.W. Marriott at 4031 S. 4th Street (formerly known as Brown & Williamson Tower). Indianapolis-based Ghoman Group has secured franchise approval to bring a JW Marriott hotel to the 26-story structure, which is in the middle of Fourth Street Live. The company has said construction is set to begin “soon” with an opening date set for sometime in 2027. There are some unanswered questions, though, including how much th

Access Louisville: Heart of the City: Our next live podcast is 4 p.m. Feb. 5. Join us as we talk about development within Louisville's urban core with Lee Weyland, of Core Real Estate, Hank Hillebrand, of the Poe Cos., and Rebecca Fleischaker, of the Louisville Downtown Partnership. Details and registration here.Few people in Louisville probably know the overlap between art and business better than Ben Robinson.Robinson, a singer-turned-CEO, was appointed as general director and CEO of the Kentucky Opera in November. We get a chance to catch up with him this week on Access Louisville, a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First.Robinson is not only an accomplished singer but a stage director and arts executive who brings creative vision, operational expertise and a deep commitment to opera as a community-building force, a release announcing his hire last year said. He replaced former CEO Barbara Lynne Jamison. Peggy Kriha Miller has been leading in an interim capacity.Most recently, Robinson was gene

Join us live: KY Inno's annual Startups to Watch Awards highlights early-stage companies that are poised to make big moves in the coming year. Join us 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27 at the Ice House, 226 E Washington St. Tickets for the event are available here.A plan for the future of the Mid City Mall site seems to be taking shape. But is it good enough? We talk about it on this week's Access Louisville podcast. The plan hasn't been fully revealed but there is plenty of information out there. Most recently, LBF Senior Reporter Joel Stinnett reported that The Metts family, which owns the property at 1250 Bardstown Road, is partnering in a joint venture with Atlanta-based Branch Properties to redevelop the site, according to the agenda for an upcoming Highland Commerce Guild meeting. Branch Properties develops, operates and invests in grocery-focused retail properties, according to its website. The majority of its portfolio, which spans eight states in the Southeast, consists of Publix-anchored pro

Access Louisville: Heart of the City: Our next live podcast is 4 p.m. Feb. 5. Join us as we talk about development within Louisville's urban core with Lee Weyland, of Core Real Estate, Hank Hillebrand, of the Poe Cos., and Rebecca Fleischaker, of the Louisville Downtown Partnership. Details and registration here.We've unplugged our crystal ball, waited five minutes, then plugged it back in. Surely, now, we'll be able to see the future. As we have the last few years, we start another year of the Access Louisville podcast by making predictions for what we think will happen in the area over the next 12 months. We tackle a large range of topics in our predictions — construction, sports, business trends, bourbon and more. You'll have to listen in on your favorite podcast streaming app to hear all of them but here are just a few to give you a taste: Greater Louisville Inc. will change its name. It's role and collaboration with Louisville Economic Development Authority is being reconsidered,

Against the Grain wound down its operations at Louisville Slugger Field in late December.This week on the Access Louisville podcast, we chat with Sam Cruz, one of the founders of the brewery, about the closure and what's next for the Louisville beer brand.The company had been at Louisville Slugger Field for 14 years. It announced the closure in a Facebook post recently, saying its lease at the ballpark is expiring and it has opted not to renew. The restaurant’s last day was Tuesday, Dec. 23.Losing the space is like letting go of a "living memory," Cruz tells us on the show. But he's not sad about it."Its hard to be sad about evolution," he said. "Life changes. Our company and us as people we've grown and evolved and the restaurant has kinda run its course. It's time to look beyond that. I felt really comfortable ... being able to land the plane as oppose to holding on and potentially crashing at some point." In recent years, Cruz and business partner Jerry Gna

A deal that would see the Humana Building, at 500 W. Main Street, redeveloped as a large hotel, seems to be cooking behind the scenes.LBF Senior Reporter Joel Stinnett broke the story recently and joins us on the Access Louisville podcast to tell us about what he's learned. As reported on Dec. 12, Louisville-based Poe Cos. is in the planning stages to convert the 26-story Humana Building into a 1,000-room hotel, according to multiple sources familiar with the project. The tower is located at 500 W. Main St., near Louisville's Belvedere, Museum Row and the KFC Yum Center. To reach 1,000 rooms, an additional tower may be constructed behind the existing tower, near or where The Exchange office space and Vincenzo's restaurant now sit, according to at least one source. The existing tower would be converted to house the majority of the rooms, the sources said.On the show, Stinnett tells us how his reporting on the matter came together, other projects the Poe Cos. has in the works and what the needs l

