Does Jeff Ruby Think That He Is Being Left Behind?

Last week there was a Twitter report by Jeff Ruby, the steakhouse guy from Cincinnati, right out of the blue (?) which announced that he would open his Lexington location, in CentrePointe, in 2015. That was picked up and reported by the local press, much to the amusement to the myriad of people who have scoffed and derided the numerous stories of the long delayed project.

Many were the people worked to save the decaying, but popular, The Dame nightclub and the lesser used pool hall next door. Preservationist, more than a few of them amateurs, climbed on board aiming to save one of the oldest commercial structures downtown. And once it became clear that the building would not be saved, the jumped at anything that looked like it could delay the plan going forward. Finally, it was the global economy that did what so many locals could not – bring things to a standstill.

Although the “Great Recession” could delay an announced 40 story building, it could not delay the grass roots refurbishment of major parts of West Short St, Jefferson St or stretches of N. Limestone.  The failure to build a $250 million project with private money did not dampen the desire to use more than twice as much in public funds just a few blocks away.

Throw into this mix, the reluctance to allow food trucks and to revert to two-way streets and there you have Lexington's perception of the future.

I, on the other hand, do believe that the Ruby Steak House tweet is for real.

Several years ago an engineer friend showed me a Plat of Consolidation for the CentrePointe block. There are currently approximately 20 separate parcels under various ownership names which will have to be combined in order to allow the project to proceed. True, it may have been when the project was a large, single unit structure but it would not have been allowed to be built across lot lines.

He and I were hopeful that the filing and recording process could be accomplished quickly. After several design changes occurred (some at the hands of noted architects) the design reached the point that there are now multiple buildings, each needing a separate lot - such a plat has not been filed....yet.

Last Wednesday, the CHDRB meeting re-approved the permit for CentrePointe and the Taste of Thai building across the street and unless they revise the TIF boundary and purpose (which they may) there are fewer obstacles in their way.

The Ruby tweet came on Friday – two days after the re-authorization vote. Published comments from Dudley Webb seem to indicate that those TIF changes are forthcoming.

Are my hope up - again, maybe but I have long been hopeful about downtown, in spite of the recent economic climate.

Was The CentrePointe TIF Area Not Well Thought Out?

As of Friday afternoon, the Lexington History Museum has been closed due to excessive paint dust which contains lead. Lead paint was used almost exclusively in the prime years of the old court house, both before and after the major remodeling which took place in the '60s.

I find it interesting that this announcement comes just after I posted about Lexington's lack of will to maintain (or complete) many of their projects of late. This is just another example.

For the last 4 years now, the old court house has been THE major building residing in the Urban County Council designated Phoenix Park/Courthouse Area TIF district, or what everyone else calls the CentrePointe TIF area. Almost all of the rest of the properties are street rights-of-way, parking lots or other government owned park property. That makes the CentrePointe project and the McCarthy's block of buildings the sole generators of any taxes which may be incremented.

The beneficiaries of these funds are quite specific:

• A tunnel connecting Phoenix Park to CentrePointe. (No longer a part of the Project)
• A pedway connecting the Financial Center Garage to CentrePointe. (also not a part)
• A Phoenix Park Garage. (has been removed from project)
• Restoration of the Fayette County Courthouse and Cheapside Park / Plaza.
• Makeover of old courthouse building including new roof, windows, atrium, and infrastructure. In addition, the courthouse plaza will be redeveloped to include the proposed closing of Cheapside Road. (Except for the restoration, all of this has been done)
• Permanent display space and building for the Lexington Farmer's Market. Though not built to the detailed specs, this is essentially complete.
• Streetscape improvements including street art. Main and Vine are done Lime, Upper and Short are lacking.

That is it. Straight from the TIF agreement of September of 2009. CentrePointe has been scaled back and much of the other work has been financed by some other method. And the old Court House waits, and waits.

