Apr 4, 2017, 1:14pm EDT
With only a month standing between now and the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs Racetrack is showing off its new upscale offerings.
Racetrack president Kevin Flanery and general manager Ryan Jordan gave local media a tour of the track’s $16 million enhancements to its second-floor clubhouse. The clubhouse sits between the paddock and the racetrack itself, offering wagering booths, food and beverage services, bars and restroom facilities.
With the upgrades, Churchill Downs has modernized about 95,000 square feet in the clubhouse to improve circulation and service. During larger events, the clubhouse typically hosts 13,000 or more guests.
The project included the addition of more than 220 flat-screen televisions, which replaced outdated analog versions. The clubhouse also has new food and beverage options, including multiple themed stations that offer about 25 new points of sale.
Flanery said the former configuration was set up as a food court with only a few points of sale, which led to long lines that disrupted the flow of the clubhouse. The new setup also removes the need to stand in separate lines for food and alcohol, he said.
“Lines are lines,” Flanery said. “People want to be out on the track.”
Jordan pointed out that the hallways in the clubhouse have doubled in width to improve walkability and flow, and Churchill Downs has created several small bars named after past Kentucky Derby winners.
That includes the Behave Yourself Bar, the I’ll Have Another Bar, the Spend a Buck Bar and what Flanery called the appropriately titled Regret Bar.
With the upgrades, Churchill Downs has also added more than 180 new pari-mutuel wagering windows, self-serve betting machines and other wagering equipment. It also more than doubled the number of restroom stalls inside the clubhouse, to 133.
And the clubhouse has new lounge and event amenities, including The Aristides Lounge, named after the first Kentucky Derby winner.
The lounge is in space that previously was used for storage and as temporary event space during the Derby and other special events. Now, it has table seating for about 300 guests, 27 flat-screen televisions and a full-service bar.
The lounge also includes graphics honoring Aristides and its jockey, Oliver Lewis, as well as mosaic wallpaper created from vintage wagering tickets.
Flanery said the clubhouse redesign is a re-imagining of Churchill Downs’ vaunted history, paying respects to the past while modernizing for the future. For instance, a pari-mutual wagering machine used in the early 1900s is on display, and Churchill Downs is adding murals honoring winning jockeys, graphics honoring past Derby and Oaks winners and a wall of fame.
Above the Aristides Lounge is The Loft at Aristides Lounge, a new event space for VIP guests that can seat about 300 or more guests for intimate dining and events. The lounge has more than three dozen flat-screen televisions and a full-service bar. A staircase has been built to access the Loft.
Also, racetrack officials have expanded the Champions Bar and Gold Room, a sweeping sports bar concept and wagering area for VIP bettors and horsemen that seats more than 240 and has nearly 100 televisions in multiple rooms.
Flanery said the space was designed for those who follow horse racing religiously and want to keep up with races at other tracks year-round.
To add to this amenity, Churchill Downs has added a balcony outside of the Champions Bar and Gold Room that includes an awning and seating for about 130 people overlooking the Paddock, where a new video board has been installed.
With these enhancements, the track and its parent company, Louisville-based Churchill Downs Inc. (NASDAQ: CHDN), have invested about $125 million toward major capital improvements at the racetrack in the last seven years and nearly $250 million since the massive Clubhouse and Grandstand renovation in 2005.
Looking ahead, the racetrack has broken ground on a $37 million three-story addition that will add 1,800 seats in luxury suites, dining areas and a third-floor grandstand.
The 77,250-square-foot Starting Gate Suites will be at the north end of the racetrack, next to the Jockey Club Suites. The project will add as many as 36 luxury suites with indoor lounge seating and a private tiered balcony. Each of the three levels in the addition will have event space with dining tables.
That project will be ready in time for the 2018 Kentucky Derby.
Marty Finley covers economic development, commercial and residential real estate, government and sports business.
Here's the first look inside the Omni Louisville Hotel (PHOTOS)
The 30-story Omni Louisville Hotel has reached 18 stories, and construction is moving at such a rollicking pace that a new floor is now being added every six days.
If that pace is maintained, the final 12 floors of the Omni could be built out in fewer than three months, and officials have said it may top out by the middle of the year.
