The views are high on the list of attractions in the Edgewater tower

The view out the floor-to-ceiling windows of the model RiverPark Place condo seems so realistic, you can imagine yourself sipping a cool drink and watching the sunset there.

Poe Companies’ planned 16-story condo tower at RiverPark Place, called Edgewater, was designed to be all about the views, says Rob Chandler, a principal at Boston-based architects Goody Clancy.

“Units on the west side will be looking out over downtown and the bridges; those on the east side will be looking back along the river. They all will have outdoor spaces [balconies], and they all will have lots of glass,” he said.

Click on the image above to see a detailed PDF of the floor plan.

The luxury condo project calls for 15,000 square feet on the ground floor for a restaurant/retail mix; 40,000 square feet of office space on the second and third floors; residential units on floors four through 15, and a rooftop swimming pool, fitness center and clubroom with catering kitchen.

Developer Steve Poe has expressed confidence that the required presale of half planned 85 condos will be secured to land needed financing for the $65 million tower.

The condos – eight different models from 1,015 to more than 3,000 square feet – will range in price from $400,000 to $1 million-plus. There will be 10 one-bedroom and 72 two-bedroom units, plus three penthouses expected to fetch up to $2.3 million.

Click on drawing to see a larger PDF image.

The condos aren’t exactly all about the views. Buyers will be able to select paint colors, countertops and flooring to suit their own tastes. The units will include huge closets and 10-foot ceilings – 16-foot ceilings in the penthouses.

Since the river level can vary as much as 32 feet, underground parking posed a challenge in developing the site, Chandler said, requiring a raised landscape. Plans call for about 250 spaces in the heated structure.

Along with another 14-story luxury apartment tower to be added later east of the Edgewater, the area is being developed as an active urban center, Chandler said, with shops, restaurants and an outdoor plaza, with space for events overlooking the river. A 12,000-square-foot restaurant – just the first of the planned restaurants – is scheduled to open next summer. It will be operated by the group that owns the local Doc Crow’s. It’s all designed to integrate into Louisville’s waterfront parks.

After mothballing the project in 2008 due to the economic downturn, Poe has resumed construction on the 40-acre project, completing a $10 million 150-slip marina in May 2012. The first phase of RiverPark Apartments was completed in May 2013 and a 160-unit second phase, both designed by local architects K. Norman Berry, is nearing completion.

The views are high on the list of attractions in the Edgewater tower – Insider Louisville.

Riverfront condo model open — for tower not yet built

By Braden Lammers, Louisville Business First, October 24, 2014

Poe Companies LLC has come up with a clever way to draw interest in its riverfront condominium tower that is not expected to be under construction until early next year. At the company’s office on River Road, Poe Companies officials have set up a model of what a fifth-floor, two-bedroom condo will look like in the 16-story EdgeWater at RiverPark Place tower.

Read the full story here

RiverPark Place continues rising, turning dreams and plans into reality

So far, the waterfront project RiverPark Place has a lot in common with the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower and the Coliseum in Rome.

Steve Poe

“We’ve been at this for a decade, and it will take another decade before we’re done,” says developer Steve Poe of the 40-acre, $1 billion-plus commercial/residential enterprise designed as part of Louisville’s waterfront revitalization.

(Actually, the aforementioned landmark construction projects were completed in 10 years. At 20 years, the project would be on par with the Great Pyramid of Giza.)

Yet like those earlier landmark construction projects, RiverPark Place promises to vastly alter the landscape and life in the surrounding area.

The waterfront before Waterfront Park or RiverPark Place (top left).    -- Photo courtesy of Waterfront Development Corporation

With the first 167 apartments completed and fully occupied, the second 160 units are expected to be available as soon as Dec. 1. Now Poe’s ready to begin construction on a 16-story condo tower.

It’s been a long slog for the project, and Poe says he’s been fortunate his company has been able to keep at it.

Poe’s real estate development company submitted the winning design for high-density housing outlined in a 2004 RFP for the project to connect Eva Bandman Park with the green space and recreational land of Waterfront Park.

Even then, the waterfront was being reclaimed from its industrial past and years of neglect but had yet to become the green space of today, or that which is continuing to evolve.

Poe said he went into the project assured that all the necessary permits were in order for the planned marina and housing. Not so, he found out. Nevertheless, they broke ground on the project in 2007, began installing infrastructure and pre-selling condos.

Rendering of the view from RiverPark Place toward the city.

“We knew it would take 10 to 15 years to complete this project, and we planned for some bit of downturn during that time, but I didn’t anticipate having to stop before we’d even started,” he said, referring to what many refer to as “The Great Recession.”

Nevertheless, he said, “I had about 16 million reasons not to quit.”

By 2008, that’s the dollars he had invested in infrastructure and permitting for the site, without yet erecting any buildings. With financing drying up in the softening economy, Poe decided to mothball the project. At the time, he already had collected $38 million in deposits on condos and marina slips.

Years passed. Work finally resumed on the project in 2011 as the economy picked up and federal and state tax credits paved the way. The $10 million 150-slip marina was completed in May 2012, and the first phase of RiverPark Apartments was completed in May 2013. The next phase – most units are less than 1,000 square feet and rent for less than $1,000 a month – are being leased now.

Overall, the project is expected to provide 2,500 housing units, along with ground-level commercial space for several restaurants, shops and offices. A 12,000-square-foot restaurant (run by the same folks that manage Doc Crow’s) is due to open next summer.

To find out more about the project and tour a model condo unit, join Insider Louisville for Thursdays at RiverPark Place, 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Oct. 30. Appetizers, beer and wine will be served. You can register for the free event here.

Steve Poe will be on hand to meet and talk about the history of the project and the amenities of the new urban community. Thursdays at RiverPark Place will continue on Nov. 6, 13 and 20 at Poe Companies’ offices, 1250 River Road, from 4:30-6:30.

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