LEXINGTON | CentrePointe | 388 FT | 30 FL | Pro

[seicer]

This project has veered from pre-recession skyscraping monumentality to starchitect Jeanne Gang's rectilinear tubes and now a final, approved stylistic goulash from EOP Architects. No word on when this much-anticipated project will begin.





image hosted on flickr

Centrepointe Rendering - Lexington, Ky. by kaintuckeean, on Flickr


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As first proposed:

$250 million tower would reshape downtown
By Beverly Fortune, Herald-Leader, March 4, 2008

A massive $250 million construction project would add a 40-story tower to downtown Lexington and reshape one of the best-recognized corners in town.

The developers, the Webb Companies, said the project would include a major four-star, 243-room hotel, 77 residential condominium units and 38,000 square feet of retail space. It also will have a 10,000-square-foot restaurant on the top floor.

The glass-and-steel structure would be roughly as tall as the Lexington Financial Center, known affectionately as the “Big Blue building.”

The project’s developers said they plan to have the new building completed in time for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in fall 2010.

The project’s reach would extend beyond the block bounded by Vine, Main, Limestone and Upper, where it will be built.

The project, known as CentrePointe, would require 1,100 parking spaces. About 650 of those will be in an underground parking garage on site.

To accommodate the rest of the parking, the developer will take some land out of Phoenix Park at Main and Limestone. Overall, the size of the park will be reduced by about one-third, they said.

With that space, they will build two levels of underground parking, 15,000 square feet of ground-level retail and a four-level parking garage above ground. They will then restore the remainder of Phoenix Park at grade level.

On the north-facing wall of the new parking structure in the park, the developers plan to add a Jumbotron screen that would allow for public showings of movies and other events.

The screens would be viewable from the courthouse plaza along Limestone.

Developer Dudley Webb said his company already has an option to buy two Jumbotron screens that are being used at the World Cup in South Africa in 2009.

The project would rely on Tax Increment Financing, which has been used to finance other mega-developments in the state, such as Louisville’s Museum Center project. In general, the program allows developers to recoup large portions of their investment in mixed-use commercial, residential and retail projects by keeping the income and property taxes generated by the project over a 30-year period. The financing would require state approval.

All of the buildings now on the site would be cleared, an idea that already has sparked some controversy among historic preservation groups. Harold Tate of the Downtown Development Authority said he has received numerous phone calls from people interested in helping existing businesses relocate, but he said those businesses also need to seek out the DDA’s help.

The Lexington Farmers Market, which is currently held on Vine Street on the block, would be moved to another site in the Vine Street area, officials said.

The developers said they haven’t decided yet what kind of hotel will be in the building; that will be announced in the next few weeks.

Developers said they hope to have excavation completed and start laying the building’s foundation in mid-August.