Government & Politics August 4, 2021 7:53:21 pm

Louisville again postpones Redtail Ridge vote

By Lucas High

LOUISVILLE — For the second consecutive week, Louisville City Council members opted to postpone a vote on development plans at Redtail Ridge rather than extend their meeting beyond 10 p.m., Tuesday.

The decision to continue the hearing on a scaled-back proposal for the long-vacant, former Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) site next to U.S. Highway 36 until Aug. 17 came after about three hours of comments and presentations Tuesday night from representatives of developer Brue Baukol Capital Partners LLC, city officials and members of the public.

Brue Baukol Capital Partners LLC is back before city officials about a year after those leaders sent the company’s initial proposal back to the drawing board.

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Initially, the company sought to turn the parcel into a 5.22 million-square-foot live-work development anchored by a new corporate campus for medical-device maker Medtronic Inc. and a roughly 1,500-home senior-living community operated by Erickson Living LLC. Additional planned components included offices, retail space and apartments.

Medtronic skipped town for a nearby site in Lafayette, and locals spoke out against the housing portion of the project, arguing that thousands of new residents would strain city resources and exacerbate traffic congestion.

Under the revised plan, Brue Baukol reduced density to 3.1 million square feet and completely eliminated the residential element.

“We’ve completely reimagined, completely redesigned the site,” Brue Baukol co-founder Geoff Baukol said.

The project, dubbed Redtail Ridge 2.0 by the developer, is meant to be “sustainable and a benefit to the community that adds to Louisville’s economic vitality and is in line with the city’s comprehensive plan,” he said.

Louisville’s Planning Commission has recommended approval of the scaled-back Redtail Ridge proposal but asked the City Council to apply a handful of conditions. Those include ensuring that all buildings over 10,000 square feet are LEED Silver-certified, which the developer has agreed to; requiring electric HVAC systems, which Brue Baukol opposes; and acquiring commitment from the owner of a piece of right of way where a roundabout was planned, a move that’s no longer necessary as the developer has moved that proposed roundabout.