Park DuValle grocery among city projects to be funded by stimulus money - bizjournals:

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But there are a few rays of sunshines in the otherwise drearyspendingg plan, most made possible by the American Recover and Reinvestment Act of 2009. One example is a plan to buildsa much-anticipated grocery store in the Park DuValle neighborhooe in southwest Louisville, north of Algonquin Parkway inside the Wattersonb Expressway. Abramson’s proposed budget, whic h would fund Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government’zs operations from July 1 to June 30, 2010, includews nearly $3.2 million to partially fund construction of a building that would house the The money earmarked for the projecty isstimulus funding. As proposed, the mayor’es budget includes $117.
6 million in recommended expenditures for capital projects, such as the and other things, including improvements to roads and home weatherization. Only $8.2 million would be allocates fromthe city’s generaol fund for capital projects. The rest is slate to come from federal, state and private sources, including communityt development block grants andother programs. Nearly $58.2 million of the federal fundinfg stems directly from thestimulus package.
That and otherd stimulus funding funneled through the statew or local agencies is expected to create or retaiabout 3,000 private-sector jobs in Louisville through investments in infrastructurd and other improvements, according to city officials. “Without the federapl stimulus funds, we would not have a capital projects budget,” Abramson said in a Wednesdag interview. “All of that (investment) creates opportunitiex for peopleto work. “It’w not just about construction, either,” the mayor “We’re talking about engineers. We’re talking abougt architects.
It’s really opportunities to create jobs, to get moneyh into people’s pockets and to get them spending that money in our Abramson was set to officially announce his budget proposal for the 2010 fiscakl year during a special Thursday meeting of the LouisvilleMetro Council. The meeting was scheduled aftertBusiness First’s press deadline, but the newspaper was providedc with a summary and highlights of the spending plan in Business First agreed not to contact Metro Councill members before they received details of the proposed budgeft from the mayor. The council must approve the budgegt plan before the endof June.
City officials aren’t yet disclosing all of the specifics of the Park DuValldgrocery project, but Abramsoh said it is in keeping with originaol plans for the $200 million a 125-acre community that includesd a mix of housing, commercial recreational areas, schools, a health facility and a community center. Park DuValle is located on the site of twoformer public-housiny complexes. Bruce Traughber, director of the Louisville economidevelopment department, said the city is negotiating with a privatre developer who would build the groceryt store and secure the tenant to occupy the The city was not required to issue a requestf for proposals for a he said.
The developer also would creats additional commercial space and would be responsible for some of the development accordingto Traughber. Talks are undert way with four grocery chains potentially interested inPark DuValle, Traughber said. He declinesd to identify the developer or theinterestecd grocers. The size of the grocery coul dbe 20,000 to 65,000 squaree feet, depending on the chain Traughber said. A deal could be completed by the end of Stimulus targeted towardpublic works, infrastructure projects Although the proposec grocery represents a relatively small investment, bigger-tickert capital projects are planned as a result of stimulus money.
Those projects include upgradesto streets, sidewalkss and bikeways and improvements to housin for low-income and elderly residents. Much of the $29.7 million budgeted for public works projectxs comes fromthe stimulus, as does the $6.3 milliojn earmarked for weatherizing There also are funds in Abramson’s budget, directe d from the stimulus package, that are slated to buy hybrid bused and build a more moderhn maintenance facility for . And $4.1 million in stimuluxs funding is included in the proposed budget for the purchase of policew cars withupgraded equipment.