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4 2 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 5.14 Galt Gestalt Apartments went into the hotel's Suite Tower (the easternmost of the two towers) when it was built in 1984. Garrett Tellman, the sales manager for the apartments, says he sees a lot of renters in the Shumates' situ- ation. Others are there because of corporate relocations. A few are retirees. One man, who retired from Coca-Cola, stayed for seven years. "Mr. Schmidt knew everyone in the hotel and was a fxture while he lived in the apartments," says Ashley Brauer, who does marketing work for the Galt House. Te apartments, with rents starting at $2,200 a month, have a private elevator, so the Shumates don't have to go through the lobby to get to their place. Te part of the foor that has apartments is separated from the regular hotel rooms. Te Shumates see their neighbors in passing, but because of the transient nature of the situation, they haven't really gotten to know anyone. Besides sharing the pool and ftness center, they don't have much interaction with hotel guests. Tey do like the people-watching when conventions of groups of Republican women or bodybuilders come through. Te apartments are pre-furnished, so all the Shumates brought with them when they moved in were two sofa chairs, some artwork and dishes. Teir unit has two bed- rooms, a laundry room, a full kitchen and a large dining/living room space. Hotel staf comes in and cleans once a week. Tere aren't any grocery stores in the neighborhood, but Dana, who works at Jeferson County Public Schools, says she doesn't mind driving down I-64 to Whole Foods or to the Kroger on Brownsboro Road. "Tere's a lot of advantages to living like this for a while," says Brian, an assistant superintendent at JCPS. Since moving downtown, they go out to restaurants there a lot more. Teir favorites: Doc Crow's and Wild Rita's. Tey also go to a lot more U of L basketball games because they're a block away. "Tis has become a little destination spot for our friends to pre-game," Brian says. Te view out the foor-to-ceiling win- dows in the living room is another perk. Te apartment overlooks the Ohio River to Jefersonville, Ind. Te Second Street Bridge is directly to the right. And the Shumates have a prime viewing spot for Tunder Over Louisville. Fourteen stories below their balcony, cars speed down I-64. "When you frst walk out there it's a little strange," Dana says, "but it has the most beautiful sunsets I didn't know our city had." When the idea of moving into the Galt House came up, Brian and Dana Shumate were just joking. Tey wanted to live down- town but fgured they'd just lease a condo until they found the right place to build their own. Tey didn't think they'd end up living in a hotel, but Brian looked at an apartment on the 14th foor anyway. "He said, 'You've got to go look at it; you're probably going to fall in love,'" Dana recalls. She did. Tey'd lived in the far East End for 23 years, but after their son and daughter left for college, the empty-nesters, both 48, put their fve-bedroom Lake Forest home on the mar- ket. Te original lease they signed at the Galt House in June 2013 was for three months, but they've been there for 10 months now and don't plan on leaving anytime soon. 38-49 Real Estate.indd 42 4/17/14 2:52 PM