A distillery, restaurants, retail, office space. New Lexington project gets green light
A long underutilized tract of property close to downtown Lexington will soon get new life.
The Urban County Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday to change the zoning of the property at 125 Turner Commons Way and 1409 N. Forbes Road to a Planned Unit Development zone, a new zone allowing for mixed use developments that was recently approved by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council.
Plans for Turner Commons, which is visible from the Main Street or Leestown Road bridge just before Forbes Drive, include restaurants, bars and retail space near the front of the property, 25 townhomes near the center of the property and industrial uses toward the back. The long and skinny property is adjacent to the railroad tracks and stretches from Main Street to New Circle Road and Lorillard Lofts.
Access to the property will be from Turner Commons Way off of Main Street and from North Forbes Street.
The plans show 14 commercial buildings and 25 townhomes. There is also an interior green space and courtyard, said Nathan Billings, a lawyer for Turner Commons during Thursday’s planning commission meeting.
The goal is to create a welcoming and inviting space but at the same time respect the surrounding neighborhoods, Billings said.
Daren Turner, the developer of the project, said he is in talks with a yet-to-be-named distillery to locate on the property. A sports and restaurant venue has also signed a letter of intent. A bar, called Paws and Pints, will allow dog owners to bring their four-legged friends. A pickle ball group is also interested in the space.
“We are working on building walking paths and water features,” said Turner.
The retail and restaurant spaces toward the front of the property will be built first with the townhomes coming later. Four of the six industrial-style buildings at the back of the property are already full. Battle Axes, an ax throwing and entertainment venue, opened in one of those buildings this summer.
Construction is nearly complete on an office building for Sherman Carter Barnhart, an architectural firm. That building will likely be open after the first of January, Turner said.
Some buildings were constructed under the property’s current zoning. The planned unit development zone change will allow the rest of the property to be developed, Turner said.
“We have seen a lot of interest in the property,” Turner said. “That area of town has long been under-served in terms of restaurants and retail.”
Traffic concerns
During Thursday’s meeting, Billings said there are concerns about traffic turning into the property off of Main Street. Billings said Turner Commons is willing to work with neighborhoods in that area to push city and state transportation officials to make that a right in and right out only entrance. However, that’s outside of Turner Commons’ control, he said.
Some neighbors said they were concerned that access into the Melrose/Oak Park neighborhood underneath the bridge would not be blocked off, creating more traffic through the Melrose neighborhood.
Billings said it was advantageous for the neighborhood to be able to use Turner Commons Way to exit right onto Main Street rather than try to make a left-hand turn from Clyde Street, the main entrance into the Melrose/Oak Park neighborhood.
Rock Daniels, president of the Meadowthorpe Neighborhood Association, said Daren Turner, the developer, and Billings have worked for 18 months with the neighborhood addressing their concerns prior to Thursday’s hearing.
“They have been transparent during the entire process,” Daniels said. No one from Meadowthorpe spoke against the proposal.
The zone change must be approved by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council. That vote will come sometime after the first of the year.
This story was originally published December 19, 2022 at 10:38 AM.