The taxes from which these funds are to come are also spelled out in the document:

• Ad Valorem Property Taxes levied under KRS 132.020(1)(a)
• Individual Income Taxes levied under KRS 141.020
• Sales Taxes levied under KRS 139.200

At present, I guess that only the McCarthy's crew and the reduced property value of the pasture are paying into that amount and it is well below what was projected on that block.

Meanwhile, as documented here and elsewhere, the Short St blocks (plural) are very much alive with NEW businesses, NEW sales and NEW property values due to the renovation work being done. This is money that could have and should have been added to the TIF calculations. I don't think that many people saw the revitalization of Short St four years ago and certainly not without government support. I can see success building on success in this area and yet I also see the opportunity to leverage this growth into the repair and renovation of the Lexington History Museum slipping quietly away.

I have been a very big supporter of the CentrePointe project from its initial announcement and still believe that something will break soon. I see the 21c hotel as being one more major enhancement for downtown but the ability to use its increment for public projects will also be lost if something isn't done soon.

If I read the agreement correctly, the agreement is self renewing unless one of the parties gives written notice 60 days prior to the annual termination date of Sept 23. I have heard of no public declaration that anyone has asked for a termination, but it may have happened.   Perhaps we should terminate this one and prepare a new one in order to fulfill the promise which the revitalization of Short St has shown for downtown.

If you wish to read the agreement, you can find it here.  The map of the TIF district is on page 18.

Some Things That I Cannot Let Pass

The following letter is an entry on the Ace blog for Tue. May 12. I have tried to comment on these type of posts before and had them moderated into oblivion. I will respond to it here for all to see.

The post was written by a fellow named Andrew Wyllie. I have no idea who he is or what his qualifications are, but it is clear that he knows nearly nothing about this city’s legal or development workings. My son has a better grasp on the way the real world works than Andrew.

The red text is the original posting and my response is in blue

Everyday the CenterPointe lot sits vacant the city loses close to ten thousand dollars in tax revenue.

This could not be further from the truth. The city derives only a fraction of the revenue necessary from property taxes. Those revenues go to the State and the schools for the most part.

According to the LFUCG property valuations website, the CentrePointe lot is currently worth about $20 million.

This may be true, I have not checked lately but this is up considerably from the $4.5 million valuation of the block with the buildings intact. The Property Valuation duties are a requirement of the State and are influenced in no way by the LFUCG

Assuming a tax rate of 0.36% the Webbs will pay about $70,000 in taxes per year on the empty lot.

If the initial sentence of the paragraph is true then this is for a total of 70 days(at $10,000 a day)

According to the Webbs' consultants C.H. Johnson Consulting Inc., once built, the property will bring in about $4.24 million a year. That's a substantial amount of money compared to its current tax value and this is why the line of questioning from Vice Mayor Gray is so important.

Yes it is a substantial amount, which is why the Council initiated the TIF district but it has very little to do with why Mr. Gray has a burr under his saddle. Anything built there will bring in more money(except for a public park/open space).

The lot has sat empty for almost a year with no noticeable progress. So why is it that some city council members feel it's okay that Webbs have not got their financing in order yet, even though they claimed to have it in order over a year ago.

For those of who can read a calendar, the demolition started at the end of June and concluded around November, therefore the block has sat empty for roughly 6 months or half of a year. Also, the Webb’s have repeatedly said that the financing is in order and secured with internationally binding legal documents. Just because one member of the partnership has expired does not mean that the whole deal has fallen apart.

Why is it okay that they apparently have not hired structural engineers yet when everyone who lives in Lexington knows full well that building on a karst topography (limestone with caves) can be difficult and time consuming.

No one has said that they have not hired a structural engineer. Mr. Gray’s question was “have they sent the plans to a structural engineer yet?” to which the answer was an “I don’t know”. The question makes Mr. Gray sound like he is up on the situation but only leaves doubt in the minds of those who don’t know any better. Certainly the plans are in the hands of qualified engineers and are being checked against the core drillings taken during the demolitions.

Why is it okay that the Webbs have not applied for their building permits yet which will take another six months to process.

