Lexington council to vote on $86.6M deal for new city hall at this downtown location
Lexington is the final stages of inking an $86.6 million deal for a new city government center after decades of starts and stops.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council could take its first vote Tuesday during a council work session on a public-private partnership with the Lexington Opportunity Fund to secure the former BB&T bank building at 200 West Vine St. and 260 West Vine St.
The city will pay the Lexington Opportunity Fund $30 million up front, followed by $3.5 million per year over 35 years. Those lease payments will start once an overhaul of the 104,000-square-foot building is complete, which could be as soon as 2028, according to documents included in the council work session documents. At the end of the 35-year term, the city will own the property and improvements.
The plans include remodeling the current 94,000 square-foot bank building and adding a 10,000 square foot addition, city officials said. That addition would include a lobby and multiple new meeting areas. The council’s current chamber is small. People sometimes have to sit in an overflow area outside the chamber because there are currently not enough seats in the council’s main meeting area.
The estimated annual lease payment is less than 1% of the city’s general fund. The general fund budget is currently $540 million.
The $86.6 million price tag also includes $23.6 million to purchase the property. That price was “negotiated and agreed upon based on the fair market value established by an independent appraisal,” according to city officials.
The site is about 1.77 acres and includes a three-level parking garage with 286 spaces, according to city officials.
Susan Straub, a spokeswoman for the city, said Lexington already has $30 million set aside in a capital reserve account to make the first payment.
A timeline for construction has not been determined, Straub said.
“There are final details to work out with the Lexington Opportunity Fund,” Straub said.
Nearly 40-year search for new city government center
The city released a request for proposals for a new government center in late 2024. In April, the city selected the Lexington Opportunity Fund, which owns 200 W. Vine St., the former BB&T — now Truist — bank building, from three proposals
The city’s main government building is the former Lafayette Hotel at 200 E. Main St. That building was finished in 1920 and the city has been there since 1984. It was initially intended as a temporary space.
City offices occupy other downtown buildings, as well, including an adjoining structure and the Phoenix building on Vine Street. The city would keep using the Phoenix building if it moved to the Vine Street location, officials have previously said.
The city has tried multiple times to move and combine its operations and has spent millions in maintenance and upkeep on the 1920 hotel building in the past several years. During a September meeting, city officials said the space has more than $55 million in deferred maintenance costs.
Since 2016, the city has spent more than $475,000 on studies to cement the need for a new government building.
Past efforts to find a new government center have been fraught with problems. In 2018, the city got close when it nearly signed a lease agreement with a developer for the former Lexington-Herald-Leader building on Midland Avenue. That plan ultimately fell apart, and Fayette County Public Schools eventually purchased the building and combined many of its technology schools to one location. The $65 million Hill opened in June.
The Lexington Opportunity Fund is overseen by the Webb and Greer companies, which built City Center, a long-delayed downtown development that includes hotels, an office building and multiple restaurants.
This story was originally published November 17, 2025 at 1:36 PM.
