Why Oldham Reserve developers think the 1,000-acre campus is on the cusp of big moves

Nearly 20 years in the making, a 1,000-acre mixed-use business park in Oldham County is on the cusp of some major movement.

The long-brewing Oldham Reserve is a mostly still-undeveloped piece of land off Interstate 71 to the east of Louisville.

Shaping the former farmland into desirable property for future business and residential use — and creating surrounding infrastructure to support such a park — has taken much time, its champions say. A master plan conceived in the mid-2000s has lasted through the Great Recession, local government financial struggles, and most recently, the pandemic.

But looking ahead to 2024, lead partners and developers are saying, that after years of underground, roadway and behind-the-scenes work, the business park is readying for some big announcements, including some new spots to shop and dine.

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“We've been here when the phone wasn't ringing, and we were trying to get it to ring,” said David Bizianes, president of Oldham Chamber & Economic Development. “It's now that point where I think the community, through the city and the county, have done the right thing by making the right investments and infrastructure to show that this asset is something that is going to contribute to the tax base for generations to come.”

The gradual progression on the campus has coincided with population growth in Oldham County and a growing push to transform the county from a bedroom community into an employment hub in its own right. Between the 2010 and 2020 census, its population grew and now stands at nearly 70,000, according to a U.S. Census Bureau estimate.

“Part of the challenge with a lot of small communities as they're growing is figuring out what it takes to make things happen that you want to have happen,” Bizianes said. “And so, in Oldham County, that effort was we need to have a place for business. We say we want to grow industry. Where are we gonna do that?”

From farmland to ‘live, work, play’ campus

What was once a large piece of farmland is now envisioned as a “live, work, play” campus. The park is owned by the Oldham-La Grange Development Authority, an independent and autonomous entity formed in 2005 through an agreement between the La Grange City Council and the Oldham County Fiscal Court.

The Oldham County Fiscal Court and the City of La Grange each sold $10 million in bonds in 2005 to purchase the 1,000-acre property and start initial development, the Courier Journal previously reported. The park will develop in stages, with incremental land sales funding future infrastructure improvements.

Insurance subrogation company The Rawlings Group was the first occupant of Oldham Reserve, moving from Louisville to a 67-acre parcel it bought for $1.34 million in 2007.

It’s since grown from approximately 500 workers to some 1,600 and remains the county’s largest employer.

That growth posed a roadway challenge, with employee vehicles backed up onto I-71 before more entry points to the park were built, Bizianes said.

Additionally, Baptist Health, while not technically in the park, has been greatly expanding nearby, including its pharmaceutical headquarters, as well as a health and wellness campus 10 miles away at Exit 14 in Crestwood.

“We had a lot of infrastructure improvements that had to be made just to accommodate the growth that was happening organically from The Rawlings Group and Baptist Health,” he said. “And it took some years to get that done."

For many years, officials pointed to infrastructure limitations, including roadways and utilities, as a key element holding back the success of the park. To the public, the project could be seen as going nowhere fast.

“It was not the most popular notion to go ahead and start building roads in Oldham Reserve after it had sat there to the general public seeming like nothing really had happened,” Bizianes said. “Even though Rawlings continued to grow, it took some leadership for the powers that be to say, ‘OK, we're gonna go ahead and finish that road and trust that as we put these things in, the businesses will come.’”

He pointed to the opening of the East End Crossing in 2016 and the ongoing widening of I-71 as key pieces of setting up Oldham Reserve for success.

Other roadway improvements, including the new I-71 interchange at Exit 20, hinged on the interstate widening project.

John Hollenbach, managing partner of one of the campus’ lead developers, Hollenbach-Oakley, also pointed to the development of the Louie Dampier Bridge, the construction of Ernie Harris Parkway and the extension of Eden Parkway as other key infrastructure improvements to the area.

“A lot of pieces of the puzzle have to come together to get a park ready for what businesses, [and] employers are looking for,” he said. “And there are a multitude of components that come into that, first and foremost, which is accessibility. And that's what's taken as long as it has for the development."

What’s happened recently at Oldham Reserve?

Two developers are helping guide the future of Oldham Reserve. The Oldham-La Grange Development Authority inked a master development agreement with The Hocker Group, a development, acquisition, property management and leasing company, in 2010 and with Hollenbach-Oakley, a commercial real estate development firm, in 2013.

Hollenbach-Oakley has developed business parks for decades, including Blankenbaker Station and Eastpoint Business Center.

Though often referred to as a business park, Oldham Reserve is intended to host not only offices but also retail shops, eateries and single- and multi-family housing.

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Earlier this year, Trilogy Health Services joined the park with its senior living community, The Springs at Oldham Reserve. Then over the summer, Hollenbach-Oakley bought 73 acres for a planned multi-use development.

About a third of the area will be multi-family housing, the specifics of which are still being planned. Hollenbach said the housing will likely come in the form of 400-500 units across two complexes built in phases, near the Rawlings property.

The remainder of the property, situated on Eden Parkway near the existing Rawlings Group, is designated for a “retail campus” with larger anchor tenants, perhaps a grocery store, and smaller shopping and dining offerings. Office and flex space is also planned for the development. The Hocker Group is securing yet-unannounced tenants for these spaces.

The developers said Oldham Reserve is the first business park they’ve worked on to directly incorporate a residential aspect along with more traditional office and manufacturing spaces.

“One feeds the other,” Hollenbach said. “It's almost a chicken and an egg. The retail needs the residential. The residential needs the retail. The office, for those jobs, needs the residential. It all comes together.”

Homes have always been part of the mixed-use master plan for the park, though current trends in office space needs due to the pandemic and hybrid work environments are shaping Hollenbach-Oakley’s approach to residential.

"All we've really done is kind of reshuffle the deck on what and where the residential would go,” Oakley said, adding that higher density housing than was previously pitched was approved earlier this year by local government.

Per its master development agreement, Hollenbach-Oakley agreed to purchase certain amounts of property in certain increments.

“We plan on taking down quite a bit more over the life of this agreement,” Hollenbach said.

Hollenbach declined to share how much the company has invested in the Oldham Reserve project, simply saying “it’s obviously been significant.”

Ground-breaking on the first building of the multi-family section of the 73-acre development is expected to start in the spring.

What’s yet to come at Oldham Reserve

Bizianes said his office’s mission to promote economic prosperity in Oldham County while preserving and enhancing quality of life has been a driving force behind the Oldham Reserve development.

"That's why this development was, 'Let's incorporate this family atmosphere, these high-quality jobs, really nice amenities,'" he said. "'Let's put all this in a concentrated area so we can preserve the rural parts of the county. We can develop along the interstate.'"

He, Hollenbach and Oakley all declined to detail specifics on what businesses are on the horizon for Oldham Reserve, noting many deals are still in development.

But as for future campus occupants, Bizianes said the intention is “to try to keep that bar high.”

“We don't wanna just sell it off,” he said. “We wanna make sure that what comes in there is what we've been waiting for.”

Rising interest rates over the last year has slowed some activity and interest, Hollenbach said, but developers expect the next 12-24 months to be a turning point. Come spring, construction work is expected to begin on about $20-million worth of additional infrastructure, in addition to the multi-family groundbreaking.

“As you see activity on the multi-family site that we're going to be bringing to the table and a lot of what The Hocker Group is working with major retailers on, I think the park will now be brought out as ready for action, so to speak, ready for development,” Hollenbach said.

Growth & development reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at mglowicki@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4000 or on Twitter @mattglo. 

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Oldham Reserve may be closer than ever to development boom