A developer that specializes in short term rentals is now the owner of a large Downtown building — and it’s planning some upgrades.
Leger Investments acquired the six-story 620 Building, located at 620 S. Third St. The company purchased the 80,000-square-foot structure in August for $7.4 million from Taurus Capital Management, according to the deed.
Louie Leger, founder and president of Leger Investments, said the building is a mixed-use property. Since late 2020, the company has been running 24 short-term rental units in the building — 10 on the third floor and 14 on the fourth floor. The units are fully furnished and total about 900 square feet.
Office tenants take up the rest of the floors. Leger said when the previous owners decided to sell, Leger Investments was a natural fit because of its past use of the building.
“Because we’ve been involved, I told him about my interest for the building and he decided to sell it,” Leger said.
Now as owners, the company is planning a few renovations to the building. Leger said a ballroom on the second floor could receive some upgrades in order to get ready to be leased out for different events.
There’s also some more space on the fifth and sixth floors that could house some more short-term rental units. Leger said there’s a need for more short-term rentals in Louisville to support the tourism industry and other types of professional travel.
“Even when we have major conventions and things of that nature, sometimes there’s a lack of places to stay,” Leger said. “We all play our part to be able to keep people in our city, and when we keep them in our city, it means they go to our restaurants, they go to sporting events, they go to our theaters, which means that they’re spending money in our economy.”
The renovation is still in the planning stages now, but Leger said it will roll out in phases. The developer is anticipating investing anywhere from $250,000 to $1 million in the improvements.
Leger’s rental units in the building have been a success so far. During the pandemic, Leger said the rentals became an option for travel nurses.
“A lot of times, you know, they can’t stay in the city for a whole year,” Leger said. “For them to get locked into a lease, it’s just not something they can do.”
Most of Leger’s short-term units are in the Downtown area now, but he said they are looking to grow to more parts of the city.
© 2022 American City Business Journals. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated January 1, 2021) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated July 1, 2022). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of American City Business Journals.
About Author
