After fire destroyed a Russell strip mall, owner to build back with mixed-use concept

More than a year after a blaze consumed a Russell neighborhood shopping center, its owner is making plans to build back.

The retail hub at 18th and Jefferson streets was home to a handful of businesses, including a barbershop, restaurant, sweet shop, and a location of SKS Tax Service, owned by president and CEO Kena Samuels Stith.

Samuels Stith operated a storefront at the retail center for years and purchased the building in 2016.

“I wasn’t going to be burned out of my community,” she told The Courier Journal. “I was always coming back.”

She remembers the “dreadful” series of calls she received in the early morning of Dec. 21, 2022. She and her family had just returned from a trip to Nashville that night and were still awake.

First came a call from the security company saying an alarm was going off. Then came a frantic call.

“I heard this screaming, crying,” Samuels Stith said. “They were crying saying, ‘It’s burning. It’s burning.’ It’s almost like a part of you dies. I just couldn’t believe it.”

No one was injured in the fire, though the fire department deemed the building a total loss.

At the time of the fire, the shopping center was home to Fire & Desire soul food restaurant, Kendrick's Kuts barbershop, and Hip Hop Sweet Shop.

“I’m very grateful and blessed, but the sadness to see your building burning, all the investments," she said.

The Louisville Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is still investigating the fire.

While it has taken her longer than anticipated, Samuels Stith said she plans to break ground this summer on the rebuild.

The new vision is a two-story, mixed-use structure that takes the building beyond the original, solely commercial use.

Eight retail spaces across about 8,100 square feet are planned for the first level while four to five apartments will be on the second floor. Each apartment will be around 1,500 square feet and rent below market rate, though Samuels Stith didn’t yet have specific rent prices.

Her accounting firm will have a small on-site presence, she said, and she envisions a client mix of eateries, retail and services.

She plans to solicit community feedback about what amenities they’d like to see from the retail development. She anticipates having the retail component open by later this year.

Samuels Stith wants to be intentional about the business she leases space to, she said, adding to the network of local small businesses without taking away from what's already there. She wouldn’t want to add a coffee shop, for example, as Blak Koffee is just a few blocks away.

Samuels Stith founded SKS Accounting & Consulting Firm Inc. more than 20 years ago, focusing on helping small businesses, she said.

In 2021, her business was selected to develop and operate The Well, a city-funded incubator and co-working space aimed at supporting Black and minority entrepreneurs.

She hopes the rebuilt retail strip will help spur economic momentum along West Jefferson Street.

“We’re coming back stronger and better,” she said.

Reach growth and development reporter Matthew Glowicki at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: New project planned for site of Russell neighborhood strip mall fire