The eight-story, 200,000-square-foot building is 93 percent leased and features eco-friendly office, dry lab and innovation space.
“The Nucleus will be a place for great synergy between UofL researchers, entrepreneurs and innovative companies,” said UofL President James Ramsey. “This is exactly what we envisioned a downtown research park could do—drive innovation at UofL and economic development in our community.”
The Nucleus, funded by the University of Louisville Foundation through Nucleus, is the first new multi-tenant building to open in downtown Louisville in more than 20 years. Located adjacent to the downtown business district, the medical corridor and the shops and restaurants of NuLu, the building blends an attractive location with cutting-edge, eco-friendly facilities. The building is expected to be LEED-certified and has a 6,000-square-foot green roof and terrace. Other features include a lobby with a tall atrium, training and conference rooms with catering kitchens, conversation spaces on the second and third floor and adaptable tenant spaces.
“I congratulate the University of Louisville and everyone involved with creating a true life-science campus in downtown Louisville,” Gov. Steve Beshear said. “Nucleus is a key component in Kentucky’s plan to attract innovative, research-driven companies to Louisville. We look forward to the growth, expansion and future of Nucleus as it nurtures our homegrown researchers and entrepreneurs.”
“In addition to being another exclamation point to our city skyline, this building represents the future,” said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. “It’s about innovation, research, health care and growing our lifelong wellness and aging economic sector.”
The flagship tenant in The Nucleus will be Atria Senior Living, one of the nation’s largest operators of senior housing services. The company will move its corporate Support Center into The Nucleus along with a dedicated print shop, state-of-the-art training and conference space and a public restaurant, which will also be used for training Atria’s culinary staff from across the nation.
“We’re extremely proud to have the opportunity to partner with the University of Louisville Foundation and Nucleus Innovation Park,” said John A. Moore, chairman and chief executive officer of Atria Senior Living. “The new Atria Support Center at Nucleus Innovation Park will allow us to further build on our capabilities and continue to create great experiences for our communities, customers and employees across the nation.”
Other initial tenants include: Advanced Cancer Therapeutics (ACT), XLerateHealth, University of Louisville Institute for Optimal Aging, University of Louisville Physicians (ULP) and University of Louisville Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation.
Originally known as the Haymarket, the block The Nucleus calls home (bordered by Floyd, Market, Jefferson and Brook Streets) was once the gathering place for the city’s original entrepreneurs—farmers.
“The Nucleus is an innovative, modern building which will carry on Louisville’s entrepreneurial spirit and help grow Louisville’s economic development clusters,” said Nucleus President and CEO Vickie Yates Brown.
Nucleus was established in 2008 by the University of Louisville Foundation to integrate UofL resources with those of the region to transform Louisville into a major research and innovation hub. Nucleus works to provide a full compendium of technology, business and economic development services and programs that help researchers, entrepreneurs, and start-up companies achieve success.