High-profile downtown Lexington building sold. New owner has bar, food, speakeasy plans
A downtown Lexington bar building has changed hands again. And the new owner has lots of plans for the high-profile location.
The historic building at 249 W. Short St., which is across the street from Fifth Third Bank Pavilion at Henry A. Tandy Centennial Park, has been sold. It most recently was ELIXIR Bar and Grill and before that was Parlay Social. The purchase price was not immediately available.
The building had been on the market since fall 2022, when former University of Kentucky football player Stephen Scaldaferri put it up for sale for $3.79 million after less than two years.
ELIXIR opened in the former Parlay Social spot in June 2020, just after the COVID pandemic shutdown was lifted. The bar has been closed for some time.
New downtown bar with basement speakeasy to open
Now, a Kentucky native who has been serving in the Army for the last decade has found a way to move his hospitality business home. Brandon Thurman, who also has a bar in Hawaii where he was last stationed, bought the Short Street building and plans to reopen a downtown bar there later this year.
Thurman, who is a native of Bourbon County and graduated from the University of Kentucky before joining the Army, bought the historic building in December and has begun working to get the bar open again.
“It’s been a recent thing, thinking ‘What do I want to do when I get out of the Army’ sort of thing,” he said. “I always enjoyed the service industry and the people you get to meet and the connections you make. You hear a lot of people’s stories. I really enjoy that aspect of it.”
He hopes to reopen in the spring. He plans to call the new Lexington bar High Proof Hideaway and he hopes to open up a speakeasy area in the basement in the next year.
The bar will focus on bourbon and bring live music back to the stage. He also plans to add food and sell through the walk-up window.
The property is in a prime location along a popular Restaurant Row downtown that connects to entertainment districts, venues and hotels.
The three-story building also has offices on the second floor and a third-floor 2,800-square-foot luxury penthouse that has been a short-term rental.
The buyer was represented by Hunter Porter of True Line Real Estate. The seller was represented by Chris Mitchell at Bluegrass Sotheby’s.
For at least a while Thurman will shuttle between Kentucky and Hawaii, where he still owns Anna O’Brien’s, an Irish pub in Honolulu.
This story was originally published February 5, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
