Louisville Metro government now controls all of the land needed to expand the 4th Street Live entertainment complex.
The city closed last month on five acres of prime downtown real estate the so-called water company block paying slightly more than $12.5 million. The land eventually will be leased to the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. for an expansion of the popular entertainment district.
There is one final purchase left to make: a building on the property that the city will buy for $750,000 in June.
Louisville Economic Development Director Bruce Traughber said the design of the new entertainment district, which is to be called Center City, will begin within the next couple months.
Traughber said the land bounded by Second, Third and Liberty streets and Muhammad Ali Boulevard is unique in that it offers a large chunk of property that can be developed in the heart of downtown.