By Marty Finley – Reporter, Louisville Business First
Apr 9, 2018, 3:00pm

A $64 million apartment project will transform 35 acres of vacant land near Southeast Christian Church and bring nearly 500 more apartment units to East Louisville.

The first units are expected to debut in November, with the project wrapping up in late 2020.

Louisville-based Hagan Properties Inc. started on site work for the 470-unit Victory Knoll last month and will start installing the footers and foundations for the first buildings this month, said Wendy Hagan, an owner and developer with Hagan Properties. The site is on Ellingsworth Lane near Blankenbaker Parkway and Interstate 64.

Hagan told me the one-, two- and three-bedroom units will be spread across 21 buildings, most of which will have three stories. Rents will start at about $975 for a one-bedroom unit, $1,275 for a two-bedroom unit and $1,600 for a three-bedroom unit.

The units will range in size from 788 square feet to nearly 1,400 square feet and will be outfitted with stainless steel appliances, European cabinetry, French doors, large patio spaces with outdoor storage closets, linen closets and large walk-in closets.

Hagan said the entire footprint of the apartment development will be more than 700,000 square feet, including a 6,000-square-foot clubhouse. Planned community amenities include a small cafe, electric car charging stations, fitness center, pet salon, bike repair center, outdoor kitchen, outdoor lounge area with fire pit and cabanas, dog park, playground and a community garden.

Dallas-based BGO Architects is the architect for the project, and Central Bank is the lead lender. Hagan handles its own general contracting work.

Victory Knoll has been in the planning stages for years, and the site was chosen after a market feasibility study found it was one of the best undeveloped sites left in Louisville for apartment housing.

"We think it’s an underserved area with mostly older apartment communities," Hagan said, noting it's near shopping and dining in Middletown. "With all the growth in the Middletown and Blankenbaker Parkway corridor, we think demand will be high."

Victory Knoll comes after Hagan constructed the 356-unit 9910 Sawyer Apartments, a sprawling upscale apartment complex that backs up to E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park and encompasses nearly 400,000 square feet of apartment space.

By Marty Finley – Reporter, Louisville Business First
Apr 5, 2017, 1:58pm

Louisville-based Hagan Properties Inc. will be moving into new office space by summer.

The full-service real estate development company owns and manages Shelbyville Road Plaza, Middletown Station and other shopping centers and has two large apartment complexes in the pipeline. It is constructing an 8,000-square-foot office building at 12610 La Grange Road, a roughly three-acre site owned by Hagan Properties at the corner of Reamers and Westport roads.

The company plans to move in by July 15, and officials declined to disclose development costs.

Wendy Hagan, an owner and developer with Hagan Properties, said the complex will have an "ultra-contemporary design," using glass, steel and aluminum components. The office will have 13 to 18 employees, she said. Hagan told me Wednesday that the company has 10 employees now but plans to bring on several more people by the end of the year.

The complex, she said, will include a "Google" Room, which will serve as a lounge area for staff to relax, work and network. The office also will have two conference rooms outfitted with top-shelf communications systems, a full-service kitchen and modern interior features, such as concrete and hardwood flooring, tile and glass walls with motorized shades.

Outside, the office will have front and back porches. The back porch will serve as an entertainment area with a fire pit, grill and seating space.

Hagan Properties also is constructing a 5,500-square-foot facility on the site that will be used for storage. Designed to look like a vintage barn, Hagan said the facility will offer a stark contrast to the modern design of the office building.

"The site was perfect for our office, as it includes a great deal of mature tree canopy of which we have been able to preserve approximately 75 percent," Hagan said. " The idea is for it to feel a little like the contemporary glass house in the woods in the movie 'Ferris Buehler’s Day Off.' "

Hagan is working with Michael Koch and Associates Architects and Planners and Prodigy Construction Corporation Inc. on the architectural design, and Prodigy is the general contractor. Interior design is led by Luckett & Farley Architects, Engineers and Construction Managers Inc.

For about eight years, Hagan Properties has operated out of a 4,000-square-foot office space at its Middletown Station shopping center on Shelbyville Road.

"As our development, construction and accounting departments have grown, we have pushed the limits of our space," Hagan said.

The firm already has leased the space it is vacating to a new tenant, she said, but she declined to identify the business.

Hagan said the firm originally wanted to build its new office in Pewee Valley but nixed the plan when the design was rejected and a more traditional design was requested.

"The site at Reamers and La Grange Road was turned down for zoning by other developers who wanted more intensive use (gas station, grocery), and the neighbors did not want that type of use located at the corner," Hagan said in an email. "[We] worked with the neighbors on the design aesthetics, and the neighbors were very supportive of the contemporary design and use for the property."

Last month, Hagan Properties debuted the first units of its 356-unit 9910 Sawyer Apartments, a sprawling complex that will have 22 apartment buildings. The project, which backs up to E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park, will have nearly 400,000 square feet of apartment space alone and is set to wrap up in early 2018.

Hagan Properties intends to start construction on another complex, Victory Knoll Apartments, later this year on 33 acres at Blankenbaker Parkway and Interstate 64. The 470-unit apartment complex will cost $61 million and should be completed by 2019.