Incentives approved for hotel at iconic New Albany building
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Plans for a $27 million adaptive reuse of a more than century-old building in New Albany’s Downtown Historic District are getting additional support. New Albany-based developers Resch Property Group and The Springler Co. are looking to transform the iconic Elsby Building into an 82-room Hilton Tapestry Collection boutique hotel and build an adjacent event and conference center.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. this week approved $4 million in redevelopment tax credits toward the project, which is also receiving incentives from the city of New Albany.
Jacob Resch, property and project manager for Resch Property Group, told Inside INdiana Business turning the building into a hotel will help fill a need in the city.
“We’re really reaching that point to where we have a lot of people visiting our area, especially with our close proximity to Louisville, but we don’t have a lot of places to offer these people to stay,” Resch said. “And we thought this would be a great, unique venue for these people to stay being as it’s in a 107-year-old historic building.”
The Elsby Building opened in 1917 as home to the German American Bank & Trust Co. and also included offices for many prominent New Albany professionals such as former U.S. Senator and Supreme Court Justice Sherman Minton, according to Resch Property Group.
Resch and Springler acquired the building at at 117 East Spring Street in 2021. In addition to the 82 hotel rooms, plans for the redevelopment include adding a rooftop bar, first floor restaurant space, and a lower-level speakeasy that Resch said would have a large focus on live music.
The new, 13,000-square-foot event and conference center will be constructed on an adjacent lot and have capacity for more than 1,300 people, and Resch hopes it will be heavily utilized by the community.
“Obviously, it’s a hotel and we want people to come in from out of town, but we really want people in the community to be engaged, too,” he said. “So, we’re doing as much as we possibly can to give the out-of-towners a feel of what New Albany is like but also make people in this community feel welcome, feel comfortable, come and eat dinner here, go to the rooftop get a drink, have their charity event in the event space or have their their wedding in the event space.”
The overall project is estimated to create about 100 jobs.
Resch said the Elsby is the most prominent building in New Albany, and many older residents have fond memories of it, but younger generations don’t have the same familiarity.
“I’m 28 years old and lived in New Albany my entire life; I’ve never stepped foot in [the building] until we bought the property because it was undermaintained and underutilized,” he said. “So, we’re looking forward to bringing people that have memories with this building back into it, creating some of that nostalgia, but also creating new memories for people that haven’t had that experience.”
Still, the developers are seeking to maintain the building with an eye toward its roots, including the exterior brick and terra cotta, as well as the rehabilitation of historically appropriate storefronts.
Additionally, certain interior features from the buildings origins will remain, including the 81,000-ton Diebold bank vault that was used by German American Bank & Trust.
“The Elsby building is one of the most iconic and historic buildings in the Midwest, and we are excited that local developers will be transforming the structure and giving it new life as a boutique hotel and event space,” New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan said in written remarks. “This is just one more example of our commitment to honor our history as we push forward with new amenities and services for the future of New Albany.”
Resch said he believes the project will be a catalyst for further development in the area, as well as a draw for people visiting nearby Louisville.
“There’s a property directly across the street; it’s a very underutilized property that has a large amount of parking. There’s already been a lot of talks from other developers in the city of developing that,” he said. “Just to the north of the property, there’s another large parcel of land that other developers have been had been looking at. And I think a lot of that has to do with the draw that this hotel can provide.”
Resch said the developers hope to begin work on the renovation in August with an eye toward completion by the 2025 Kentucky Derby.