Thursday Night Live - DLC
In the second half of 2017, people looking for information on downtown Lexington events and initiatives will have one centralized place to call.
The boards of the Downtown Lexington Corp. (DLC) and the Lexington Downtown Development Authority (LDDA) have agreed to merge the two organizations into a new Downtown Lexington Partnership.
An executive committee for the new partnership organization has been appointed by the boards of the LDDA and the DLC, with Hilliard-Lyons senior vice president Steve Grossman named as chair, and work to bring the two organizations together under one umbrella is currently underway.
“For a long time, it’s been confusing for people,” Grossman said. “We just felt it would be better to bring them together and make it more of a one-stop shop.”
Grossman said that both organizations have worked together well in the past, although they have operated with different purposes and separate funding streams. A primary benefit of the merger, Grossman said, will be the creation of one streamlined portal to field all inquiries associated with Lexington’s downtown area.
The centralization will also better serve the Lexington Downtown Management District (LDMD), Grossman said, a separate property tax improvement district for the betterment of downtown, which has its own dedicated revenue stream and a standing agreement with the DLC to oversee its operations.
Alan Stein of the SteinGroup has been tapped by the committee to serve as the new group’s interim executive director. Stein said the idea to bring the two groups closer together to better serve the community is not a new one.
“It’s been in the works for a while,” Stein said. “It’s not so much a merger as it is a strategic move to improve what we do in the downtown district.”
In addition to managing the legal aspects of the union, Stein will be charged with securing new offices for the combined organizations and creating a new job description for the group’s permanent executive director position, as well as vetting and hiring a suitable candidate to oversee the new partnership in that position. Stein said he has already been fielding multiple inquiries about possible office space for the soon-to-be joint entity.
The call to combine the two groups has come from downtown sponsors, businesses and other community members, Stein said, along with strong interest from the mayor’s office and multiple members of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council.
The DLC organized 55 downtown events in 2016, including its popular Thursday Night Live series. The LDDA is focused on downtown economic development, in concert with many aspects of urban planning and design.
Stein said that despite the perception held by some that the two organizations manage overlapping responsibilities, that is largely not the case.
Stein said the overall mission of both organizations — to enhance the livability, playability and workability of the downtown area —won’t change. The boards of both the LDDA and the DLC also will remain intact in their advisory capacities under the new partnership, Stein said, overseeing their respective aspects of the new organization.
Stein added that the move is not intended as a cost-cutting measure.
“It is a strategic move to get better at what we do. … Down the road, we may find some synergies, as companies often do, and consolidate them, but that’s not the plan right now,” Stein said.
Beyond the hiring of a new executive director to oversee the new combined entity, Stein said he does not foresee any personnel changes in connection with the merger.
Stein said both the DLC and the LDDA are working through the budgeting process separately with the council to determine their appropriations for the upcoming fiscal year. After the merger, the new entity will operate from one consolidated budget and present one unified budget proposal to the council moving forward.
Grossman said the response within the business community to the announced merger has been positive, and he expects the entire consolidation process to be completed within the next six to nine months.
Stein said that his aim is to have a new executive director in place ideally by Aug. 1. The two offices will also be consolidated into a combined space sometime after July 4, Stein said, so as not to interfere with the planning and management of the downtown Fourth of July holiday celebrations.