Donnermeyer Mixed Use Vision Plan

Bellevue Kentucky is a 1 square mile city on the banks of the Ohio River. Its historic fabric of small, walkable blocks hosting a healthy mix of uses is still mostly intact and a source of pride and economic vitality. Unfortunately, real estate development since the 1980’s has been of a vehicle-dominant, suburban scale and character.  The worst example of this type of development is a 20-acre strip shopping center with a massive parking lot at its front. 

Not only is the area around this shopping center not comfortable or encouraging for pedestrians, sometimes it isn’t even safe. Most residents of Bellevue viewed the shopping center area as strictly a utilitarian area - not a place of pride. Working with City staff, Jeff Raser led a planning team to re-visualize the shopping center into a high-value place. The team created an urban design plan which illustrated the potential of the site if it was developed according to a New Urbanist, walkable mixed-use urban design philosophy.

The urban design plan contains multiple districts – each with its own character and each available for development at a different time by a different developer.  The urban design plan includes a main street which can host reasonably dense mixed-use buildings.  These buildings will have retail uses as well as office and residential uses that will attract people to the area and provide places for them to live, work, and shop.

The design team also create public gathering spaces of different scales – some large for public assemblies and celebrations and some for more intimate connections. These places will provide more than just amenities for all citizens of Bellevue, they will provide Bellevue with a source of pride and civic value.