Louisville trio works to turn big plan into a reality
The Courier-Journal
2/9/2006

By Chris Poynter
cpoynter@courier-journal.com

Their love of artwork and farmland conservation formed the perfect catalyst for Laura Lee Brown and her husband, Steve Wilson, to create Museum Plaza.

They also convinced longtime Louisville developer Steve Poe to join them in their dream project.

Brown -- whose family controls the Brown-Forman liquor corporation -- and Wilson also are developing 21C, an unrelated boutique hotel at Seventh and Main streets downtown. That hotel, which will display some of the couple's contemporary art collection, is scheduled to open this spring.

Poe, 50, is a long-time Louisville real-estate developer and the president and CEO of Poe Companies. He started his career building homes in Louisville and Southern Indiana and, most recently, developed the 615-room Marriott hotel at Third and Jefferson streets and the Residence Inn at Market and Preston streets.

Brown, 64, and Wilson, 58, believe that, by making downtown a more vibrant and attractive place to live, they can curb suburban sprawl.

"We began to understand the dynamics of suburban sprawl and what causes it -- as farmland is eaten up, city centers are deserted," Wilson said. "That's what brought us to Main Street."

Brown, the great-granddaughter of Brown-Forman founder George Garvin Brown, said she is convinced that a museum and mixed-use building can work in Louisville because she has seen it succeed in her travels in Europe.

Brown and Wilson didn't know Poe until last spring, when their attorney, Craig Greenberg, introduced them. Greenberg, of Frost Brown Todd, also represents Poe.

For Brown and Wilson to build a skyscraper that included an arts museum, Greenberg said, he knew they needed a skilled developer.

Poe admits that he knows little about artwork -- but says he knows plenty about construction and development.

A native of Marengo, Ind., Poe was born into a family that owned a lumber company and grew up watching his father work with architects and engineers.

"I was operating a backhoe at 14," Poe said.

He has spent much of his career doing suburban development but has increasingly become a downtown developer. "Five years ago, I saw downtown coming back, and I saw opportunity here," Poe said. "There seems to be a real momentum changing downtown, not just in Louisville but in a lot of areas."

He lives in St. Matthews with his wife and family.

Wilson and Brown live on a 1,000-acre farm, Woodland, in Oldham County, on the Ohio River. They purchased it after learning that a developer was planning to buy and convert the land into a subdivision. They raise buffalo and sell the meat to area restaurants. In 2004, during a National Trust for Historic Preservation conference in Louisville, the couple placed a conservation easement on part of their farm -- ensuring that it will never be developed.

Poe, Wilson and Brown are putting their personal money into Museum Plaza -- exactly how much they declined to say.

The $380 million project -- $305 million for the structure and $75 million in infrastructure improvements, including a public park -- also will help finance itself through sales, leases and other commercial income, Poe said.

In addition to the nonprofit museum, Museum Plaza will contain a 300-room hotel, 85 luxury condos, 150 lofts and 300,000 square feet of office space.

"You have this multipurpose building where the commerce of the building could actually help support the museum," Wilson said.