Louisville got a major economic development announcement recently with the news that multinational tech giant Foxconn is opening up a facility here — but it does raise some questions.We talk about what we know — and what we don't know— on this week's Access Louisville podcast.Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and other officials announced on Tuesday, Dec. 9, that Foxconn Technology USA Corp. — the American subsidiary of Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Co. Ltd. — would invest $173 million to launch a manufacturing operation in Jefferson County, creating 180 full-time jobs. In a news release, Beshear called it the company's first U.S. manufacturing operation, but that doesn't appear to be the case. The other main question we're wrestling with is what products are going to be made at Foxconn's local facility, which is planned at 6675 Randy Coe Lane. The company has not confirmed anything officially, though there are some hints.The Foxconn discussion is just one part of the podcast this wee

We've got a classic restaurant news update on this week's Access Louisville podcast.We start things off by talking about Mashup Food Hall, which opened its doors at 750 E. Jefferson St. recently. Part of the $115 million NuLu Yard development from Weyland Ventures, Mashup Food Hall is home to six local vendors, including Dipped & Drizzled and Mable’s Southern Kitchen, Barcelona Bistro Bar, 721 Mint It! Herb & Juice Bar, Nexus Bar Bites (formerly Happy Belly Bistro), Wiltshire Pantry Bakery & Café and Cold Stone Bagels.We also talk about a couple of recent closures around town, including Fizz District in Crescent Hill and OutCast Fish & Oyster Bar in New Albany. We also hear about a new location for Maya Bagel Express, a New York-style bagel restaurant, which opened at 2513 Preston Highway on the edge of Germantown. The more than 3,000-square-foot space was previously occupied by a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that closed in August.Following a break, LBF Senior Reporter Joel Stin

A potential revamp of the Belvedere, along Louisville's waterfront, has been a big priority for Mayor Craig Greenberg. And it's a topic that got a lot of people talking thanks to a bold early design (which has now been abandoned.) We get an in-depth update on the project this week on the Access Louisville podcast via an interview with Layla George, who's managing the reimagining effort.In an interview with LBF Editor-in-Chief Shea Van Hoy, George talks about what she's heard from the public since that initial design from Heatherwick Studio came out early this year. People had strong opinions about it, but as she explains, the idea has been scrapped because of the structural work it would have required. Now project officials are looking at what's next for the site."There's so much potential to the site that's untapped right now," she said. "We are long overdue for Belvedere version 3.0." Those behind the project have certain amenities they want to see up t

We cover several interesting happenings around town this week on the Access Louisville podcast — including a nearly $36 million development that's under way in the Portland neighborhood. LBF Senior Reporter Joel Stinnett was on hand earlier this week for the ground breaking of Liminal, located at 1416-1426 Lytle Street.  Antecedent Development and its partners are working on the project, which aims to transform historic warehouses into 138 apartments and 20,000 square feet of commercial space. The development joins other major investments in Portland, pushing total revitalization efforts beyond $100 million.We discuss the distinctive look and feel of the project and its potential impact on the neighborhood. After that we talk about plans from Louisville-based Texas Roadhouse Inc. to replace its very first Louisville store, near Outer Loop, with an updated and more modern space nearby.Reporter Olivia Estright is on the show as well to talk about a couple stories that she has been working on this week, inc

We chat about a few new restaurants to check out around town, plus a few high-profile closures on this week's Access Louisville podcast. To start off the show, we discuss the long-rumored return of Papalinos, a Highlands pizza joint that closed more than a decade ago but everyone remembers fondly. As of Nov. 10, it's back, this time at 1022 Clarks Lane, explains LBF Restaurant Reporter Michael L. Jones. Original chef Allan Rosenberg along with notable restaurant owner Fred Pizzonia are behind the revival, which replaces The Dirty Bird, a chicken and bluegrass restaurant also co-owned by the pair as well. This is actually one of a few moves the pair are making with their restaurants, which Jones goes over on the show (you can also read more in the link above.)After that, Digital Editor Zak Owens is on the show to talk about the demise of Against the Grain's flagship restaurant at Louisville Slugger Field. Founders Jerry Gnagy and Sam Cruz said the decision was driven by the end of the lease term

It'll be hard for anyone in Louisville to forget last Tuesday, Nov. 4, and the crash of UPS Flight 2976.Around 5:15 p.m. that day, on what was shaping up to be a beautiful autumn evening, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 bound for Honolulu crashed during takeoff from Louisville, igniting a massive fire and creating an enormous smoke plume visible across the city.It's been hard to talk about anything else since then. So on this week's Access Louisville podcast we discuss how we reported the story, including its impact on business. On the show, LBF Senior Reporter Joel Stinnett is on the show to recount his conversation with Sean Garber, CEO of Grade A Auto Parts & Recycling, which was hit by the aircraft and debris during the crash. Hearing what happened at the business was one of the toughest interviews he'd ever done, Stinnett said on the show. We also discuss how important Worldport is to UPS' business and the company's response so far, including a statement from its CEO Carol Tom

