CentrePointe (Lexington)

History

CentrePointe is not yet in the process of being constructed. The original estimated time of completion was in 2010 as it was intended to serve as a centerpiece for business during the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games. Before the construction of CentrePointe began, many local residents objected to the project as it meant the destruction of Morton's Row, the city's second-oldest commercial district, and a local hot spot, The Dame. In July 2008, the Fayette Alliance — a coalition of developers, neighborhood associations, and farmers — revoked its support for the building, due to an apparent reluctance on the part of the developer to work with concerned parties in addressing various issues concerning the development.

In addition to the controversy surrounding The Dame, the use of Tax Increment Financing for the development was debated. Initially concern centered on the application of taxpayer money without the inclusion of ideas from those taxpayers. This opposition arose mostly from a common misunderstanding of Tax Increment Financing, which utilizes the boom property tax value from a redevelopment project to fund improvements locally. The issue went before the city council in September 2008. The council voted in favor of utilizing Tax Increment Financing for the project due to the infrastructure improvements for the surrounding area including sidewalks and underground parking structures.

On June 25, 2009, the process of seeding and filling the CentrePointe construction site began. On September 10, 2013, EOP, the architecture firm behind the fifth iteration of the CentrePointe design announced they were pulling out of the project. Preliminary construction began in December 2013 and blasting for the parking structure and foundation began on March 17, 2014. The 700-space underground parking garage was expected to be completed by late summer 2014, but was not. Developers are currently trying to sell $30 million in bonds solely devoted towards building the parking garage. As of March 26, 2015, minimal construction on the parking garage has been completed.

Design evolution

The original plan in 2008 called for a 35-story, 550-foot-tall (170 m) high rise which would include a hotel, condominiums, retail and office space. The entire development was estimated to cost $250 million and would have become the tallest building in Lexington upon completion. Since 2008 there have been three other designs. The first two entailed one large building that would have covered the entire block. But after Studio Gang Architects became involved in the project in 2011, the latter two proposed designs have entailed one tower and several low rise buildings.

Jeanne Gang, lead architect of Studio Gang Architects, was hired to draft ideas for the CentrePointe project in 2011. She proposed a 30-story tower which would include a ten-floor boutique hotel, ten floors of apartments, seven floors of condominiums, and three floors of penthouses. Her design also called for an eight-story building on the intersection of South Limestone Street and West Main Street along with a row of low rises on West Main Street.

In 2012, the Webb Companies released a design that resembled that of Studio Gang Architects. The proposed design included a 28-story hotel-condominium tower at the intersection of West Vine Street and South Upper Street, four smaller buildings on West Main Street, and a low-rise office building at South Limestone Street and West Main Street.

A revised 2013 plan downsized the main high rise to from 28 to 19 floors. It included a 286-room hotel along with 96 apartments and 10,700 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. The office building was planned to have 157,710 square feet of offices as well as restaurants and retailers. The development is estimated to cost US $393.9 million.

The hotel-condominium tower was modified by architectural firm Rabun Rasche Rector Reece in 2014. A terrace on the twelfth floor of the tower was added along with a contemporary glass facade. The first eleven floors will serve as a 205-room Marriott hotel while the remaining seven floors are reserved for condominiums and penthouse suites. The apartment complex, originally to be seven floors, will now be twelve floors with retail on the first floor, 100 extended-stay suites on floors two through five, and apartments on floors six through twelve.