Louisville got a major economic development announcement recently with the news that multinational tech giant Foxconn is opening up a facility here — but it does raise some questions.

We talk about what we know — and what we don't know— on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and other officials announced on Tuesday, Dec. 9, that Foxconn Technology USA Corp. — the American subsidiary of Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Co. Ltd. — would invest $173 million to launch a manufacturing operation in Jefferson County, creating 180 full-time jobs.

In a news release, Beshear called it the company's first U.S. manufacturing operation, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

The other main question we're wrestling with is what products are going to be made at Foxconn's local facility, which is planned at 6675 Randy Coe Lane.

The company has not confirmed anything officially, though there are some hints.

The Foxconn discussion is just one part of the podcast this week.

We also chat about closure of Angel's Selfie Museum, located near the KFC Yum Center just off Whiskey Alley. We discuss our recent coverage on how immigration policy changes are impacting the workforce. And we talk about a new golf simulator, Five Iron Golf, which opened in Downtown Louisville.

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can follow it on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

We've got a classic restaurant news update on this week's Access Louisville podcast.

We start things off by talking about Mashup Food Hall, which opened its doors at 750 E. Jefferson St. recently. Part of the $115 million NuLu Yard development from Weyland Ventures, Mashup Food Hall is home to six local vendors, including Dipped & Drizzled and Mable’s Southern Kitchen, Barcelona Bistro Bar, 721 Mint It! Herb & Juice Bar, Nexus Bar Bites (formerly Happy Belly Bistro), Wiltshire Pantry Bakery & Café and Cold Stone Bagels.

We also talk about a couple of recent closures around town, including Fizz District in Crescent Hill and OutCast Fish & Oyster Bar in New Albany.

We also hear about a new location for Maya Bagel Express, a New York-style bagel restaurant, which opened at 2513 Preston Highway on the edge of Germantown. The more than 3,000-square-foot space was previously occupied by a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that closed in August.

Following a break, LBF Senior Reporter Joel Stinnett gives us a break down on the state of Downtown office space. CBRE’s November Downtown Louisville SkyView report shows there is more than 1.8 million square feet of vacant space inside Downtown towers, representing a 40.2% direct vacancy rate, up from 35% one year ago.

After that, Reporter Olivia Estright tells us about Actors Theatre's plan to bring back its classic, "A Christmas Carol" this year. And Reporter Michael L. Jones tells us about the newly renovated Portland Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library.

Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can follow it on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

A potential revamp of the Belvedere, along Louisville's waterfront, has been a big priority for Mayor Craig Greenberg. And it's a topic that got a lot of people talking thanks to a bold early design (which has now been abandoned.)

We get an in-depth update on the project this week on the Access Louisville podcast via an interview with Layla George, who's managing the reimagining effort.

In an interview with LBF Editor-in-Chief Shea Van Hoy, George talks about what she's heard from the public since that initial design from Heatherwick Studio came out early this year. People had strong opinions about it, but as she explains, the idea has been scrapped because of the structural work it would have required. Now project officials are looking at what's next for the site.

"There's so much potential to the site that's untapped right now," she said. "We are long overdue for Belvedere version 3.0."

Those behind the project have certain amenities they want to see up there, she explains — a covered stage, shade, seating, a walking path and a better, more accessible connection to the Ohio River.

A new design is currently under development and could be released by February. Officials are working through the cost estimates before releasing new designs, she said.

George said she visited around 50 parks and public spaces in cities across the country for design inspiration. Interestingly, though, many places that featured beautiful landscape design were empty. And so, she explains on the show "success really looks like a lot of people using the space, all the time."

Two strong examples from her travels she shouted out were Klyde Warren Park in Dallas and Discover Green in Houston. They were both of which were packed during times where no special events were going on — just daily life, she explained.

"Those two parks were models for me. After seeing that, I thought, we can absolutely do that at the Belvedere."

You can hear more in the interview itself. Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can follow it on popular podcast services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, which are linked above. You can also listen in the player above.