With only a few professional teams across the commonwealth, college athletics are the biggest show in Kentucky. And we get down to the financials behind it on this week's Access Louisville podcast. Josh Heird, athletic director for the University of Louisville, and Marc Hill, deputy athletic director for the University of Kentucky join the show as special guests, alongside Louisville Business First Editor-in-Chief Shea Van Hoy and Managing Editor David A. Mann. Making it even more special was the fact that we recorded the show in front of a live audience at the Baird Conference Center, located on the 29th floor of 500W Jefferson Street in Downtown Louisville. Baird is the sponsor of the Access Louisville podcast.LBF's Stephen P. Schmidt recently wrote a big story on the financial landscape of college sports, which really served as the impetus for this show. On the program, we cover a range of topics and I've picked out a few selections below.College athletic departments went into the red in ord

Access Louisville Live: Our next live podcast is 4 p.m. Oct. 29. Join us as we talk money and college sports with University of Louisville AD Josh Heird and University of Kentucky Deputy AD Marc Hill. Details and registration here.What's a city without a robust arts scene?Kim Baker, president and CEO of Kentucky Performing Arts, joins us on the Access Louisville podcast this week. Kentucky Performing Arts operates the  W. L. Lyons Brown Theatre, Old Forester's Paristown Hall and The Kentucky Center on Main Street. Editor Shea Van Hoy speaks with Baker about a range of topics, including how the live entertainment business is going, a major construction project at the Main Street facility and much more. The arts business has definitely changed in recent years. The Covid-19 pandemic kept people out of live events for an extended period of time, meanwhile the era of streaming entertainment took hold giving more people to do at home. There were lessons learned from that period though, Baker said."At

Access Louisville Live: Our next live podcast is 4 p.m. Oct. 29. Join us as we talk money and college sports with University of Louisville AD Josh Heird and University of Kentucky Deputy AD Marc Hill. Details and registration here.Soccer is big in Louisville — but is the stadium big enough?LBF Reporter Stephen P. Schmidt is on the Access Louisville podcast this week to talk about his recent interview with John Neace, chairman of Soccer Holdings. Soccer Holdings owns Louisville City FC, Racing Louisville FC and the venue where both teams play — Lynn Family Stadium.The stadium has 11,700 permanent seats, with a total capacity of 15,300 when standing room is considered. But in  the interview, Neace told Schmidt efforts are under way to look at ways to increase the capacity to 15,000 permanent seats in an effort to satisfy the requirements of being part of a Division 1 U.S. Soccer league, which the United Soccer League (USL) plans to launch in 2028.Of course, this topic also gets us talking about the recent news

Access Louisville Live: Our next live podcast is 4 p.m. Oct. 29. Join us as we talk money and college sports with University of Louisville AD Josh Heird and University of Kentucky Deputy AD Marc Hill. Details and registration here.Will you be at Lynn Family Stadium next year when a new American football team kicks off? We chat about the newly unveiled Louisville Kings on this week's Access Louisville podcast. Reporter Stephen P. Schmidt has been following news of the new team all week — from initial rumors and speculation, to the actual announcement and eventual a chance to hear from the people behind it. On the show he tells us about the ownership structure of the league, how Louisville was decided upon and how it fits in the sports landscape of Kentucky. We also chat about how we think fans will react to it. Louisville supports its baseball and soccer teams but other sports, such as minor league hockey, have come and gone. After the sports discussion we chat about a major merger involving the largest l

Access Louisville Live: Our next live podcast is 4 p.m. Oct. 29. Join us as we talk money and college sports with University of Louisville A.D. Josh Heird and University of Kentucky Deputy A.D. Marc Hill. Details and registration here.We've got a roundup of recent restaurant news on this week's Access Louisville podcast. We start with Ramen House’s relocation. Reporter Michael L. Jones details how the popular eatery moved from its original spot in MidCity Mall to a new, larger location at 204 South Spring Street, previously home to Gary’s on Spring. The move was prompted by the expiration of the Ramen House’s lease and the owner’s desire for a long-term arrangement, which was complicated by the MidCity Mall's potential sale. The owner, Jonathan Ham, took on the role of general contractor for the new space, facing numerous challenges including a flooded basement, the need to replace major appliances, and even a break-in that resulted in stolen tools. Despite these setbacks, the new location offe