That was one nugget of information about the project shared Thursday morning during the first hard-hat tour inside the hulking Omni, which now dominates the site bordered by Second, Third and Liberty streets and Muhammad Ali Boulevard.
The 1.2 million-square-foot Omni Louisville, with an estimated cost of about $320 million, will have 612 hotel rooms and 225 luxury apartments. The complex will have two pools — one on the third floor for the hotel and another o the 15th floor for apartment residents — and a grand ballroom.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, local media and other elected and city officials took the tour across parts of the first four floors of the Omni, including a full walk-through of the first floor — where many of the restaurant and bar amenities will be located — and the fourth floor, which gives the public its first glimpse at a typical hotel floor.
About 300 workers are now on site each day, including concrete, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, drywall framing and hanging, insulation and glass workers and masons.
Interior finishes are now being completed on guest rooms from the fourth to the eighth floors, and pre-cast concrete panels covers much of the structure’s exterior.
Eamon O’Brien, director of sales and marketing for the Omni, said he expects to hit 60,000 pre-booked room nights for the Omni by the end of March. The majority of room nights are booked from 2018 to 2021, he said, and the farthest convention booked for the hotel is in 2024.
During the tour, O’Brien said Omni officials already are hiring for permanent positions and that many of those jobs will be filled later this year. Hotel officials plan to hold a major job fair toward the end of 2017.
He said sales and leasing positions will be filled first for both the hotel and the apartments. Floors four through 15 will be set aside for the hotel rooms, and floors 16 through 30 will house the apartments.
Those positions will be followed by a search for chefs and other service-related positions for many of the hotel amenities.
Those amenities will include a speakeasy with bowling lanes, multiple restaurants, a library-themed bar, the urban Falls City Market, a coffee shop and wine store, a bourbon store and a Heine Brothers Coffee location.
The restaurants include a three-meal concept offering new Louisville-inspired American cuisine; Bob’s Steak & Chophouse, an upscale dinner-only steakhouse; and Iron Quarter, which will serve pizza and craft beer.
Inside, the Omni now is decked out in concrete and steel, and the rooms and amenities are in such early stages that you can only visualize the final product.
But when it opens, O’Brien said, the Omni will be decked out in cast-iron and bourbon barrel accents as a nod to Louisville, and he reiterated that Falls City Market will have fresh food products, much of which will be Kentucky Proud products. The store also will have kiosks within offering high-end products and possibly a food truck-style hot food concept.
O’Brien said most of the first-floor amenities will have access from the street.
Renderings and rental rates for the apartments are expected to be released later this year.
During a news conference before the tour, Karen Williams, president and CEO of the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the last game-changing hotel that opened downtown was the Louisville Marriott Downtown in 2005, which sent occupancy rates and average nightly rental rates soaring. She expects an even bigger splash from the Omni.
Fischer said Dallas-based Omni Hotels & Resorts has assured him that the Omni will be unlike anything Louisville has ever seen and will create a wow factor for first-time visitors.
O’Brien said the goal is to create a first-class hotel and amenity center that attracts local and out-of-town visitors.
“This is a hotel for the entire community,” he said.
The Omni is scheduled to open by spring 2018. To see inside, check out photographer William DeShazer’s slideshow above.
Marty Finley covers economic development, commercial and residential real estate, government and sports business.
Construction underway on multimillion-dollar hotel
Work has started on a dual hotel near EP “Tom” Sawyer Park.
Local developer Steve Poe is building a combination Townplace Suites and Fairfield Inn & Suites hotel on 26.7 acres at 10241 Champions Park Drive. The project will cost an estimated $23 million.
The 82,000-square-foot dual-branded hotel will have 157 rooms total and traditional amenities such as an indoor pool, a dining area and a fitness center. It will open sometime next year.
The development will sit near the Springhurst Towne Center, another retail center and two other hotels.
This is only the latest hotel project from Poe, who developed the Aloft Hotel downtown and is working on another dual-branded hotel as well as a Homewood Suites downtown. —Caitlin Bowling
Work on $23M dual-brand hotel set to kick off in the East End
Mar 29, 2017, 11:32am EDT
A four-story, 157-room hotel planned on about 27 acres of vacant land in Louisville’s East End is set to begin construction.
