Angliana Avenue Mixed Use Development

Photographs

The temporary title Angliana Avenue Mixed Use Development is a proposed mixed-use project for Angliana Avenue in Lexington, Kentucky that would include a cinema, a bowling alley, restaurants, retail storefronts, a grocery store and 150 apartments.(1) It would also include an iconic 60- to 80-foot tower with a restaurant on top. Announced on June 23, 2009 by a California developer, the development would cost more than $70 million.

George Krikorian stated that he has built more than 20 multi-screen theaters, most in urban settings in California and frequently combining new construction with old structure restorations.(1) He stated that he was attracted to the Angliana site because the former industrial thoroughfare was being transformed from one dominated by tobacco warehouses into student housing projects. One such student housing development was under construction near his proposal, Kirkorian noted, and his plat would be across the street from Uptown Hounds, an upscale hotel and spa for dogs.

The proposed 15-acre development would be within walking distance of downtown, Soutn Hill and the University of Kentucky. It would include the Kentucky Eagle Beer distribution center at 475 Angliana Avenue, a tobacco warehouse, and part of the adjoining railroad property on South Broadway.(1) The warehouse would be reused.

Krikorian expects to apply for tax-increment-financing (TIF) from the city and state to pay for infrastructure improvements that includes relocating a major electrical transmission line and for constructing a pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks to connect to the Newtown Pike extension.(1)

The property is currently zoned adaptive reuse and does not require a zone change, so it does not require council approval, but it does require council approval for TIF.

Sources

1. Fortune, Beverly. "Developer wants to build cinema, bowling alley, apartments on Angliana Avenue." Herald-Leader (Lexington) 24 June 2009. 15 July 2009.