Four years ago, Catholic Charities of Louisville launched its Building A Brighter Future Campaign to construct a new Catholic Charities Center on the Fourth Street property at Holy Name. Although the need to replace our current deteriorating structures is urgent, land-use litigation put our planned project on hold for three years. In the interim, thanks to COVID supply chain disruptions, construction costs skyrocketed. After signing Wehr Constructors as our construction manager in May 2022, hard numbers began to come in for the project. The cost of the building we originally dreamed of has escalated from an original estimate of $7.5 million to more than $18 million.
Clearly, Catholic Charities of Louisville is not going to spend $18 million on a new building. First of all, we don’t have $18 million. And if Catholic Charities did have $18 million, the principles of good stewardship would not guide us to spend it on bricks and mortar. Accordingly, in conjunction with the Archdiocese, we began to explore alternatives – and we came upon a great opportunity that has everyone very excited. Not only will our long-deferred dream of a new Catholic Charities Center come to fruition, but we believe it will come more quickly than new construction would have allowed.
We now have a contract to purchase a property at 435 East Broadway, and are engaged in the due diligence phase. The building is currently in use by a commercial entity (an operations center for Stock Yards Bank), and we believe it can be converted for our use with a reasonable investment of time and resources. It is central to many of our Catholic social service partners, located on major bus lines for the convenience of our clients, very close to an active parish, and highly visible for the community at large.
We are excited about what this means for our staff. The building has been already completely renovated, and its systems – HVAC, plumbing, etc. – are all less than 5 years old. The building is highly secure, and it comes with a gated and secure parking lot less than a block away that will provide ample staff parking. SYB has 125 employees working in the building today, and staff amenities like the break room, bathrooms, and lactation room are spacious and high-quality. And the location is sandwiched between the vibrant areas of Paristown Point and Nulu.
We are disappointed to lose our location at Holy Name, but we hope to keep some activities operational in this area. It is too soon to determine what that may look like, but we are committed to leaving our home base of 50+ years in good condition. The Archdiocese and the parish will take the lead in shaping what the future of the parish property may hold.
To weigh in about your work space needs and wishes, please answer the survey! More information will be coming soon.