The boards of the Downtown Lexington Corporation (DLC) and the Lexington Downtown Development Authority (LDDA) have agreed to merge the two organizations into a new downtown Lexington partnership.
“It’s been in the works for a while,” said Alan Stein, who has been tapped to serve as the new group’s interim executive director. “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 vetting and hiring a permanent executive director to oversee the new partnership.
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 Downtown Lexington Corporation, which was created 28 years ago, organized 55 downtown events in 2016, including its popular Thursday Night Live series. The Lexington Downtown Development Authority, which was started 15 years ago, is focused on downtown economic development and has guided many related public projects. Stein said that while there are some perceptions within the community that the two organizations manage overlapping responsibilities, that is largely not the case, and both groups are expected to continue to oversee their current areas of expertise.
Stein said that the overall mission of both organizations — to enhance the livability and playability and workability of the downtown area —won’t change as part of the new entity. The boards of both the LDDA and the DLC will also remain intact in their advisory capacities under the new partnership, Stein said, overseeing their respective aspects of the new organization.
An executive committee of the Downtown Lexington Partnership has already been appointed by the boards of the LDDA and the DLC and is working on the consolidation plans. Steve Grossman, senior vice president of Hilliard-Lyons, has been named as chairman of that committee.
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 this 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.
Stein said he expects the entire consolidation to be completed within six months. His aim is to have a new executive director in place ideally by August 1. The plan also calls for the two offices to be consolidated into a combined space sometime after July 4, so as not to interfere with the planning and management of the downtown Fourth of July holiday celebrations.