New plans detailed for a 6-story hotel at busy downtown Louisville intersection

A developer has unveiled an updated vision for a hotel first announced in 2019 eyed for the corner of Market and Second streets downtown.

The 168-room Derby City Hotel, a Canopy by Hilton hotel, would feature a rooftop bar and pool, meeting spaces, fitness amenities, and a first-floor restaurant.

"Canopy is going to be a wonderful addition to the hospitality block in-between the Hotel Distil and the Omni, and it should help drive tourism," said developer Nick Campisano, a Louisville native whose New York City-based Campisano Capital has a number of completed and in-progress developments in the Nulu area.

The proposed six-story, $60 million development is just blocks from the Kentucky International Convention Center, Fourth Street Live, the KFC Yum Center and Whiskey Row, a location Campisano said was carefully selected to take advantage of the pedestrian traffic of the central business district while helping bridge the area to the East Market District, or Nulu, to the east.

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Campisano is co-developing the site with Gregg Larson of Minnesota-based TruVine Companies, which purchased the property for $8 million in July 2022.

Renderings show an 11,000 square-foot ground-floor restaurant by Kevin Grangier, the restaurateur behind The Village Anchor, Le Moo and Grassa Gramma. Campisano noted there will also be a 4,500 square-foot rooftop bar and eatery from the same operator, though he declined to provide further specifics about the partnership, as terms are still being worked out.

It's not the first vision for a hotel at the site.

Campisano, along with Louisville businessman Martin Carney, previously announced plans for the site with hotel brand Hyatt after acquiring the land in early 2020 for $5.9 million. Plans submitted to the city in 2019 called for a $60+ million eight-story hotel at the well-trafficked intersection. Demolition of existing buildings, including a loan agency and two restaurants, started after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and finished early last year.

Campisano brought on investment hospitality group TruVine earlier this year, he said. Campisano's Zyyo, afinancial technology company, is providing financial and design services for the project.

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The developers submitted plans Monday to the city's Planning and Design Services. Assuming the project is approved by the city, Campisano said, groundbreaking would start in a few months with a goal of opening by March 2024, just in time for the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby.

Hilton has more than 35 Canopy branded hotels across the U.S. — including in Chicago, Memphis, Atlanta, Charlotte, Columbus and, come 2024, Nashville — and internationally, with nearly 30 more in development, according to its website. It describes Canopy as a "vibrant boutique lifestyle brand" that features "thoughtfully local choices."

"In each city, they look and feel like a local, kind of independent hotel even though they have the Canopy name on them," he said. "But they have the brand standards and the power for innovation associated with Hilton."

Nearby development includes Churchill Downs' Derby City Gaming Downtown at Fourth and Market streets, the newly opened Cambria Hotel at Market and Floyd Streets and a refresh of Market Street as part of the East Market Streetscape plan. Other Campisano projects include the transformation of the now-closed Joy Ley Antiques on East Market Street and the mixed-use Nulu Crossing development on East Main Street.

Reach business reporter Matt Glowicki at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: New 6-story hotel proposed for intersection near KFC Yum Center