Museum Plaza partners paying to move utilities
Electrical tower to be taken down
Courier-Journal
6/14/2008

By Dan Klepal
dklepal@courier-journal.com

The next phase of work on the Museum Plaza skyscraper has gone underground.

Developers of the $490 million, 62-story project at Seventh Street and River Road said yesterday they are investing $14.5 million to have Louisville Gas & Electric create a new electrical transmission system for downtown and remove electrical lines under the site.

The work started earlier this week and will culminate in January, when crews finish removing a 10-story transmission tower that has been an eyesore on the downtown skyline for a generation.

The futuristic skyscraper is meant to reshape Louisville's skyline when completed in 2011. It is the vision of arts patron Laura Lee Brown and her husband, Steve Wilson; developer Steve Poe; and attorney Craig Greenberg.

Greenberg said the four developers still haven't secured the $300 million construction loan necessary to complete the project because of instability in the financial markets. But that hasn't stopped them from investing more than $38 million of their own money at the site.

"We've decided to go ahead and make that investment now because we're so dedicated to this project," Steve Wilson said. "This is a huge investment in downtown."

Greenberg couldn't say what will happen in January if the developers haven't landed the loan.

"The best I can answer that today is to say our team has a significant investment in this project. We are personally and civically committed to completing it and we're going to find a way to get it done," he said. "It's a question of when, not if."

Poe said the utility work being done over the next few months will help the project move forward more quickly when the loan is secured.

"We have a great project … and a bad, but improving, worldwide economic market," Greenberg said. "We're ready to go as soon as they solve their problems and give credit to good projects like Museum Plaza."

LG&E spokesman Chip Keeling said the utility must build a redundant system to deliver electricity to downtown, power it up and ensure it works before disassembling the old lines and tower. He said the 10-story tower will come down "like an erector set, bolt by bolt."

"Removal isn't that difficult, we just have to make sure the new system is working properly first," Keeling said.

Museum Plaza was named one of the most architecturally innovative skyscrapers in the world by The Wall Street Journal in 2006.

When completed, the building will include three towers of various heights that look like an upside-down, three-legged chair. Inside, there will be condominiums, offices, shops, a museum and a Westin hotel, among other features.

Louisville will issue $47 million in bonds to help pay for a flood wall at the building and new streets, lighting and other infrastructure improvements.

The state of Kentucky has agreed to help the project with a 30-year taxing district that allows 80 percent of the taxes generated by the development to pay for infrastructure improvements. The state also will rebate sales taxes on construction materials used at the site.

No public money has been used so far at the building, Greenberg said.

Crews had been digging the foundation at the site in January when severe vibrations rattled 19th century buildings on Main Street, causing work to be halted. That work has not resumed, but Greenberg said crews will use a corkscrew drill, which will minimize vibrations, to install foundation beams when it does.

It will be the next phase of work after the utilities are relocated. Greenberg said it probably will be necessary to have the loan in place before doing so.

The development agreement between the developers and the city calls for work to begin in July, or the parties would have to negotiate a contract amendment. Greenberg said the work happening with the utilities counts. "It's real construction. It's a real start," he said.

Reporter Dan Klepal can be reached at (502) 582-4475.