LOUMED, new medical and education district, to bring change to downtown. What we know

It's no secret downtown Louisville has been trying to triage its identity following racial protests and the pandemic in 2020, both of which led to a loss of foot traffic in the area and numerous businesses and office buildings shuttering.

Four years later, Mayor Craig Greenberg's administration, alongside the Louisville Downtown Partnership and Greater Louisville Inc., the area chamber of commerce, has emphasized the redevelopment and revitalization of downtown.

Along with the ongoing effort to rebuff the city's core, comes the creation of the Louisville Medical and Education District, known as LOUMED.

LOUMED, first announced three years ago, is both a geographic district and a 501(c)(4) organization — a nonprofit social welfare and advocacy organization — relying on both private and public dollars to accomplish downtown revitalization projects such as roadway reconfigurations and creating green spaces.

LOUMED, a 22-city block district, comprises four member institutions, namely Jefferson Community and Technical College, University of Louisville, UofL Health and Norton Healthcare, and aims to catalyze economic and downtown development for the city by adding new health-centric facilities and making the area more pedestrian friendly.

"It's now or never," Nadaereca Thibeaux, executive director of LOUMED, said. "We've got an administration that's super supportive ... we've got the funding, we've got the support, we've got member organizations, ... to do something for the good of the community and for the city."

Here are three things to know about the LOUMED development in downtown Louisville.

What is LOUMED and where is it located?

The education and medical district spans 250 acres in downtown Louisville, with much of it sitting east of Interstate 65 and parts of the JCTC campus sitting west of the Interstate 65 divide.

Within its boundaries exist facilities such as the Norton Healthcare Pavilion and Norton Children's Hospital, the University of Louisville School of Dentistry and some University of Louisville medical research buildings, UofL Health Frazier Rehabilitation Center and JCTC Health Sciences facilities.

The LOUMED area is also home to some 16,000 employees and sees more than 1.5 million visitors annually, Thibeaux said.

So far, the four partner institutions have contributed at least $380 million to projects and investments within the district, according to Thibeaux, including University of Louisville announcing plans for a downtown health sciences campus, an ambassador program aimed at making the area safer and Norton Healthcare beautifying some buildings in the area.

The General Assembly has delivered to Gov. Andy Beshear a bill that would allot a portion of a $50 million one-time budget expenditure "to Louisville Metro Government for the revitalization of downtown" — including the LOUMED project, alongside five other projects.

Metro Council also approved a total of $3.15 million in Greenberg's budget to go toward two projects within LOUMED.

"We have the makings of a top-tier medical and education district. That’s why my budget invests in jumpstarting the revitalization and development of the LOUMED campus so it can become an engine for job creation, talent attraction, workforce development and more," said Greenberg in a budget speech in April 2023.

LOUMED is part of a national trend of medical and education campuses

David Gamble, a national urban design specialist brought in from out of state to assist with consulting efforts on LOUMED, noted this project may be new to Louisville but is part of a national trend. Across the country, states are seeing a rise in the creation of medical and education campuses.

In Rochester, Minnesota, the Mayo Clinic has created a downtown campus. New York is home to the Buffalo Niagra Medical Campus. And in Boston, Massachusetts there is the Longwood Medical Area.

"Every city is unique, and Louisville has assets that other cities don't have ... I feel like there's a really good framework for development and growth in sync with the neighborhoods," Gamble said of the LOUMED project.

Gamble sees the newness of LOUMED as potentially attractive to outside businesses looking to co-locate in developed areas with strong medical and research facilities. Thibeaux agrees and hopes to see pharmaceutical companies, bio-pharmaceutical distributors and other information technology companies move into the area within the next decade.

"Now, it's a good time, because the city itself is in a state of transformation," Gamble said. "The city of Louisville, a city of neighborhoods, of which LOUMED is one of those neighborhoods, so the success of this might depend in part on how the city and the medical center both grow in tandem with one another and leverage each other's strengths."

What are the current LOUMED projects?

LOUMED currently has three projects on the horizon, two of which have already been earmarked with funding from the city budget.

The first project, which is receiving $1.4 million from the city budget, is the demolition of the Community Correctional Center located on East Chestnut Street. Once demolished, the property is expected to be handed over by the city to create LOUMED Commons, an urban park concept working to bring greenspaces and pedestrian-friendly areas to the heart of the downtown medical district. LOUMED hopes to have the property by October.

A second project, which is anticipated to take three to five years, is the redevelopment of Chestnut Street. Gamble said Chestnut Street is the "collective spine" of the district and will be crucial in creating a far-reaching identity for the area. LOUMED is working with city officials and the Public Works department as they are in the early planning phase for this project, which will receive $1.75 million from the city.

Another project that has not yet been started would look to reconfigure Abraham Flexner Way "which is like an ally now but could become a more pedestrian spot," Gamble said.

"We are invested in creating a community of health and wellbeing," said Thibeaux. "We want to celebrate all of the great things that we have done over the years here in this community by creating a space that they're proud of."

Contact business reporter Olivia Evans at oevans@courier-journal.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter at @oliviamevans_.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: What is LOUMED? What we know about the downtown medical district