Louisville-based Poe Cos. received building permits from Louisville Metro Government earlier this week to construct a dual-branded hotel that will carry the TownePlace Suites and the Fairfield Inn & Suites flags, as we reported in November.
The site, at 10241 Champion Farms Drive near SpringHurst Towne Center, is owned by Poe Cos. and is behind two other hotels, the Residence Inn Louisville Northeast and a Courtyard Louisville Northeast.
Valentin Staller, a project manager for Poe Cos., said in an e-mail that the hotels should be completed within a year and that the developments costs are about $23 million. The hotel will encompass more than 83,000 square feet and will be almost evenly split between the two brands. Both hotel flags are part of multinational hotel company Marriott International (NYSE: MAR).
TownePlace Suites stands out for having full kitchens in its guest rooms, while Fairfield Inn & Suites is billed as a business-friendly hotel that offers a full business center and flexible work spaces in its guest rooms and lobby.
According to a development plan filed late last year, the TownePlace Suites will have a mix of studio-sized rooms, double-queen rooms and one-bedroom suites. The Fairfield Inn & Suites will have king and double-queen rooms and several suites.
On-site amenities outlined in the documents include a lounge, dining and breakfast area, fitness room, market, laundry facilities, break room and indoor pool.
Poe Cos. is building the dual-branded hotel with Indiana-based REI Real Estate Services. Louisville-based Calhoun Construction Services Inc. is the general contractor.
As I have previously reported, this is just one of many projects on the plate of Poe Cos. The company is developing a 15-story, 300-room dual-branded downtown hotel — the traditional Westin brand and the funky Moxy — at First and Main streets that could open in time for the 2019 Kentucky Derby. That’s an $80 million project.
And Poe Cos. is a partner in a downtown Louisville Homewood Suites at 631 W. Market St. that should open in 2018.
The company, which is led by Steve Poe, also has indicated plans to build a 107-unit apartment complex with more than 123,000 square feet near the intersection of River Road and Frankfort Avenue. The site is an undeveloped parcel owned Louisville Waterfront Development Corp. That project is part of Poe’s Riverpark Place development.
Marty Finley covers economic development, commercial and residential real estate, government and sports business.
Norton Audubon Hospital CEP Building
Norton Healthcare has grown to be the area’s leading health care provider with some of the most advanced technologies and well-trained physicians, nurses and staff in the area.
Norton Healthcare includes five large hospitals, 13 Norton Immediate Care Centers and 190 physicians practice locations. Through their extensive reach, they are committed to caring for patients and our community. Norton Healthcare operates as a not-for-profit organization.
Calhoun Construction partnered with Harshaw-Trane to build a new CEP Building to house new energy efficient mechanical equipment for Norton Audubon. The building utilized micropile foundations with an integrated structural concrete slab and new tank form to house supporting equipment.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all”]Square Footage: 5,000 sqft
Year Completed: 2017
Project Location: Louisville, KY
Contract Type: General Contractor
Timeline Photos:
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery admin_label=”Gallery” fullwidth=”on” show_title_and_caption=”on” show_pagination=”on” background_layout=”light” auto=”off” hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” gallery_ids=”5493,5494,5495,5496,5497,5498,5499″ orientation=”landscape” /][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http://www.calhounconstructs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Norton-Logo.png” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_class=”frame” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]Domino's
In 1977, the owner of Central Missouri Pizza, Inc was a University of Kentucky business management student who delivered pizzas in his free time. Today, his company, Central Missouri Pizza Inc., employs 600 workers and operates 35 Domino’s Pizza stores in Columbia, Fulton, West St. Louis County and Louisville, Ky., making him the 11th-largest Domino’s franchisee in the nation.
Calhoun Construction Services provides the 24/7 emergency service for Central Missouri Pizza in multiple Domino’s locations throughout Kentucky. Calhoun’s services have included brick facade renovations, painting, drywall repairs, store front windows and doors, parking bollards, electrical service and generator installations to maintain the stores during electrical outages.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all”]
Square Footage: Varies
Year Completed: Ongoing
Project Location: Kentucky
Contract Type: General Contractor
University of Louisville Belknap Academic Classroom Building
University of Louisville’s Belknap Academic Classroom Building is a four-story structure with 150,000 square feet set aside specifically for student needs.
