You wouldn't think that a building right on the river would have a hard time getting filled. Yet we have one right here in Louisville that has sat vacant for the last two years, with no hint as to what will go into it.
So, today’s question comes from Donnie Minogue:
“I wanna know WHAS Up with the restaurant in the Waterfront Park that’s sitting empty,” he said on Twitter. “Because, that is prime real estate, and there’s no reason for it to be empty.”
So, two things. First, I think Donnie just said my own brand better than I do. Second, he’s totally right. The Doc’s Cantina/Tumbleweed building IS prime real estate. I mean, just look at those views.
No, really. Look at the views. LOOK AT THEM.
And those views have gone un-viewed for, like, two years now, following Docs Cantina closing down. I reached out to the Waterfront Development Corporation to learn more. See, what you may not realize is that Doc’s Cantina and Tumbleweed were not owners of the space. They were leasing it, from the Waterfront Development Corporation. What I learned is: even though the restaurant has been closed for a couple years now, it has not been on the market for that long.
“It hasn’t been available and on the market all that time, it just became available in January,” explained Deborah Bilitski, vice president for the Waterfront Development Corporation. “The previous tenant, the Doc’s Cantina group—although they closed around two years ago—they continued to be the tenant of the property and continued to pay rent all the way through October of 2018. We didn’t actually terminate the lease until the end of October of 2018 and got possession back of the property around the end of 2018.”
In the middle of April 2019—the day before Thunder Over Louisville, in fact—Waterfront Development Corporation brought on the Howe Real Estate group to take over the listing and connect with interested businesses. Scott Howe, a broker with the group, told me they have had interest come in from coast to coast.
“We’ve had interest from California to New York to Florida to Washington, you know all four corners of the country,” Howe said. “They’re interested in the space, as well as local—we’ve talked to a lot of operators in Louisville.”
While flooding last year did make headlines, Howe said this has not been a major deterrent for prospective businesses. The risk, after all, is just the price of entry for having such a sweet spot on the river; and, the building is built to keep flood damage at bay.
It’s actually the sheer size of the space that Howe said has been one of the biggest challenges. At around 14,000 square feet, it’s a little much for any one business to commit to; so, the Howe Real Estate Group is now considering splitting the building into multiple spaces.
“The highest interest right now for the second floor—we have two great concepts—that want to do, not necessarily ‘fine dining’ but something a little nicer,” Howe said. “Something kind of like what you see at Captain’s Quarters where you get the feeling of being indoors/outdoors on the river, but you can get a nice meal as well. And then downstairs our biggest interest has been something of an event venue where you have concerts, DJs, parties, and it’s almost a rentable space.”
There are still a lot of things up in the air—including some nondisclosure agreements, hence why Howe can’t currently give specifics—but he says it’s “very realistic” that new businesses could be up and running by this time next year.
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Want to know "WHAS up" with something? Rob Harris is your guy. He's talking to some of the smartest people in our community to find out more about science, history, urban legends, local quirks, and more.
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