Proposed apartments near UK could mean last call for Lexington brewery
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Landmark Properties filed for a zone change on Chair Avenue, home of Country Boy Brewing.
- The proposal would rezone 5 acres from industrial to corridor for high‑density housing.
- If approved, the project would include two buildings with 972 bedrooms, parking garage.
A new multi-story apartment complex proposed for South Broadway in Lexington could mean the end of an era for a local brewery and taproom.
Landmark Properties of Athens, Ga., has filed applications with the city for a zone change to build a multi-story apartment building and underground parking garage that appears to cover all the properties on Chair Avenue.
That would include 436 Chair Ave., the home of the original brewery and taproom of Country Boy Brewing.
Country Boy Brewing was founded by four native Kentuckians who opened in February 2012 on Chair Avenue.
Country Boy has since expanded, and in February 2017 it added a brewery and taproom in Georgetown that has since grown even larger.
Although Country Boy is now one of Kentucky’s largest craft brewers, the Lexington taproom remained open, an anchor in the city’s beer landscape.
Now that tether could be going away.
Daniel “DH” Harrison, one of the founders of Country Boy, declined to comment. He said that he had heard “rumblings” about the project but nothing concrete.
Landmark, through subsidiary LCD Acquisitions, has requested a zone change for 5 acres in the South Broadway and Chair Avenue area from an industrial zone to a corridor zone, which would allow for high-density apartment complexes. If approved, the new complex will have 972 bedrooms in 325 apartments.
Landmark’s proposal includes two apartment buildings and a new parking garage, according to documents filed with the city. One building will be six stories, include 205 units, and have 595 bedrooms. The second building will be five stories and include 120 units and 377 bedrooms. Plans show the six-story parking garage will have 575 parking spaces.
Plans show pedestrian walkways between the buildings.
The buildings will have studio, one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, documents show. Officials with Landmark did not respond to emails and phone calls requesting comment.
Landmark’s proposal is the latest multi-story apartment complex proposed near the University of Kentucky and in the South Broadway area.
In March, a GMH Communities subsidiary, South Broadway Project Owner LLC, filed an application March 2 requesting a zone change near the corner of South Broadway and Red Mile Road for a 6-story student apartment complex on the former Avis car rental lot. That proposal includes 262 units.
A date for a zone change hearing for the Landmark property on Chair Avenue and South Broadway has not been set.
Georgia-based Landmark Properties has multiple apartments and properties across the United States, including several apartments that cater to university of students. In Kentucky, Landmark Properties runs The Retreat at Louisville, which is marketed as luxury apartments for Louisville-area university students.
