Top Golf, baseball stadium were among proposals not selected for High Street lot near Rupp
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A Top Golf was one of four proposals the Lexington Center Corporation received to redevelop the approximately 17-acre High Street parking lot across from Central Bank Center, records obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader show.
The Lexington Center Corp. which oversees Central Bank Center and the Lexington Opera House, ultimately chose a proposal by Lexington-based The Webb Companies and Dallas-based Lincoln Property Company to redevelop the lot in May.
The Lincoln Webb LLC proposal includes a mix of residential, retail and restaurants and multiple parking garages.
The two groups are still in negotiations on the final details of the development and how much the group will pay Lexington Center Corp. in ground lease payments, documents show.
But the center also received proposals from Top Golf officials, a subsidiary of Callaway Golf Company, and other investors to put a 32,000 square foot, two-story, 52-bay outdoor driving range, a restaurant, miniature golf course and bar on the site, documents show.
Top Golf has been controversial in other cities, including Louisville where some residents close to the proposed Top Golf site in Oxmoor Center fought the development in court for several years and ultimately lost. The Top Golf in St. Matthews is expected to open later this year, according to WDRB.
Top Golf paired with local developer Patrick Madden, who developed the Hamburg shopping area, on the proposal, according to documents the newspaper received through an Open Records Act request. Madden was a member of the Lexington Center board and resigned prior to submitting the Top Golf proposal, Lexington Center officials said.
Bill Owen, director of construction for Lexington Center, said a Lexington Center committee ultimately decided the Top Golf proposal would not work for the site. Owen helped oversee the selection process.
“Top Golf has been highly popular in other markets,” Owen said. “But over and over again, the committee expressed concern about it being in a downtown environment. Other points of consideration were: What is the highest and best use of this land?.”
Documents show the other proposals for the High Street parking lot included:
- A proposal from Grand Slam Development to add a downtown minor league baseball stadium, multiple mixed use buildings, including student housing. A similar development was first proposed in 2017, when Lexington Center Corp. previously sought proposals for the property but ultimately decided not to move forward with the redevelopment of the High Street lot until the nearly $300 million renovation and expansion of Central Bank Center was complete
- A proposal from iVisionary Capital Partners to add a hotel, apartment complex, multiple parking garages and a soccer stadium for the Lexington Sporting Club, Lexington’s professional soccer club.
Grand Slam Development was the first proposal the committee nixed from contention.
According to a letter dated Feb. 18 from Lexington Center to Grand Slam Development, the Lexington Center Corp: “has not selected Grand Slam Development’s proposal to advance in the process for further consideration.”
Owen said the developers did not provide enough information to the committee, including finances. That’s why the committee ultimately opted not to move forward with Grand Slam Development, he said.
Lexington Sporting Club and iVisionary publicly released its proposal in January. It was the only group to do so. Under the state’s Open Records Act, the proposals did not have to be disclosed prior to awarding of the bid for the project.
But the project changed dramatically by April, records show.
In a letter dated April 15, iVisionary told the board the Lexington Sporting Club needed to move forward with a different location for a potential stadium due to time constraints. However, iVisionary submitted an alternative proposal that included parking garages, a 160-room hotel, 100,000 square feet of retail or office space and a 350-unit apartment complex.
Lexington Sporting Club is now moving forward with a proposal to build a new soccer stadium and youth sports complex off of Newtown Pike and Interstates 64 and 75. The club is expected to start playing in 2023. Club officials said it will likely play at a temporary location before the stadium is built.
Why Lincoln Webb was picked
Owen said the board ultimately decided the Lincoln Webb preliminary proposal that includes a hotel, apartment complex, retail and restaurant space and a possible entertainment venue was the best option.
Dudley Webb, of The Webb Companies, said in May the group is still working with Lexington Center to develop a final plan. The current proposal includes 3,600 parking spaces. That’s 1,600 spaces more than the current 2,000 spaces on the High Street lot.
Owen said the preliminary plans call for five different parking garages. That will help Central Bank Center and Town Branch Park, a proposed private park between Central Bank Center and Oliver Lewis Way, manage parking during the build out of the development, which will take several years. Town Branch Park will have an entrance off of High Street and will need parking in that area, Owen said.
A downtown master plan of the area said the proposed redevelopment of High Street should “bring Rupp Arena and the convention center into the urban environment,” Owen said.
The Lincoln Webb plan — with its residential and retail components —did just that, he said.
Since its inception in 1965, Dallas-based Lincoln Property Company has developed over 150 million square feet of commercial real estate, and manages more than 400 million square feet of commercial space.
Owen said the committee felt the Lincoln Webb group had the financial backing and experience to make the project a reality, he said.
According to documents, Central Bank Center generates slightly more than $1.6 million in revenue annually from the High Street parking lot. The lease agreement between Central Bank Center and Lincoln Webb will likely include guarantee payments that recoup those parking costs and additional income as part of the final agreement.
Developers can re-coup costs for infrastructure—including parking garages—from new tax revenues generated from the project. The 17-acre parcel is part of a tax increment financing district or TIF project.
The Lexington Center TIF project qualified for $41 million in state tax rebates over 30 years. To start receiving state taxes, developers have to spend more than $200 million. The only qualifying infrastructure costs to recoup those taxes are parking garages, according to the deal approved by state economic development officials in 2019.
Owen said the Lincoln Webb proposal is a more than $350 million project. That means it will likely be able to recoup money from the TIF to build those garages.
Moreover, Lincoln Webb’s proposal had the backing of the Woodward Heights neighborhood, Owen said. Woodward Heights is adjacent to the High Street parking lot.
“I have heard nothing but positives from Woodward Heights,” Owen said.
The Lincoln Webb proposal also includes re-opening streets between High and Maxwell streets, which will improve traffic congestion and circulation in the area, Owen said.
Lincoln Webb are still working on a final development plan. Owen said they hope to have a development plan finalized by the Lexington Center Corporation’s July meeting.
