Another 6-story student apartment building proposed near UK campus. Here’s where
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- GMH Communities seeks zone change for 262-unit, six-story project.
- Plans include redevelopment of 5.3 acres including former Avis site
- Some neighbors concerned about too much UK student housing
A Pennsylvania-based developer wants to build a six-story apartment building on South Broadway near the University of Kentucky.
GMH Communities subsidiary, South Broadway Project Owner LLC, filed an application March 2 requesting a zone change from a wholesale and warehouse zone to a B-1, or business zone that also allows residential buildings for property at 1021, 1057 and 1059-1069 South Broadway.
The property was last used as an Avis rental car lot.
GMH Communities has more than 245 apartments across the United States and has student apartments in 13 states largely near public universities, according to its website.
GMH Communities also purchased The Stretch apartments at 1051 Red Mile Road, near the proposed site, for nearly $35 million in January 2025, according to Fayette County Property Value Administration records.
Officials with GMH Communities did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages asking for comment.
The South Broadway development is the latest private student apartment proposal around UK’s booming campus. The development is across the street from another private student housing project, the Gateway Lofts at the corner of South Broadway and Virginia Avenue.
Other private student housing developments approved in recent months include two apartment complexes along Maxwell Street. In addition, the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council is expected to give final approval March 12 for a zone change for an eight story, 491 bedroom apartment on South Limestone.
Six stories, 262 units and plans to save two bur oak trees
Developers plan to raze the Avis rental car building located roughly in the center of the site and another building near the back of the property, according to a development plan filed with the city.
The proposed development, called The Dean Lexington, will have retail spaces on the first floor and a 528 space interior parking garage and 262 apartment units, plans show. The development will also have a pool and an interior courtyard.
The plans also show a substantial protection area around a bur oak tree near the South Broadway side of the property. A second tree protection area near the back of the property will protect another bur oak tree on adjacent property, the plan shows.
In its March 2 application letter, lawyers for GMH Communities said the development is an ideal infill and redevelopment project.
“This project involved a textbook case of infill in which 5.3 acres of underutilized commercial/warehouse space is transformed into a high-density residential development adding 262 multifamily housing units inside the urban service boundary,” wrote Chris Clendenden, a lawyer for the developer.
It’s not clear when the zone change will be heard by the Urban County Planning Commission.
Concerns about traffic, build up of student housing
But at least one neighbor of the development has concerns.
John Ransdell lives in Golf View Estates, the neighborhood closest to the proposed development. The neighborhood met with the developer and their representatives prior to GMH filing for the zone change.
Ransdell said the entrance into the property is too close to the intersection of Red Mile Road and a stop light at South Broadway and Red Mile Road.
“That middle turn lane on South Broadway backs up at all hours of the day,” Ransdell said.
Moreover, Ransdell said he is also concerned that too many high-density student apartments are being built in an area already overrun with student housing. The university needs to build more student housing on its own property, he said.
Ransdell said the city’s most pressing need is affordable housing not student housing.
“I would like to see them commit to having 5 to 10% affordable housing,” Ransdell said.
Ransdell said the neighborhood has not voted to take a particular stance on the project. “I can’t speak for the whole neighborhood.”
The Golf View Estates neighborhood association was formed after many in the neighborhood saw what happened on Burley and Simpson avenues across South Broadway. Those areas have largely been taken over by student housing, he said.
“I want neighbors not someone temporary,” Ransdell said.
