Construction has started on 44-acre ‘Hamburg East’ in Lexington. Here are the plans
A 44-acre tract of land in the rapidly expanding Polo Club Boulevard and Hamburg area will soon become a large, mixed-use development that will likely include hotels, restaurants, retail and apartments.
Cowgill Inc., a longtime Lexington developer, broke ground on the new development this week.
The site is near Interstate 75 and Interstate 64, and is adjacent to the University of Kentucky HealthCare’s new campus. UK Healthcare announced in 2022 it was going to purchase acres from Cowgill to build a new campus near Winchester Road. A timeline for construction of the new UK Healthcare campus has not been announced.
The new development, Hamburg East, will also serve patients, staff and visitors to the new Baptist Health Lexington Hamburg campus. Part of that campus, which is near the new development also on Polo Club Bouevard, will open in the spring.
Joe Brumley, vice president of acquisitions for Cowgill Inc., said construction will begin immediately on site preparation that includes grading, installing electricity and other utility lines.
The site will have an entrance off of Winchester Road that will connect it to Hume Road. The plans also include trails throughout Hamburg East and the new UK HealthCare campus site. There will also be a trail along Winchester Road.
Possible tenants have not been named. Brumley said it will likely include apartments and a hotel. There are no hotels on the east side of I-75 and I-64 in that area.
“There has been a lot of interest in the site,” Brumley said. “We are working closely with UK to make sure we are also meeting their patient, employee and visitor needs.”
The 44 acres is part of land added to the city’s urban service area in 1996. It is one of the last areas adjacent to I-75 and I-64 open for development, and one of the last in that expansion area zoned for commercial development.
Other construction in the area also includes a new Fayette County middle school on Polo Club Boulevard.
The area that will include Baptist Health, UK HealthCare and Hamburg East is roughly the size of the core of downtown — from Midland Avenue and Main Street to Central Bank Center on High and Main streets, Brumley said.
“The addition of UK HealthCare and Hamburg East will prove to be a major benefit to both that part of the Lexington community as well as for the people of Central and Eastern Kentucky,” Brumley said.
Brumely said the timeline on when the project will be complete will depend on the tenants. Site preparation work won’t be finished until the end of 2024.
