Louisville, Kentucky
A family business, seven generations in the making.
From a river-bottom farm in 1862 to Kentucky's largest privately-held portfolio of Class A+ properties — the Fenley name has meant hard work, hospitality, and the long view for more than a century and a half.
The Family
Seven generations, one family.
The Fenley family settled in Kentucky in 1791, beginning a 225-year story rooted in the Commonwealth. From the 1862 Riverside homestead on the Ohio River, the family continues today as the seventh generation.
The Fenley Distinction
Kentucky's largest private investor in Class A+ real estate.
Fenley is Kentucky's largest private real estate investor of Class A+ properties, including twenty-one corporate properties and one hundred and eighty-two corporate partners.
In 2008, Fenley recapitalized the largest corporate portfolio in Kentucky history and made national headlines for closing Citigroup's largest Wall Street rated CMBS corporate portfolio loan in Kentucky.
The Fenley family tradition of entrepreneurship extends back more than one hundred and fifty years. In 1862, the Fenley family settled in Louisville at Riverside, the Farnsley-Moreman Home, which later became the first dairy farm in Louisville.
Our Legacy
Farmland, then dairy, then the city.
The Fenley family settled in Louisville in 1862 at Riverside, the Farnsley-Moreman Home — later the first dairy farm in the city. From that river bottom the family built dairies, cattle operations, and, in time, a real estate practice that has quietly shaped the skyline of the Commonwealth.
Fenley's Model Dairy delivered to the V.A. Hospital and Fort Knox. Fenley Dairy invented Egg Nog for the holidays and was the first to put milk in cartons. What was true then remains true now: work honestly, look after the customer, and take the long view.
1791 — Today
A Family Timeline
1791
The Fenley family, of Scottish and Irish descent, settles in Brandenburg, Kentucky — beginning a 225-year story rooted in the Commonwealth.
1862
Alanson and Rachel Moreman purchase a 200-acre farm along the Ohio River and expand it to 1,500 acres — today known as Riverside, the Farnsley-Moreman Landing.
1875
Anna Moreman marries Jacob Perry Fenley. They settle at Valley Station and begin Fenley's Dairy on land gifted from her parents.
1920
Guy Moreman Fenley purchases 1,200 acres in Alabama for a cotton operation.
1921
Fenley's Model Dairy is established, serving the Veterans Administration Hospital.
1924
Fenley's Dairy moves into Louisville — the first dairy in the city — at Sixth and Hill.
1925
Fenley Dairy invents Egg Nog, released only at the holidays. A Kentucky tradition is born.
1932
Fenley's Ice Cream begins wholesale operations to Fort Knox. Fenley invents the drumstick and is the first to put milk in cartons.
1933
R.B. Fenley, at thirty-three, founds Hill Street Realty in the middle of the Depression.
1937
In the aftermath of the Great Flood, the Fenleys set up a meal station with food and dairy from the family farms.
1948
Two new dairy and beef farms rise in Breckinridge County. The herd grows to three thousand head of cattle.
1952
Fenley's Model Dairy is sold to Dean Milk. The family reinvests in Breckinridge County land — 4,500 acres, the largest private working farm in Kentucky.
1975
R.B. Fenley gifts 4,200 acres to the Commonwealth of Kentucky as a wildlife refuge.
1977
Dick Fenley develops the residential neighborhood of Woodstone.
1994
David Fenley forms his corporate enterprise, Fenley Real Estate.
1995
At twenty-seven, David Fenley signs the Paul Semonin Company headquarters and begins his first speculative office development.
2000
David develops his first full-service hotel — the Embassy Suites in Louisville.
2002
Fenley Suites opens with sixty-seven offices.
2007
Fenley completes its twenty-first property, the Hilton Garden Inn.
2008
With GE Capital, Stephen and David Fenley close the largest recapitalization of an eighteen-property corporate office portfolio in state history.
2014
David Fenley closes the largest post-crash CMBS portfolio loan in Kentucky, with Citigroup.
Twenty-One Properties
Class A+ across the Commonwealth.
A portfolio built one building at a time — offices, hospitality, and mixed-use — anchored in Louisville and its surrounding counties.
- Doe-Anderson
- Six Fourteen
- Preston Pointe
- Fenley Office Park
- Browenton Place
- Bellevoir Crossing
- The Midlands
- One Olympia Park Plaza
- Hilton Garden Inn Northeast
- One Triton Office Park
- Anthem
- One Corporate Center
- Two Corporate Center
- Three Corporate Center
- Five Corporate Center
- Six Corporate Center
- Embassy Suites
- Fenley Office Suites
- FBI Headquarters
- The Madison by Fenley
The Fenley Standard
A business built on timeless principles.
Since 1994, David Fenley has guided the firm to unequaled success through hard work, dedication, and a commitment to clients and community. The vision is simple — keep Fenley as nimble and energetic as any Fortune 500 company, always with the focus on sincere customer service and personal attention that our family has practiced for generations.
"Innovation. Entrepreneurship. The absolute best in the business."
Heritage Gallery
A Century in Pictures.
A handful of images from the Fenley family archive.
Get In Touch
We would be glad to hear from you.
To learn more about Fenley and any of our properties, please write or call. A member of our team will answer as soon as we are able.
- Office
- 4969 U.S. Highway 42, Suite 100
Louisville, Kentucky 40222 - Telephone
- 502.429.5525