Council votes to block Maxwell Street student housing development

In a lengthy public hearing on Wednesday, November 19th, the Urban County Council voted 8-7 against a zone change for a student-oriented apartment complex at the corner of East Maxwell and Rose Streets. The proposal had come to Council after a 8-2 decision in favor of the zone change by Planning Commission and a recommendation by Planning Staff.

While this ruling blocks the proposed eight-story, 322-unit apartment complex, the developer could still demolish the existing buildings and construct a new four-story, 75-foot structure under the site’s current R-4 zoning without any additional public input. The project was proposed by Core Spaces, which owns both of The Hub apartment complexes near UK.

Councilmembers were closely divided on the proposal:

• Opponents said this development was too intense for the neighborhood, especially given strong resident opposition from the Aylesford community and other intensive development on Maxwell. Others opposed to the development questioned whether relying on out-of-state developers would exacerbate displacement or predatory development in Lexington.
• Supporters said Lexington is facing a severe housing shortage – including student housing – and that if the city is not expanding outward into farmland, it must increase density. Some also noted that out-of-state developers are filling a gap because local developers are not currently building this scale of high-density housing.

More than 50 Lexington residents and individuals affiliated with the project spoke both for and against the rezoning.

• Residents from the Aylesford neighborhood – including several residents from properties that would be demolished for this development – voiced their concerns about displacement and changes to the neighborhood's character that would result from the development. Some also said that the rental rates for the development wouldn't meaningfully impact Lexington's affordable housing shortage.
• Representatives of the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation argued that the houses and smaller-scale apartments that would be torn down for this project are historic. While none of the buildings on the block have any specific historic zoning protections that would prevent them from being demolished, some are included in the National Register of Historic Places.
• Some University of Kentucky students described the difficulty of finding affordable housing near campus and questioned whether they could afford units in the proposed development. Other UK students spoke in favor, arguing that the project would provide much-needed options close to campus.
• Some members of the wider Lexington community also spoke in favor of the development, citing Lexington's 22,000-unit housing shortage and the alignment of this project with goals set out in the city's Comprehensive Plan to increase density near downtown.
• The development team and several supporters highlighted changes made in response to community input, including a shared-use path and transit stop, townhome-style units, open-space design to improve light access, and commitments to reuse materials from existing structures.

The disapproval of the zone change is final unless the applicant submits a revised proposal or pursues a different zoning path. As of now, no additional public process would be required for development under the site’s existing R-4 zoning, and any future proposals beyond that would need to return to the Planning Commission and Council.