Just as we thought, the new arena is encouraging more exciting investments downtown.

Last Friday, I went on a tour of Whiskey Row Lofts, which is going to be a fantastic development next door to the arena on the corner of Second and Main. My friend, Julie LaValle Jones, her brother, Stephen Jones, and Bill Weyland are transforming this historic property into a showplace.

When it’s completed in about a year, Whiskey Row Lofts will have several restaurants on the lower levels and magnificent apartments and office space on the upper floors. The 14-foot ceilings and the enormous windows give the building a great urban vibe.

Whiskey Row Lofts is more than an investment to the Jones siblings; it’s also an emotional tribute to their late father Larry Jones, who owned the building and performed his magic act there in Squirrely’s Tea Room. Larry Jones was also an attorney and partner at Wyatt Tarrant & Combs.

The new arena is having an unmistakable impact on the developers’ plans. Valle Jones told me that when she approaches restaurant owners about leasing space in Whiskey Row Lofts, some are apprehensive about being downtown, until they learn that they would be next door to the arena. Then their interest kicks into high gear!

“My father’s vision – and our vision – is a Whiskey Row that will be a pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use urban destination – full of residences, restaurants and entertainment venues. This project is ‘all Louisville, all the time,’ ” Valle Jones said.

“It is being developed and financed by Louisville-based businesses and occupied by local home-grown restaurateurs,” she added.
It doesn’t get better than that!

Brinkman’s retirement

It’s hard to recruit good people to run for public office, and State Rep. Scott Brinkman is one of the best.

After several terms serving his Louisville district in the State House, Brinkman has announced that he will not run for reelection.
Scott is a smart, principled and hard-working public servant, and he will be missed.

I had the opportunity to work with Scott a few years ago when I was trying to get sound walls built to protect the St. Regis Park and Avondale neighborhoods.

Scott also represented St. Regis Park, and we teamed up to lobby state officials for the walls. Getting these sound barriers built was like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, but we prevailed because of Scott’s diligence.

There’s never enough money to go around, and at one point in our negotiations with state transportation officials, they suggested building only one sound wall rather than two.

At that point, it would have been easy for a politician to throw me under the bus and build the sound wall for his constituents. But Scott insisted that my project for Avondale be linked to his, and both neighborhoods ended up with the noise protection they needed.
Julie and I hope Scott’s retirement from public life will be brief.

Women for Mayor

I know the filing deadline has passed us by, but there is a great lady in town who deserves some recognition: Mary Remmers Stone. Mary has been the owner of a successful business and a tireless community volunteer. She’d have my vote for mayor any day.

Strange Bedfellows?

We were surprised to hear that controversial activist Dr. Frank Simon has teamed up with Senate candidate Rand Paul. 

Dr. Paul might want to call Larry Forgy and ask him how that tactic worked for him. In the 1995 governor’s race, Forgy came to Jefferson County and embraced Dr. Simon. Forgy’s perceived closeness to Simon tarnished his appeal to everyone else on the political spectrum, and some believe it was a big reason Forgy ended up losing the race to Paul Patton.

Julie and Ellen own Adams & Call Inc., a Louisville public affairs firm, and they are co-founders of loveysports.com. Visit ­adamsandcall.com.