Included in this renovation are 17 new classrooms, new science labs, group study rooms, gathering spaces and new food-service options.
The group study rooms are larger, more interactive spaces where students can come together, exchange ideas and motivate one another.
As part of the new building, U of L also created a student success center that will offer academic support, advising and career services in one spot.
Calhoun Construction Services served as a Trade Contractor self-performing all of the metal-stud framing, drywall and acoustical ceilings throughout the facility.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all”]Square Footage: 150,000 sqft
Year Completed: 2018
Project Location: Louisville, KY
Contract Type: Trade Contractor
Timeline Photos:
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery admin_label=”Gallery” fullwidth=”on” show_title_and_caption=”on” show_pagination=”on” background_layout=”light” auto=”off” hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” gallery_ids=”5460,5461,5462,5463,5464″ orientation=”landscape” /][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http://www.calhounconstructs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/university-of-louisville-logo.png” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_class=”frame” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]Churchill Downs Gate 3 Renovation
Horse racing in Kentucky dates back to 1789, when the first race course was constructed in Lexington. Almost 100 years later, in 1875, Churchill Downs officially opened its gates in Louisville, and began its tradition as “Home of the Kentucky Derby” and the longest continually running sporting event in America.
Calhoun Construction Services served as the Construction Manager and General Contractor for the renovation of Gate 3. The Gate 3 renovation consisted of demolition of the existing gate structure, relocating the underground utilities, pour a new concrete slab at the new gate area, install removable fence panels that can configure as an entry gate, new concrete foundations for a new tent, vehicle bollards and new asphalt around the new gate area.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all”]Square Footage: 4,000 sqft
Year Completed: 2017
Project Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Contract Type: Construction Manager/General Contractor
Timeline Photos:
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery admin_label=”Gallery” gallery_ids=”5401,5477,5478,5479,5480,5481,5482,5483,5484,5485,5486″ fullwidth=”on” orientation=”landscape” show_title_and_caption=”on” show_pagination=”on” background_layout=”light” auto=”off” hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_class=”frame” /][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http://www.calhounconstructs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Churchill-Downs-Logo.png” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_class=”frame” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]University of Kentucky Boiler Replacement
At the University of Kentucky service is the most important product of the Physical Plant Division. The Physical Plant serves students, faculty, and staff by maintaining the campus buildings and grounds. The mission of PPD is to provide support services for instructional, research, and public service functions of the University of Kentucky. Support services include maintenance and operation of facilities and grounds, utilities, minor renovations, and other related services.
Calhoun Construction Services served as the General Contractor on the boiler replacement for the University of Kentucky’s Physical Plant Division. This project included demolition of existing masonry walls with the intent to reuse the original bricks, installation of new windows, demolition of old roof top and old boiler, repair and pour concrete, temporary structural shoring throughout the project before the install of a new roof and new boiler.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all”]Square Footage: 12,000 sqft
Year Completed: 2017
Project Location: Lexington, Kentucky
Contract Type: General Contractor
Timeline Photos:
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery admin_label=”Gallery” fullwidth=”on” show_title_and_caption=”on” show_pagination=”on” background_layout=”light” auto=”off” hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” gallery_ids=”5382,5381″ orientation=”landscape” module_class=”frame” /][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http://www.calhounconstructs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/university-kentucky-logo-1742821-e1470244829415.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_class=”frame” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]Norton Pediatrics Phase II
Calhoun Construction completed Phase I of the Norton Children’s Hospital Medical Associates – Shelbyville in 2016 and began Phase II in 2017.
Potential services available in the facility include education, prevention and early intervention for children suffering from chronic illness as well as advocacy and community education centered around childhood obesity management, diabetes management and childhood safety.
Calhoun is the General Contractor for the 9,000 sqft Phase II expansion of the Shelbyville facility. This will include an additional 12 exam/procedure rooms for primary care as well as the introduction of dedicated Cardio and Orthopedic departments to the facility. Due to the expansion two additional exam rooms will be added to the OB/GYN department
Calhoun will perform the overall management of the expansion as well as perform the drywall and acoustical ceiling and specialties.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all”]Square Footage: 9,000
Year Completed: 2017
Project Location: Shelbyville, Kentucky
Contract Type: General Contractor