Changes coming to south Lexington food scene, including Kroger move, more restaurants
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- Kroger will leave Brannon Crossing after 20 years and relocate across U.S. 27.
- The plan calls for a 129,309-square-foot Kroger with fuel pumps and a spirits store.
- Planning and zoning for a 49,000-square-foot Publix at Stonedale were approved in 2022.
The food scene south of Lexington is about undergo some major shifts: Kroger is leaving Nicholasville’s Brannon Crossing shopping center after 20 years.
The grocer, which opened in Brannon in 2006, is moving across U.S. 27 to a new shopping center, to be called Rose Garland Place, that will accommodate a bigger Marketplace store.
The new development from Patrick Madden has been approved by the city authorities and will officially break ground in June, according to Madden.
“Nicholasville has done a great job managing this corridor, in terms of planning,” Madden said. “The corridor’s really matured.”
Kroger did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the move.
The plan calls for a 129,309-square-foot store with fuel pumps at 3255 Lexington Road and a spirits store.
The development also will have eight lots for other retail and restaurants as well as six four-story apartment buildings, with a north entrance across from Bethel Drive and a south entrance opposite a new collector road.
It’s just one of several new developments going up along the U.S. 27 corridor from the Fayette County line stretching into Nicholasville in Jessamine County, which is about to be bounding with new shopping, retail, restaurants and housing.
Just to the north of Brannon Road on the west side of U.S. 27, another shopping center called Stonedale has been approved at 2515 Nicholasville Road that will include a 49,000-square-foot Publix store.
The Florida chain, which has been aggressively expanding in Kentucky, has not publicly commented on a timeline for construction but the planning and zoning for the project from Fuqua Development were approved in 2022.
That shopping center also will include a hotel, at least seven restaurants, as well as retail stores and more. Behind the shopping center will be a new 13-building apartment complex.
South of the planned new Kroger shopping center will be another new development along U.S. 27 at 3213 Lexington Road called Colts Run, with a hotel, retail and restaurants along the road and an 11-building apartment complex behind it from developer NAI Isaac.
Meanwhile, another development from Madden called Keene Landing, off of the Nicholasville Bypass, includes a 20,000+-square-foot Aldi and a Cattlemen’s Roadhouse, both expected to open in July. A nearby Chipotle and Panera are already opening, with Wawa and Starbucks coming later. More retail is planned for that development as well.
It’s the second Wawa for Nicholasville; the first opened at 3000 Lexington Road in September 2025. A spokeswoman for Wawa said the second Nicholasville location is expected to open at 1281 Keene Road in 2027.
Tim Cross, director of planning and zoning for Nicholasville, said he’s excited for all the great things coming to his town.
He’s also heard concerns from residents about traffic, but he pointed out there are factors to consider.
“These are grocery-anchored developments, which is the trend, rather than big-box developments ... and grocer-anchored developments don’t generate the kind of traffic that big-box developments did,” Cross said.
And both the new Kroger Marketplace and the Publix will be on the “return trip” side of U.S. 27 for commuters, he said. “The hope is they will capture the shopper going back ... not creating traffic as a trip generator.”
