08/13/2026
A12 Suites is officially open.
Here's how we got there!
Ten months ago we started gutting an old office building at 410 South First Street in downtown Louisville. The building has lived a few lives. Harcourt & Company made stationery and engraved jewelry here. Jewish Hospital ran its offices here. Then it spent years as low-end office rental space.
Now it's a boutique hotel.
We cut windows down through the brick. We put walls back. We built hotel suites, a basement speakeasy, and an outdoor paddock. Then we furnished the whole thing and got it ready to rip.
40 workers a day at the peak. A small crew that worked weekends with me. Twelve hours a day, six days a week. I stopped posting because every ounce of energy went into the finish line.
This project tried to die more than once. Delays and problems that could have killed it. Every time, the people on this job pulled it back with extra hours and extra effort. I won't tag anyone because the list would be a mile long. Every single person locked in and did some of the best creative work of their careers to make this place what it is.
There were nights I drove home thinking this dog didn't have much fight left in him. Then I'd play with my kids before bed, get a short workout in the next morning, pour a cup of coffee, and start swinging again.
My favorite detail sits in the elevator. The original concrete floors tell the story of everything that happened on them, so a plain wood or tile floor in the elevator felt wrong. My wife had the idea for a penny floor with the A12 logo. We figured we'd knock it out in a weekend. It took six. Worth every one.
The whole property is full of Easter eggs like that.
We opened a few weeks ago. Great groups have already come through, and more are on the calendar through September and October.
A12 is built for whole-property buyouts. Bachelor parties. 50th birthdays. Overnight corporate retreats and single-day meetings. And for anyone bringing a large group to Louisville for Derby 2027, the full property is still available.
They get their own hotel.
DM me or comment below if you'd like to stop by for a quick tour of the property and a coffee in the speakeasy one morning.
