RendervsReality

City

Louisville

16 entries, grouped by what happened. This is the founding set and the only one we photograph ourselves. The archive covers every city and the map has all the pins.

Louisville keeps its own index because it is the city we can stand in front of with a camera. Entries elsewhere live at their own permalinks and are filed by city on the archive page.

Built 3

Built, and it follows the rendering.

  • 111 Whiskey RowDowntown / rendered 2015

    Three 1850s Main Street buildings combined into one mixed-use project. A fire hit mid-construction. The finished block follows the 2015 renderings.

  • Lynn Family StadiumButchertown / rendered 2017

    Announced in 2017 at 10,000 seats, Lynn Family Stadium opened for play on July 12, 2020 with 11,700 fixed seats and a 15,304 maximum event capacity that includes standing room. The first match was played without spectators because of COVID-19 restrictions.

  • Omni Louisville HotelDowntown / rendered 2015

    The 30-story hotel and residential tower was announced in 2015 and opened March 6, 2018. Current official sources list 612 hotel rooms and 226 residences, while the general contractor lists 225 apartments.

Built, modified 5

Built, with documented differences from the rendering.

  • 310 at NuLuNuLu / rendered 2015

    The Liberty Green master plan called for retail at Jefferson and Hancock. Broken Sidewalk's 2015 review found that the completed building was set back from the corner and did not include the planned ground-floor retail.

  • AC Hotel by Marriott NuLuNuLu / rendered 2016

    Rendered in 2016 as a 148-room hotel in brick and copper-toned panels. It opened in May 2018 with 156 rooms; modular construction was part of its delivery rather than a visual departure from the renderings.

  • Colonial GardensKenwood Hill / rendered 2017

    The 2017 plan estimated a $5 million redevelopment. The first venues opened in 2019, B.A. Colonial opened as the final restaurant on April 23, 2021, and later reporting put the completed redevelopment cost at $6.7 million.

  • East Market Streetscape (NuLu)NuLu / rendered 2014

    A 2014 rendering showed wider sidewalks, a bike lane, street trees and a median on East Market. Louisville officials announced the roughly $12 million project's completion in February 2026, sixteen years after the concept began.

  • Tempo by Hilton at NuLu YardNuLu / rendered 2020

    Announced in March 2020 as a planned first Tempo hotel with a 2021 Kentucky Derby target, the 130-room hotel opened May 1, 2024. Hilton described it as the brand's third U.S. property.

Phase incomplete 5

Partly delivered, still in design, or revised before construction.

  • Fifth Third Tower to JW MarriottDowntown / rendered 2026

    Renderings for a proposed JW Marriott conversion were released in January 2026 and revised in April. As of August 11, 2026, no source reviewed confirmed a construction start; 2027 remained a project target for opening.

  • Humana Building hotel conversionDowntown / rendered 2026

    In February 2026, Poe Companies announced a letter of intent and a proposed adaptive-reuse plan for Michael Graves's Humana Building, paired with a new hotel tower. As of August 11, 2026, no construction start had been verified and the transaction and development remained contingent.

  • NuLu CrossingNuLu / rendered 2026

    NuLu Crossing has changed scope across several iterations: a 2021 version was reported around $78 million with 125 apartments, while a later whole-project investment listing reached $255.3 million. In January 2026 a shell-only permit for NuLu Crossing West, reported around $30 million, was approved; permit approval is not evidence of a verified groundbreaking.

  • The BelvedereDowntown / rendered 2025

    Concept renderings were released in January 2025. A revised plan later relocated the signature pavilion closer to the existing garage; Mayor Craig Greenberg attributed the shift to the cost of building over the interstate near the river.

  • Waterfront Park Phase IVPortland / rendered 2014

    A 2014 master plan laid out 22 acres of new riverfront park west of downtown. PlayPort opened in March 2025 as the first finished piece. Other planned elements are not confirmed complete.

Stalled 1

Announced and rendered. No construction, no cancellation.

Cancelled 2

Abandoned. None of the design was built.

  • Museum PlazaDowntown / rendered 2010

    A 62-story tower was proposed with a contemporary art institute suspended partway up it. A 2007 groundbreaking was followed by limited site and foundation work, not construction of the tower superstructure. The developers announced cancellation on August 1, 2011.

  • West Louisville FoodPortRussell / rendered 2015

    OMA designed a 24-acre food hub for a former tobacco warehouse site. It was cancelled in 2016 after the anchor tenant withdrew. A sports and learning center was built there instead.