20+ predictions for Louisville in 2026

Access Louisville: Heart of the City: Our next live podcast is 4 p.m. Feb. 5. Join us as we talk about development within Louisville's urban core with Lee Weyland, of Core Real Estate, Hank Hillebrand, of the Poe Cos., and Rebecca Fleischaker, of the Louisville Downtown Partnership. Details and registration here.

We've unplugged our crystal ball, waited five minutes, then plugged it back in. 

Surely, now, we'll be able to see the future. 

As we have the last few years, we start another year of the Access Louisville podcast by making predictions for what we think will happen in the area over the next 12 months. 

We tackle a large range of topics in our predictions — construction, sports, business trends, bourbon and more. You'll have to listen in on your favorite podcast streaming app to hear all of them but here are just a few to give you a taste: 

• Greater Louisville Inc. will change its name. It's role and collaboration with Louisville Economic Development Authority is being reconsidered, after all.
• We'll see 10 or more homes sold at greater than $2 million. They have been steadily climbing, including with one coming in around $7 million recently.
• AC/DC will headline Louder than Life this year? We're all hoping that one is true for the major music festival. 
• A deal will be struct to move JBS Swift out of Butchertown. The neighborhood has changed and developed a lot in the last decade.
• We've even got a few political predictions. (A gubernatorial bid for Sen. Robert Stivers, perhaps?)
• Also, more bankruptcies in the bourbon industry? There have been a few in recent years after all.

Keep in mind these are just predictions based on familiarity with trends and stories in the area. 

The predictions show is a favorite Access Louisville tradition. On this week's show we also look back at the predictions we made around this time last year to see what we got right and what we got wrong.

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It's available on popular podcast services, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.