The corner of East Main and Vine streets, across from Thoroughbred Park, will see some major developments over the next year, including the addition of a restaurant focusing on chef-driven American cuisine, a five-story apartment complex and the first Lexington location for Old National Bank.
Developer Phil Holoubek of Lexington’s Real Estate Co. (LRC) is heading up the project. Holoubek, who also developed Main + Rose and rehabbed the Nunn Building lofts, said construction will begin on the new development this autumn with completion slated for fall 2017.
“It’s an amazing location,” said Holoubek. “It might be the best location downtown, and here’s why: There’s 72,000 cars a day that go past that site. I think the only place that has higher traffic counts is Nicholasville Road by Lexington Green and Fayette Mall, so that’s pretty amazing.”
In addition to the traffic, Holoubek also said it’s one of the only places downtown where you effectively have two-way traffic as Main and Vine streets intersect. In addition, he noted that a proposed trailhead for the Town Branch Commons linear park project is slated for the spot where Main, Vine and Midland Avenue come together.
The five-story building will have 15,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor, with 50 one- and two-bedroom apartments above (750 square feet and 1,000 or more square feet, respectively). There will be a surface parking lot with 50 spaces and an underground lot with an additional 50 spaces.
About 7,000 square feet of the first floor will be taken up by Old National Bank – a bank out of Evansville, Indiana, that will be hiring from within Lexington and will include a drive-through.
The new development, called Main + Vine, will be located in the currently empty lot at the intersection, and the project is expected to cost $10 million to $12 million.
The development is being financed through a traditional bank construction loan, plus local investors for the equity portion.
Holoubek said he decided to focus on apartments to address an unmet demand for the downtown area. Among LRC’s stated goals are preventing sprawl and focusing on developing the downtown area.
“In Lexington there are only so many acres of land in the country that have the right amount of limestone in the ground to support a bourbon industry and the horse industry, so every acre we lose literally destroys our brand,” said Holoubek.
Next door to the Main + Vine development, at 360-362 E. Main St. (the former location of CoachCraft), will be a restaurant featuring chef-driven American cuisine called Carson’s Food & Drink. Carson’s will take up the front 5,000 square feet of the 10,000 square foot building, facing Main Street. It is being developed by Mark Fichtner.
Holoubek, who owns the building, is looking for a tenant for the back half of the building and has had discussions with people interested in sharing office space and including a fitness center, among other options.
The aesthetic of Carson’s will be a mixture of Ralph Lauren and an old barn, according to Fichtner. It’s what he calls “rustic elegance” — a concept that will showcase five chandeliers hanging in the rafters as well as brass and reclaimed wood.
“It’s a warehouse feel, and it fits my concept perfectly,” said Fichtner, who has been in the restaurant business for 39 years.
The restaurant will include a 20-seat bar with 30 taps, Prohibition Era-style cocktails (including some on tap), three roll-up garage doors on the front of the building, a double-sided fireplace inside, and 171 total seats, including 45 on the covered patio.
The menu will include items such as truffle fries with béarnaise and lump crab meat, a curried coconut mussel dish and Hawaiian marinated ribeye, to name a few.
The grand opening is slated for the end of September or the first week of October.
Other developments in the area include a five-story condo complex in the former location of A1A Sandbar, across the street from Carson’s.
The area spanning Midland Avenue, from the location of Main + Vine to Third Street, also is set for redevelopment over the next few years.
That area will see the addition of several three- to five-story mixed-use buildings, 150 housing units, at least three restaurants, a rooftop greenhouse and possibly a grocery store and community kitchen.
Holoubek, a West Coast native, said he enjoys the impact he’s been able to make in a more intimate setting such as Lexington, where he moved in 2000.
“The thing I love about Lexington is just in a town this size, you can make a difference,” he said. “In San Diego, one person sometimes felt like a drop of water in the ocean, but here you can totally change the town.”