LOUISVILLE—Economic activity is picking up in the Louisville metro area and this is helping touch off a good deal of retail development. GBT Realty Corp. a national real estate development company based in Brentwood, TN, has launched several projects here, and is now set to bring even more retail to the metro area. In partnership with The Koetter Group, a Floyd's Knob, IN-based real estate and construction firm, GBT plans to develop a $35 million regional retail center on 24.7 acres in Jeffersonville, IN, which GBT is under contract to purchase.

The company will begin site work immediately after closing the land acquisition in December and plans to open the development, located immediately across from Phase I Marketplace at Jeffersonville Town Center, in spring 2017.

“The Louisville MSA continues to be a hotbed for retail expansion and new-to-market tenants with its dynamic, diversified economy that regularly outperforms other major US cities in job and income growth,” says George Tomlin, president and chief executive officer of GBT. “The overwhelming, initial response to this retail opportunity isn't surprising given the recent completion and successful lease of our other three shopping centers in this region totaling 610,000 square feet– Jefferson Commons, Middletown Commons and Woodland Commons.”