7-story apartment complex proposed near UK campus. Residents vow to fight it
A Colorado developer wants to raze a row of commercial buildings in Woodland Triangle to build a new seven-story retail and apartment complex at the corner of Woodland Avenue and East High Street.
Titan Investments will seek a zone change and will demolish at least six buildings in the Woodland Triangle area, including buildings that formerly housed Ramsey’s now Sassy Bleu, Dahlhus Fudge, ThunderKats Skate Shop and other retail shops.
Titan officials said Thursday the Colorado company will likely file a zone change next week. That means a zone change hearing before the Urban County Planning Commission likely won’t be until July, at the earliest.
The properties involved include: 475 East Maxwell St., 477 East Maxwell St., 488 East High St., 496 East High St. and 498 East High St.
Stuart Davis, of Titan Investments, told neighbors at a meeting at Woodland Christian Church on Thursday the apartments will be geared toward but not exclusive to University of Kentucky students.
The site is within a short walking distance of UK’s W.T. Young Library.
The building will have 5,199 square feet of first-floor retail shops 55 residential units with 260 bedrooms and an interior parking garage, Davis said.
The building will have 10 retail parking spaces and 43 residential spaces on the first and second floor. Plans also include bike parking spaces.
The Titan proposal is one of several multi-story apartments popping up around UK’s campus.
There are currently two large, private, UK student apartment complexes under construction several blocks away on East Maxwell Street. A third apartment complex has been approved on South Limestone Street.
‘This is going to be one hell of a fight’
More than 150 people attended the meeting Thursday. Most were vocally opposed to the proposal.
Many residents said they were worried there were too many proposed high-rise apartment complexes in the East Maxwell corridor geared toward UK students.
Some urged city officials to start turning down private student apartments. Daniel Crum, a senior planner with the city who attended the meeting, said the city can’t legally discriminate against certain types of housing under the federal Fair Housing Act. Others said the traffic in the area is already problematic. There are multiple one-way streets in the Woodland Triangle area and the traffic pattern can be confusing. During pick-up and drop-off times at nearby Maxwell Elementary, traffic often backs up, creating traffic jams and parking nightmares for nearby residents. Other residents said the proposal has too few parking spaces for the number of people potentially living in the building -- 260. Davis said they will give people credits for not bringing cars to campus and are working to obtain off-site parking, a proposal that met with jeers and eye rolls from the crowd who attended Thursday night’s meeting. Bruce Simpson, a lawyer for the developer, said the developer will conduct a traffic and parking study before the zone change hearing. Simpson also said they will likely meet with residents again. Brent Caldwell, a nearby resident, asked the developer to delay Thursday’s meeting, saying residents needed more time to look at the proposed plans. “I hope the developer realizes, this is going to be one hell of a fight,” Caldwell said.
This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 7:59 AM.
