Council to hold public hearing on Maxwell Street apartment complex

This Wednesday, November 19th at 5pm, Council will hold a public hearing for a proposed zone change to build a student-oriented apartment complex on East Maxwell Street between Stone Avenue, Rose Street, and Kalmia Avenue.

The apartment complex, proposed by Core Spaces – which owns both of The Hub apartment complexes near UK's campus – would be eight stories and have 322 units. Core Spaces is seeking to have the properties rezoned to the Downtown Business Zone (B-2). The properties on that block are all currently zoned as Medium Density Residential (R-4).

Division of Planning Staff recommended approval of the zone change, and the Planning Commission voted 8-2 for it. Commissioners who supported the proposal largely cited Lexington's need for more housing units of all types. According to EHI Consultants, Lexington needs 22,000 more housing units.

Some Lexington residents spoke in the Planning Commission meeting against the zone change.

• Two large student apartment complexes have been approved by the Planning Commission and Council in the last year and a half on blocks immediately adjacent to Core Spaces's proposed complex. Some residents believe that three apartment complexes – totaling 906 units if the Core Spaces project is approved – is adding far too much density too quickly to the area.
• Other residents, led in large part by the Bluegrass Trust for Historic Preservation, believe that the houses and smaller-scale apartments that would be torn down for this project are historic. None of the buildings on the block have any specific historic protections that would prevent them from being demolished, but they are included in the National Register of Historic Places.

At the public hearing, Council will hear presentations on the project from Planning staff and Core Spaces, and it will hear public comment from residents who want to speak in support or against the proposal. Council will take a final vote on the zone change at the end of the public hearing.

If Council does not approve the zone change, this project will not move forward. Since the entire property is zoned Medium Density, an apartment complex up to four stories could be proposed and built without any need for public engagement or approval by the Planning Commission or Council, as long as it meets the R-4 zone's regulations.