Historic, Affordable Housing Options Benefit Lexington
Dr. Zak Leonard, Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation
Lexington’s national reputation as an attractive and livable city is clearly soaring. Out-of-state developers and national private equity companies have taken notice and are making exorbitant offers for entire blocks of historic houses. In their place, these entities construct sky-high, luxury private dormitories that cater to only a small fraction of the undergraduate population. So far, the western section of the Aylesford neighborhood has borne the brunt of these incursions and will continue to do so in the following years.
At a hearing on November 19th, the Urban County Council — in a narrow vote — reversed the Planning Commission’s rezoning of the block bounded by Stone, E. Maxwell, and Rose that would have resulted in the certain destruction of twelve National Register-listed buildings that mostly date to the 1920s. Core Spaces, a private equity company that operates Hubs across the country, had intended to build an eight-story complex with 1,010 beds and 436 parking spaces. This would have been the third such project on a three-block stretch of E. Maxwell following Stavroff’s The Maxwell (656 beds, 140 parking spaces) and Subtext’s student housing (795 beds, 333 parking spaces).
Together with Aylesford Action, a remarkable community-based grassroots organization, the Blue Grass Trust successfully protested the loss of this already-affordable housing that includes some of the city’s earliest, purpose-built, multi-family dwellings. Students and long-term residents alike took issue with the design’s inappropriate scale and articulated their fears of displacement, traffic congestion, and the eradication of the urban tree canopy. Many sought to temper the breakneck pace of development when the impacts of the Stavroff and Subtext projects are not yet known. These entreaties moved eight members of the Council, who determined that the rezoning violated the tenets of the city’s comprehensive plan.
The Council, like the Planning Commission before it, expressed frustration that neighborhoods were simply expected to absorb the University of Kentucky’s ever-increasing enrollment. Problematically, it appears that the university has not shared its housing agenda with these municipal bodies. Councilmember LeGris recommended resurrecting the dormant Town & Gown Commission to establish a more sustained dialogue, which is a laudable goal indeed. We can only hope that the in-process Downtown Masterplan will address the need to balance student housing with neighborhood preservation, affordability, and livability. For our part, the Blue Grass Trust would be eager to work with landlords on the block in question to help them secure the state and federal rehabilitation tax credits to which they are entitled.
Lately, the city government has routinely championed the interests of developers, and a number of major projects are still in the pipeline. A large private dormitory is planned for the site of the downtown YMCA; weeks ago, a group based in West Palm Beach also purchased the E. High Street post office’s parcel for $2,775,000. These properties will not require rezoning and the projects, per recent state legislation, will be approved “ministerially” without public comment. Subtext will also be returning to the Planning Commission to pitch an amended development on S. Limestone that is more palatable to the Pralltown neighborhood. Currently, the University of Kentucky owns sprawling surface parking lots at S. Limestone and Chrysalis, and MLK Blvd. and E. High that would be prime sites for redevelopment.
Infill, however, should not come at the expense of already dense, affordable, and historic housing. Under certain conditions, the city is empowered to tax vacant or unimproved “abandoned urban property” at higher rates. Yet this does not discourage individuals and institutions from razing housing stock, “banking” the land, and sitting on it for years — or even decades. Simply open Google Street View and observe the staggering disappearance of homes on Pine Street, Campbell Street, Smith Street, and Bourbon Ave. So long as construction costs remain at an all-time high, historic buildings around the city’s urban core will continue to offer the most affordable housing options.
