A third high-rise student apartment complex proposed for East Maxwell near UK
A developer of high-rise student housing wants to put an eight-story apartment complex on East Maxwell Street in the same area two new high-rise student apartments have been approved.
Chicago-based Core Spaces filed an application on Aug. 4 for a zone change from residential to a business zone for properties at 251, 253, 255, 261, 263, 271, and 273 East Maxwell Street; and 256, 258, 262, 266, 268, 270, and 272 Kalmia Avenue.
The proposal includes an eight-story building with 310 units and 12 two-story town houses for a total of 983 beds. Plans show an interior parking garage with 489 parking spaces.
Entrances into the property will be from Kalmia Avenue and Stone streets, development plans filed with the city show.
The town houses will dot the perimeter of the eight-story structure and will be integrated into the project. The plans show two interior courtyards, a roof deck and swimming pool on the top floor.
If approved by the Urban County Planning Commission and the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council, it will be the third Core Spaces apartment building geared toward University of Kentucky students in Lexington. Core Spaces’ student property is known as the HUB.
The two HUB properties in Lexington are at 500 S. Upper and 685 S. Limestone streets.
Core Spaces officials said UK is adding more students at the same time Lexington needs more housing.
‘We’re addressing that need, just as we did with our Hub communities five years ago,” said Austin Pagnotta, Director of Acquisitions at Core Spaces.
“Our proposed project will add much-needed housing for both students and professionals, offering high-quality options with a focus on price attainable options situated between downtown and campus.”
Several blocks of high-rise student housing
The proposed HUB complex is on a block adjacent to a six-story student apartment complex proposed by Stavroff Land and Development that is currently under construction.
Next to the Stavroff development is another recently approved student apartment complex. That building is also eight stories and includes 825 bedrooms. That complex is being built by Subtext, a St. Louis-based private student housing developer.
Construction there has not yet begun.
Subtext had originally proposed a student apartment complex on South Limestone Street, but that apartment complex was turned down.
If the HUB development is approved, that means at least 867 new apartment units will be built in approximately three blocks between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Rose Street along East Maxwell Street. The location is directly across from UK’s campus.
Neighbors, preservationists concerned about loss of buildings
Developers have argued the city’s comprehensive plan, which says what types of developments can go where, encourages more density around UK and downtown.
Neighbors and preservationists have decried the loss of the homes in those blocks -- many are student apartments -- and have complained the new, large apartments will change the character of the neighborhoods around UK.
About a dozen homes and apartments on Rose, Kalmia, East Maxwell and Stone streets will have to be demolished to make room for the eight-story building.
“While we are not surprised, we are deeply disappointed to see yet another block—this being the third on that street in just over a year—of Lexington’s historic fabric targeted for wholesale demolition by an out-of-state developer,” said Jonathan Coleman , executive director of the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation, a local preservation group.
“As we have done in the previous two instances, we will urge our city leaders to pursue creative, less-destructive strategies to achieve the sustainable density our community needs, rather than allowing such short-sighted, wrecking-ball tactics. Lexington deserves better.”
The area is not in an historic district or H-1 overlay.
“I was sad walking around the block because all of these buildings are in really, really good shape,” said Maureen Peters, an architect who has an office in the area. Many are duplexes and fourplexes dating back to the early 1900s.
Peters said all the buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places. Peters said she wished city planners and the planning commission would hit pause and monitor how the Subtext and Stavroff developments will affect infrastructure and traffic.
There are lots of families and young professionals in the area. It’s not just student rental housing, Peters said.
Pagnotta said none of the buildings slated to be razed are historically significant.
“While none of the existing buildings on this site are in the historic overlay or historically significant, we understand there may be questions about our proposed development and welcome all feedback,” said Pagnotta.
A neighborhood meeting is scheduled for Aug. 27 at the Central Public Library, Pagnotta said. Core Spaces wants people to attend the meeting.
A zone change hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sept. 25 in front of the Urban County Planning Commission. However, zone change hearings are frequently postponed for various reasons.
