60-year-old Lexington hotel plans major expansion, overhaul. Here’s the details.
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- Expansion would add 14,000 sq ft to the existing 13,000 sq ft center.
- Expansion plans include adding about 150 to 200 parking spaces.
- Demolition would remove one wing of roughly 20 rooms to make space.
The parking lot of the Clarion Hotel near the intersection of Interstate 64 and Interstate 75 was full at noon on July 9.
The Kentucky Horse Park was hosting BreyerFest, a model horse festival, which drew people from all over the country. Cars in the Clarion Hotel parking lot at 1950 Newtown Pike were decorated with BreyerFest signs. Several rooms in the Clarion’s convention center were also used for BreyerFest-related events.
The lack of parking at the 60-year-old Lexington hotel, the original building was constructed in 1966, has long been problematic, said JK Shah, of Hospitality of the Bluegrass Group LLC, which runs the hotel.
The attached Bluegrass Convention Center has had to turn down multiple shows and conventions because the space is too small, Shah said.
“The location is great,” Shah said.
The hotel and convention center complex is about 5 miles from the Kentucky Horse Park, a few miles from Central Bank Center and Rupp Arena and close to major manufacturing hubs such as Toyota in Georgetown.
A planned major expansion would add another 14,000 square feet to the current 13,000-square-foot convention center. The plans also include an additional 150 to 200 much-needed parking spaces, according to a development plan filed July 6 with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government.
If the plan is approved, the total convention center space would be close to 27,000 square feet, said Shah.
The plans include demolishing one wing, roughly 20 rooms, of the hotel to make space for the expanded convention center, a new traffic pattern into the convention center and additional parking.
In addition, rooms in the hotel are undergoing a major upgrade in anticipation of the hotel moving to the Delta by Marriott brand, Shah said.
Future plans also include a breakfast restaurant in addition to the Sedona Taphouse restaurant attached to the property.
The group is currently building a new Hampton Inn and Suites between the Clarion and the Marriott Lexington Griffin Gate hotel. The Hampton is expected to open in the spring of 2027, Shah said.
In addition to the development plan, the group is also asking for a waiver to decrease the amount of required green space on the property. That slight decrease in green space is needed to fit the expanded convention center and parking, according to documents filed with the city.
Shah said the development plan and the waiver could be heard as early as an August Urban County Planning Commission committee meeting. The group has funding in place. If the plans are approved, construction could begin immediately, he said.
“We are trying to bring a more than 60-year-old property and bringing it into the present day,” Shah said.
