LEXINGTON, KY - Commuters making their way into downtown Lexington via East Main are noticing the appearance of chain link fencing and demolition equipment at the corner of Main and Vine. The buildings that formerly housed Integra Bank, Heritage Antiques and The Button Hole, are coming down to make way for new retail.
"We're prepping the site for demolition as we get close to signing a ground lease with a national drugstore retailer," said Phil Holoubek, a minority partner in Main & Vine LLC,, a group that owns the land. He expected that the lease would be signed within a week.
Developer Gary Joy said demolition will begin as soon as the lease is signed, but construction will not get underway immediately after the site is cleared. "We have a few more approvals to obtain from the city for the new store. I would hope that construction would start on the project within the next 90 to 120 days." Joy said such a structure is typically completed in about 5 months.
With the lease not yet signed. Holoubek declined to name the retailer. But previous published reports have said that a CVS drugstore will locate on the site.
The timing means work likely will be underway throughout the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in September and October. "Construction on that site is going to be better than what we have there now," Holoubek said. "The use that goes there is a big positive addition for downtown. We will have new retail for downtown. With what has started across the street at Main & Rose, this will be the third national retailer we've brought downtown, which hasn't happened in a long time." Holoubek was principal developer of the Main & Rose mixed-use complex which houses on its ground floors a Jimmy John's sandwich franchise and a Dunkin Donuts outlet as well as a Wells Fargo office and a Kinkos. Residential units are located on the floors above.
Holoubek had envisioned a similar structure at the Main & Vine corner site, but was unable to persuade the city to cooperate by building a parking garage in its core. "Without a parking garage it can only be one story because there is no place to park cars on that end of downtown. As far as one story uses go, this is a positive use for downtown."