The University of Kentucky announced Friday steps to re-imagine a critical piece of property to establish an innovation corridor and significantly expand parking for the campus.
UK Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Eric N. Monday told members of the Board of Trustees that demolition would begin in March on the property that formerly housed Kennedy’s Bookstore and Fazoli’s (the corner of South Limestone and Winslow Street along Winslow to the South Upper intersection).
“We have a vision to transform this critical entrance to our campus and transform it into a hub for innovation as well as further serving the needs of our students, faculty and staff,” Monday said. “There is a tremendous opportunity here to leverage the momentum we have as a university to expand what we are doing in partnership with the community, make progress on the university’s Transportation Master Plan (TMP), and serve our campus while looking toward the future of technology, innovation, education and research.”
The vision and next steps for the corridor that Monday outlined for board members Friday includes:
- Beginning demolition on the site in March.
- Moving forward with a pre-development agreement the university has with Signet Real Estate Group, a company with offices in Florida and Ohio that specializes in higher education, health care, and public-private partnership development projects.
- Completing design of the property with the goal of completing construction and opening the new six-story facility, matching the height of the current Limestone parking garage, in August 2020.
- Finalizing programming of the space, including more than 900 new parking spaces above, ground floor university innovation space and private retail that enhances places for students, employees and the community. The ground floor mix, which will be determined in the coming months, could include 15,000-25,000 square feet for:
– retail space, which could include a restaurant and bar;
– office and support space for UK faculty and staff; and
– innovation space that could house an app development technology partnership and/or an e-sports initiative and program for students.
- And, utilizing a multi-story external media wall that will be an addition to the university’s smart campus digital signage efforts, allowing UK to provide timely information and updates to the campus community.
UK Transportation Services has made great progress implementing the TMP in recent years, including award-winning investments in alternative transportation such as buses, bikes, pedestrian improvements and innovative financial incentives, as well as the construction of well over 2,000 new parking spaces since 2015. The addition of more than 900 parking spaces through this project will further improve mobility to, from and around campus for students, faculty, staff and visitors.
The innovation space, Monday said, is essential as it aligns with further development of the area, including the Reynolds Building for the College of Design and existing space nearby for the College of Fine Arts.
Collectively, Monday said, the corridor could “help anchor our role at the intersection of cutting-edge technology developments as well as how we are partnering with the city to invest in the adaptive re-use and re-imagining of historic properties.
“Our students and faculty are working at the intersection of disciplines. The space they work and learn in should support and enhance those efforts. At the same time, making the campus more accessible with additional parking and food options, potentially, further enhances our community.”
Jason Perry, president of Signet Real Estate Group, said, “We are excited to partner with the University of Kentucky to deliver this forward-thinking project and achieve its vision for this corridor into campus. This facility will address the university’s parking demands while transforming the edge of campus into an innovative destination for students, faculty and the Lexington community as a whole.”
More about Signet:
Signet Real Estate Group, a Signet LLC company, is a full-service development and project management firm in the areas of higher education, health care, research and public-private partnerships. The company transforms complex development challenges into collaborative opportunities through a creative, flexible and customized approach. Since the firm’s inception, Signet and its family of companies have successfully managed and currently have in progress more than $4.5 billion in real estate development and construction throughout the U.S. More information on Signet can be found at www.signetre.com.
More about UK:
UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, go to: uky.edu/uk4ky.
Read the original release here.
UK plans to turn Kennedy’s Bookstore site into parking, retail space
Read the original article on Lexington Herald-Leader.
The University of Kentucky will partner with a private real estate company to turn the former Kennedy’s Bookstore corner into 900 new parking spots, in addition to retail and “innovation” space.
“It going to be critical in making progress on the transportation master plan, but it’s so much more than a parking project,” said Melody Flowers, UK executive director for strategic analysis, of the $30 million project that will stretch along Winslow Street between South Limestone and Broadway. “This is a mixed use opportunity to transform this critical property at the entrance to our campus with the use of ground floor retail and university innovation space.”
UK selected Signet Real Estate Group of Jacksonville, Fla. and Akron, Ohio to design, build and finance the project. Signet will provide the financing, and UK will enter into a 30-year lease for the project, paying Signet from parking and retail revenue. After 30 years, UK will own the building.
The project is due to be finished by August, 2020, Flowers said.
The parking will be attached to and part of the South Limestone #5 parking garage, which is used by numerous employees on central campus.
The retail space could include a restaurant or bar, while the innovation space could be used for coding or e-sports initiatives, said Eric Monday, UK’s executive vice president for finance and administration.
UK hopes the space will become part of a new area of campus that includes the new art building on Bolivar Street and a site for the College of Design at the former Reynolds building on South Broadway.
“We’re excited about how this can all work together with projects already underway,” Monday said.