$74M Boutique Hotel TIF Advances as NAMI Spotlights Louisville's Mental Health Gap

Louisville's Labor and Economic Development Committee moved forward on two economic development incentives representing more than $127 million in private investment, then heard an emotional presentation from NAMI Louisville that laid bare the gap between clinical mental health care and the peer support families desperately need.

• $3.76M tax incentive clears committee for $74M conversion of two vacant historic downtown buildings into a 150-room Canopy by Hilton
• Bigelow Tea wins final approval on state incentive after completing $53M expansion and adding 31 jobs in District 11
• NAMI Louisville asks council members for visibility, not money, as it reaches 10,000 people a year through free peer-led programs
• Board vice chair shares son's suicide story, urging council to close the awareness gap between crisis and community support
• Metro accepts $25,000 federal grant to pilot blended financial counseling and housing stabilization services

Two historic buildings at 300 and 310 West Liberty Street — the first U.S. Customs House west of the Allegheny Mountains (built 1853) and a later warehousing facility (1907) — have sat fully vacant since 2017, generating roughly $25,000 a year in local property taxes. The committee voted 6–1 to approve a 20-year tax increment financing district that would reimburse up to $3,758,524 to the developer, Landmark Landlord LLC, tied to the Louisville-based Timbawala Group, as it invests $74 million to convert the properties into a 150-room Canopy by Hilton boutique hotel with restaurant, bar, cafe and meeting space.