Dive Brief:

• A real estate partnership is targeting the area surrounding Louisville, Kentucky’s Slugger Field baseball stadium, home to the Louisville Bats Minor League Baseball team, for a new mixed-use destination — the Louisville Sports Entertainment District, according to a press release from the city. The proposal is valued at $250 million, according to WHAS 11 ABC. 
• New York City-based Diamond Baseball Holdings, owner of the Louisville Bats, and Houston-based sports real estate developer Machete Group are working with the Louisville Metro Government to draft a development agreement for the district.
• At full buildout, the district would include 500,000 square feet of mixed-use development with amenitized residential units, a hotel, offices, retail shops, a revitalized entrance to Slugger Field and onsite parking, according to the current plan. Specific project details have not yet been confirmed.

Dive Insight:

Slated for a current surface parking lot for Slugger Field, the project will be situated between the stadium and the intersection of highways I-64 and I-65 leading into Indiana across the Ohio River. 

“This exciting development represents our commitment to enhancing the quality of life for our residents and visitors,” said Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg in the city’s news release. “We are being proactive about developing surface lots across our downtown; these type[s] of lots are ripe for development that benefits our city as a whole and its residents.”

The release went on to say that the development would generate jobs, boost local businesses and attract new talent to the area. Rebecca Fleischaker, executive director of the nonprofit Louisville Downtown Partnership, stated in the release that the project would improve the area’s density and perception of safety.

The Louisville Sports Entertainment District is the latest of many new mixed-use developments proposed on or near sports stadiums or destinations. 

Costa Mesa, California-based Argent Development recently acquired the former site of the Sacramento Kings’ Sleep Train Arena basketball stadium in Sacramento, California, and intends to construct a 183-acre master-planned community in its place, including over 2,500 homes.

In San Francisco, Bolour is underway on an 86-unit property close to Dodgers Stadium, featuring baseball memorabilia in a display on its ground floor. Willets Point, located in Queens, New York, will add 2,500 housing units next to the Mets’ CitiField stadium, as well as a new soccer stadium.