Downtown Lexington makeover: 325 Main to be redeveloped into restaurants, offices

People tend to ask Katie Kaufman a simple question: “Why?”

Why buy an under-performing downtown building and overhaul it top to bottom?

“Well, it’s the most beautiful building and it’s unique,” Kaufman usually tells them. “It’s so special in its location and just everything about it, I love.”

Kaufman bought the former Triangle Center in September 2022. In the 1980s, the building at the corner of Main and Broadway opened as Festival Market and was rebranded a decade later from mall to office.

Tenants have cycled through, never staying for very long. When she bought it, Kaufman said she saw untapped potential. And with her Card Development team already working behind the scenes, the corner spot will undergo a transformation.

“I think what people loved about Festival Market was that it was special and it was theirs,” Kaufman said. “I want people to have that feeling again.”

Construction is taking place in phases, Kaufman told the Herald-Leader. She and her business partners are investing roughly $30 million into the work.

By September, scaffolding will come down and the exterior will look finished with new windows and other “eye-level repairs,” she said. Businesses will move their offices to the third floor in November. By January, Kaufman said the interior will start to “feel totally redone.”

“But the restaurant and retail that we’re putting in on the first floor? That’s still going to take a while,” she said. It may not be until next fall before the general public can take a look inside.

The renovation and redevelopment of what was a downtown staple is happening at the same time as the city prepares to open Gatton Park on the Town Branch in late August. Construction is anticipated to also start this fall on the mixed-use development along High Street, and a major renovation at the Hyatt Regency hotel next to Rupp Arena could start later this year, too.

“I do think we play a really critical node in the success of all of it. And all of that happening in turn makes this make sense, too,” Kaufman said.

“It’s a really fascinating time to be in Lexington. Even five years ago, you could see that things were happening, but now, you can touch and feel them. Now, they’re coming to life.”

Here’s what you can expect from 325 Main.

First-floor restaurants, attractions and retail

After Kaufman purchased the building, she “looked at every possible use” — apartments came up repeatedly as did a children’s museum.

“But it all comes back to what does Lexington need?” she said. “Because if you try to put something somewhere that you want but the city doesn’t need, then it’s never going to work.”

Kaufman said she is actively recruiting restaurants to fill the building’s first floor. In line with what she’s hoping is a welcoming and authentic feel in the rest of the space, Kaufman said there will be an all-day diner with breakfast, lunch and dinner menus alongside an elevated late-night takeout service of burgers, fries and shakes.

“You’re going to see the old guys talking about basketball over coffee at 6:30 in the morning, but I also see the college kids having a burger and fries,” Kaufman said. “You can see anyone in here, and it will all make sense.”

A wine bar with a tighter menu of fresh made pasta and olives also will take up space in the first-floor restaurant area. At that bar, Kaufman said there’s a plan in the works for a “posh bourbon experience.”

First-floor retail components are still a work in progress. Kaufman said some prospective tenants have turned away from the project because Main Street is a one-way, something economists have told Bloomberg CityLab decrease visibility.

Other interior touches

When you walk through the front doors, Kaufman said the security desk will be smaller and more inviting than before and serve as a spot for both safety and information. The lobby, Kaufman said, will be a communal space with a curated bookshelf, area for wellness programming and a dry goods store.

An event space will take the place of Festival Market’s carousel. It might be used for everything from a tenant’s quarterly meeting to something the public’s invited to.

Kaufman said her interior design team has experience with residential projects, not just commercial ones, and the style shows in a style she described as “uniquely Lexington.”

“People can be very snappy about Kentucky, very dismissive. And yet, Kentucky is producing the best music, the best sports, the best bourbon, we have so much,” Kaufman said. “I’m not presumptuous or have a big enough ego to be like, ‘This is the building that’s going to introduce it all to the world.’ But I am so proud of all of those things, and I want this to be a platform of pride for all of those different pieces.”

Office space and future tenants

So far, office tenants include a bank’s local leaders and some lawyers, Kaufman said. It’s taken her two years to get Frost Brown Todd on her roster.

“It’s a very risky building. To come in here right now — unless you have a really good vision — it’s hard to see how this turns into a reputable law firm,” Kaufman said.

The part of the building that will house the law firm will maintain much of the original architecture, though the concrete floor will soon be polished, skylights replaced and a cafe will overlook Rupp Arena and Triangle Park.

PNC Bank will relocate to 325 Main in early 2026. In a May news release about the move, PNC Regional President Kristen Byrd said it will bring the bank closer to the business community “while providing an elevated office environment for employees and clients.”

Kaufman said that’s the hope.

“We felt that this building is so unique and that our drive is so hospitality focused that we could create a unique offering (for tenants) that basically competes with the home office,” she said.

“Downtown is where you have community. And I think we have to push every design decision, every investment toward humans rather than going further down this path of isolation.

“We’re trying really hard to make this a place where you put down your phone, come in, and you really feel a sense of community here.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2025 at 12:00 AM.

Piper Hansen

Lexington Herald-Leader

502-648-6715

Piper Hansen is a local business and regional economic development reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader. She previously covered similar topics and housing in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. Before that, Hansen wrote about state government and politics in Arizona.