Park DuValle grocery among city projects to be funded by stimulus money - Business First of Louisville:

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But there are a few rays of sunshine in the otherwiser drearyspending plan, most made possibls by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. One examplse is a plan to builda much-anticipatedr grocery store in the Park DuValle neighborhoods in southwest Louisville, north of Algonquin Parkwaty inside the Watterson Expressway. Abramson’s proposed budget, whicuh would fund Louisville-Jefferson County Metrl Government’s operations from July 1 to June 30, includes nearly $3.2 million to partiallyy fund construction of a buildinfg that would housethe grocer. The money earmarkec for the project isstimulus funding. As the mayor’s budget includes $117.
million in recommended expenditures forcapital projects, such as the and other things, including improvements to roads and home weatherization. Only $8.2 million would be allocatef fromthe city’s general fund for capitak projects. The rest is slated to come from federal, state and private sources, including communitgy development block grants and other Nearly $58.2 million of the federal fundiny stems directly from the stimulus That and other stimulus funding funnelex through the state or local agencies is expectefd to create or retaib about 3,000 private-sector jobs in Louisville through investmentsd in infrastructure and other improvements, accordiny to city officials.
“Without the federal stimulusx funds, we would not have a capital projects budget,” Abramsom said in a Wednesday interview. “All of that (investment) createds opportunities for peopleto “It’s not just about either,” the mayor added. “We’re talking about We’re talking about architects. It’es really opportunities to create jobs, to get monet into people’s pockets and to get them spending that money in our Abramson was set to officially announce his budge t proposal for the 2010 fiscal year durin g a special Thursday meeting of the LouisvillrMetro Council.
The meeting was scheduled afterBusinesse First’s press deadline, but the newspaper was providefd with a summary and highlightws of the spending plan in Business First agreed not to contact Metrk Council members before they receivef details of the proposed budget from the The council must approve the budget plan before the end of City officials aren’t yet disclosing all of the specificxs of the Park DuVallwe grocery project, but Abramson said it is in keeping with originalo plans for the $200 milliomn development, a 125-acre community that includex a mix of housing, commercial space, recreational areas, schools, a healtjh facility and a communityg center.
Park DuValle is located on the site of twoformer public-housin g complexes. Bruce Traughber, director of the Louisville economicdevelopmentf department, said the city is negotiating with a private developer who would build the grocer store and secure the tenant to occupgy the space. The city was not requiredf to issue a request for proposals for a he said. The developer also would creatd additional commercial space and would be responsible for some of thedevelopmenyt costs, according to Traughber. Talka are under way with four grocery chains potentially interestee inPark DuValle, Traughber said. He declineed to identify the developer or theinterested grocers.
The size of the grocerty couldbe 20,000 to 65,00o square feet, depending on the chain selected, Traughbe r said. A deal could be completed by the endof June. Stimuluss targeted toward public works, infrastructure projectzs Although the proposed grocery represents a relativelysmall investment, bigger-ticket capital projects are planned as a resulgt of stimulus money. Thoswe projects include upgradesto streets, sidewalks and bikewayz and improvements to housing for low-income and elderlg residents. Much of the $29.8 milliojn budgeted for public works projects comes fromthe stimulus, as does the $6.3 million earmarked for weatherizing homes.
There also are fundw in Abramson’s budget, directexd from the stimulus package, that are slated to buy hybridc buses and build a more modern maintenances facilityfor . And $4.1 milliomn in stimulus funding is included in the proposec budget for the purchase of police cars withupgraded equipment.