Plans to turn business hub into affordable housing rattle West End neighborhood
For nearly three decades, a Parkland building has served as an incubator for local entrepreneurs and small businesses. Now, the TARC-owned property is potentially being sold, leaving over a dozen tenants and the communities they serve in limbo.
The Nia Center, named for the Swahili word for purpose, opened in 1998 as a space to consolidate community services into one location easily accessible by TARC buses.
On May 21, Goodwill Kentucky submitted a purchase proposal agreement to TARC, offering to buy the property for $2.1 million. According to a press release, Goodwill is interested in building affordable housing on the site, which is located next to its newly opened Opportunity Center.
Norton Healthcare, which opened Norton West Louisville Hospital alongside the Goodwill development, has also expressed interest in "expanding its healthcare services" in the West End, the release stated.
'Goodwill's intent has always been to help build a stronger West Louisville with expanded services for those who need them the most, and we acknowledge the role the NIA Center has played,' Goodwill Kentucky President and CEO Amy Luttrell said in the release. 'With the help of our partners, Goodwill Kentucky is pursuing the property to build 76 permanent affordable apartments and to allow for potential hospital expansion on the campus.'
Stop by and see us: The Courier Journal mobile newsroom is headed to Parkland
TARC's board authorized Executive Director Ozzy Gibson to sign a letter of intent to sell the property to Goodwill at a meeting May 28.
Shaun Spencer, owner of a printing shop inside the Nia Center, said tenants were previously assured the space would not be sold by TARC. But on May 29, they received a letter notifying them of the sale.
Spencer said she thought Goodwill would add to the community when it opened the Opportunity Center in 2024, bringing the company's headquarters, child care services, computer labs, dental services, second-chance banking, a business center and workforce training to the area.
'Goodwill is going to offer personal opportunities to individuals, and then the Nia Center will continue to offer that economic opportunity. Great partnership,' Spencer said of the development. 'Little did we know they were planning to eradicate us, displace us. Remove us.'
Spencer said she's not against Goodwill building affordable housing in the city. But she feels Parkland and other neighborhoods in the West End are inundated with housing complexes, and building another at the Nia Center's location would take away valuable resources for the community.
'We are against being displaced and resources being removed and replaced with what is seen as affordable housing," Spencer said. "… Let's use some existing properties that are already vacant and for sale. Let's convert those instead of tearing down a building that is providing community resources and then building on top.'
Regina Whitlow, the owner of a salon inside the center, said she chose to open there to be closer to her customer base, many of whom are elderly.
'To hear this news on Thursday, it was devastating,' Whitlow said. 'And first thing you think, 'where am I going to go?' So we all are in limbo right now, just trying to figure out how come we weren't forewarned about our businesses. We pay taxes, and I just think that we as citizens should have been a little bit more fairly dealt with.'
Spencer said tenants of the building should have been given the opportunity to purchase the building, and there are financial backers lined up to assist in the purchase. But they weren't afforded the chance, she said.
The property is valued at almost $2.7 million, according to the Jefferson County Property Valuation Administration. That amount has not been reevaluated since 2000.
Timothy Cox, president of the West Louisville Dream Team, said the building's tenants have support from nearby banks and community development financial institutions in order to purchase the space.
'The money is not the problem,' Cox said. 'Saving our tenants, saving our businesses and saving the community is our issue.'
Tenants will be able to stay in the building rent-free through November 2025 as TARC prepares to sell it and redesign its transit network. Louisville Metro Government, which manages the Nia Center, is working with tenants to spaces to relocate, according to a press release.
The sale of the property must go before Goodwill and TARC's board of directors before being finalized, according to Goodwill's purchase proposal.
Reach reporter Keely Doll at kdoll@courierjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Business owners fight TARC plans to sell Nia Center to Goodwill Kentucky
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