In Louisville, KY, Park DuValle’s town center is

In Louisville, KY, Park DuValle’s town center is rapidly approaching buildout, positioning it to become the first of the nation’s HOPE VI developments to complete an urban retail component. Darnell Jackson, project director for developer Community Builders, told New Urban News that negotiations are in progress which could see the first commercial tenant, a franchise delicatessen, open for business by the end of this summer. Jackson says a barber shop and a boutique have also expressed interest in the town center’s five ground-floor retail spaces totaling 7,000 square feet. Jackson says that despite the sluggish economy, the town center’s commercial prospects are bolstered by strong residential lease performance — he estimates the town center’s residential occupancy to be about 80 percent of its 200-unit capacity — and by the prospect of additional customer traffic that will be generated by a hospital which will occupy a corner of the town center’s principal intersection. An additional 18,000 square feet of retail space outside the town center will be available for private development in Park DuValle. That aspect of the project is being managed by the city through the Louisville Development Authority.