Retail, food hall with coffee, craft beer coming to street near University of Kentucky
Property on South Limestone Street and Winslow Street that formerly housed Kennedy’s Book Store will soon be converted to retail space as well as the University of Kentucky esports hub.
Tentatively called the Winslow Project, the property will include more than 900 new parking spaces and a food hall featuring local eateries, craft beer and coffee, the university announced Wednesday.
“The Winslow Project ... is another step toward creating a campus that will better serve the needs of our students, faculty, staff and commonwealth,” UK President Eli Capilouto said.
The 23,000 square-foot property will include 15,000 feet of retail space Retailers for the property have not been announced.
Spencer Hyatt, vice president of the Signet Real Estate Group that partnered with the university on the project, said the food hall will focus exclusively on local restaurants.
“This environment will encourage ‘Campus to Community,’ including coffee, bar service and culinary fare,” he said. “We look forward to announcing our first tenants for this retail destination in the very near future.”
The space has a “groundbreaking design” and will provide a retail and learning destination for students, faculty and staff and the Lexington community, Signet’s Anthony Manna said Wednesday.
The project is expected to open in fall 2020 and will also be used as the home for the university’s esports program . Capilouto said the space will provide academic and creative support for students and will help solidify the university’s role in the growing esports industry.
Brianna Ritchison, a UK senior and member of the university’s esports club, has high hopes for the property, which will include an esports theater and gamers’ lounge.
“My hope is that this space will be a place that ignites the passions of students, that helps us see that our aspirations can be reality and that helps drive an understanding that with work, imagination and persistence, anything is possible,” she said.
The public can vote on the name for the new property. The names include The Cornerstone, The Wheelhouse, UK Idea Market, The Upper Level, The Gateway and The Converge. Voting will take place through Dec. 6 on uky.edu/winslow.
UK announced in February it would convert the former bookstore into parking spots along with retail and innovation space.
Kennedy’s Wildcat Den, which was a stable of the South Limestone and Winslow Street corner for 67 years, was demolished in April. Formerly known as Kennedy’s Book Store, the family-owned business decided to close following the fall 2017 semester after sales went “down, down, down,” general manager Carol Kennedy Behr said.
The university tried to acquire the land for years and succeeded in 2017 when the UK Board of Trustees voted to approve a land swap with a private developer. The land that Core Campus Investment Partners received in return was a 150-space parking lot on Jersey Street along with several parcels the university owned on Virginia Avenue and Limestone.
Last month, UK announced a partnership with a company called Gen. G to build a global gaming and esports program centered at Winslow and Limestone. The university already had an esports club, and the partnership allows it new ways to recruit students and expand classroom and internship opportunities.
“The partnership will emphasize access to opportunities for all University of Kentucky students,” UK’s press release noted. “Gen. G, for example, has been a leader in working to diversify esports, launching the first all-female Fortnite team. Gen. G and UK are both focused on issues of equity and greater inclusivity.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 12:13 PM.