Fight over 7-story, 800-bedroom apartment near UK continues after tense 3-hour meeting

The fight over a 7-story, 800-bedroom high-rise apartment on South Limestone near the University of Kentucky will continue next month after the Urban County Planning Commission decided Thursday it wanted more information.

The Urban County Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday to continue discussions about a zone change for more than a dozen properties on South Limestone, Prall and Montmullin streets. Those discussions will resume at its Oct. 24 meeting.

The vote to postpone came after a more than three-hour hearing.

St. Louis-based developer Subtext has agreed to meet with neighbors to determine what could be done to make the proposed development more palatable.

Those who spoke against the zone change said it would further deteriorate Pralltown, a historic Black neighborhood.

251 apartments, nearly 800 beds

Subtext has filed an application to change the zones for properties from an assortment of retail and residential zones to a corridor node zone, a new zone that allows for more density — such as more apartments — along major corridors such as South Limestone.

Subtext wants to tear down multiple buildings in the block, including multiple retail buildings that face South Limestone, to build the 7-story building that will have some retail space fronting South Limestone.

The proposed development is called Verve Lexington.

The plans call for 251 apartment units with 799 beds and a top floor that features a rooftop deck and a pool.

The proposed apartment complex also call for an interior garage with 448 parking spaces. The tallest part of the building will face South Limestone and will gradually decrease in height on the Prall and Montmullin sides, due to elevation changes. The tallest part of the building will be 102 feet.

It’s a 2-acre site.

Nick Nicholson, a lawyer for Subtext, said the city’s corridor node zone encourages more density. The project will take underutilized commercial buildings and student housing and create the density the city wants along its major corridors, he argued during Thursday’s commission meeting.

“It’s ensuring that we can meet the high demand for student housing in this area,” Nicholson said. It’s also on a Lextran bus route.

Nicholson said the 251 apartments would replace 60 apartments in the area.

The student housing to be razed are relatively newer buildings that were remodeled or built in the last 40 years, Nicholson said. The oldest buildings are the South Limestone retail buildings. The building at 545-549 South Limestone Street was built in 1925, according to Fayette County Property Value Administrator records.

The South Limestone properties have had multiple tenants over the decades. It now has several restaurants, smoke shops and Phillips Market, a longtime local market.

Lexington planners recommended approval of the zone changes for the property.

“It is meeting the very real need for housing and it’s doing so on a corridor,” said Daniel Crum, a senior planner.

A transportation study showed the new development would not impact traffic due to the already high volume of traffic in the area.

There was a study that showed the building would project significant shade on the Montmullin side of the building. That sun study is not required as part of an application for a zone change. Subtext voluntarily paid for the study.

Pralltown pushes back

The proposed apartment building is in Pralltown, one of Lexington’s oldest historically Black neighborhoods.

Pralltown has struggled to maintain its identity as UK student housing has gobbled up the neighborhood, turning it into largely student housing, Pralltown residents argued.

More than a dozen people spoke against the zone change.

Betty Boyd, president of the Pralltown Neighborhood Association, has lived in Pralltown for 70 years. “Urban renewal came in and tore down houses with the promise of building single-family homes that never happened,” Boyd said. “Would you want this in your neighborhood? But it’s okay for us?”

Boyd said it’s impossible to find parking on the Prall or Montmullin now.

Teresa Forbes-Lopez has lived in Pralltown for 20 years.

“The university needs to take care of their own students,” Forbes-Lopez said. “The neighborhood is in jeopardy.”

Forbes-Lopez said she worries about not being able to get in and out of her neighborhood if the Verve is built.

Austin Zinkle, a historian, said he doesn’t live in Pralltown but he’s worried about losing the neighborhood.

“This will deeply harm the people and community in Pralltown,” he said.

Others said they had other concerns about the plan, too.

Walter Gaffield, president of the Fayette County Neighborhood Association, said he’s worried about the number of pedestrians in the area.

“It’s completely out of context with the surrounding area,” Gaffield said.

‘It’s bee n f igh ting for its existence for decades’

Bruce Simpson, a lawyer for some Pralltown residents, said the city’s comprehensive plan, which guides development, also stresses equity and not displacing historically Black neighborhoods.

“Pralltown has been fighting for its existence for decades,” Simpson said. And UK officials have pushed private developers to build student housing in surrounding neighborhoods rather than on university property.

“UK has been a horrible neighbor to Pralltown,” Simpson said.

More density seems to always trump equity, he said.

“It’s gentrification in plain sight,” Simpson said.

But data shows Pralltown has already been gentrified, city officials said.

Crum, the senior planner, said the neighborhood is now 76% white and the median age is 26. The neighborhood has already been redeveloped.



“It’s already happened,” Crum said. “We can’t unwind that clock.”

‘Conflicted’ many commission members say

Many planning commission members said it was difficult to weigh the need for more student housing and protecting minority neighborhoods.

“I understand the history of gentrification,” said William Wilson, a planning commission member. “There are other communities that we need to figure out a way to preserve.”

Planning Commission member Mike Owens said he was familiar with Pralltown. But it’s already changed a lot.

“Pralltown as we all know it has changed,” Owens said.

Owens made a motion to approve the zone change but no other commission member seconded the motion, so it died.

Planning Commissioner Robin Michler said he had concerns about the height of the building and the amount of shade it would project onto the neighborhood. Michler said he would like to see the building set back more from the street.

Nicholson said the developer was willing to look at its plan to see if it could do something to address the concerns about height and fitting the project into the neighborhood.