The building permits are estimated to run approximately $120,000 and are good for a limited time. Would you pay for a parking spot now, when you know that your car will not be delivered to the dealer for six months? Or would you wait until your car is in hand?

The City Council is the equivalent to the board of directors for a company and among other things it's their responsibility to make sure the city remains economically solvent. For a city council member to take sides with this developer is a disservice to the city at a price of about 3.5 million dollars a year.

Absolutely, the Council is the “board of directors” and in any good company, they would set the course and the policies of the company. They would not involve themselves in the day to day running of the company. That they would leave to the company president, or in this case, the Mayor. The Mayor does not run the Council. He presides over the official meeting, recommends actions and policies and only votes when there is a tie vote of council members.

Webb's complaint that his project is not being treated fairly compared to other stalled projects in the city is just not valid. Indeed the city council should be dragging all of these property owners in to figure out what their future plans are. Lexington Mall is just as much a blighted area as the pit in the center of the city.

Andrew is again incorrect about the legal process of holding developers accountable. That is the job of the Law Department and the courts. The Council should have no legal right to demand that any one person or group appear before them. No “board of directors” would ever call a supplier or customer to give account of themselves to the board.

The problem with Webb's argument is that his project is in an absolute critical block of the city. It's the most expensive real estate in downtown and cannot remain in its blighted condition.

Now Andrew has trouble with the concept of blight. The blighted conditions have been eliminated with the demolitions and now we have a clean slate with which to work and the intention is to fill it with a work of art. You may not care for the art but it is art just the same.

Council member Lane's comment that "even though it's just a raw site I think our downtown looks better" should be enough to remove him from the council.

The Charter of Lexington’s Merged Government has clear reason for removal from office and I doubt that comments like this will qualify. Also, Mr. Lane was elected by a largely rural and suburban constituency and I don’t think that we have heard from them as yet.

It's a big hole and it's an embarrassment to the city that's currently sting the city a lot of money. Whether the development on the parking garage is completed is not a major issue. The parking garage is not blight, it's not an embarrassment to the city and it's not as big a project as the grand, multi use, hotel/condo project promised by the Webbs.

This rambling is quite confusing as the parking garage is a part of the total package and would not be built without the rest. Andrew is dead wrong about the vacant block costing the city money as no tax payers funds have been spent on this project except for the normal and customary reviews of the plans

Yes, it is a privately owned project and being privately financed. This DOES NOT mean that the owners can do whatever they please. There are city zoning restrictions as well as public health, safety and welfare issues associated with owning any property.

There you have it, Andrew has admitted that the private financing is in place when he says that it is “being privately financed”. He is, however, wrong if he believes that any zoning, public safety, health or welfare violations have occurred. So far everything has been done according to the regulations on the books.

The community has “police power” which gives the community the right to regulate the activities of private land owners.

Having broken no regulations the community’s “police power” has no reason to be brought to bear.

In fact, the city can take this currently blighted property and transfer it to another developer (a developer with all of the financing in place) The eminent domain laws in Kentucky do not allow for this kind of behavior which may be enough of a threat to encourage the Webbs to s(p)end the estimated $300K (their estimate – I should also mention that you could also buy a very thin sheet of gold that would cover the entire property for about $300K) to fix the sidewalks and put in some grass until they are ready to move forward on their project.

If the Webbs don't move forward, I'm sure there are some other developers that would be more than happy to get a chance to pull the rug out from under the Webbs with a project that is a bit more in line with what the people in Lexington would like to see in the downtown area.

Andrew must have flunked Economics 101. There are no other developers who can “pull the rug “ from under the Webb’s, build a smaller project and get their ROI(return on investment). Any subsequent project to this proposal would have to be of a grander scale for it to be worth anybody’s time.

Finally, I put the blame for the failure of this project squarely on the Mayor and the Council. Allowing Lexington's most expensive real estate to remain blighted for a over a year and then apologizing to the owner/developer when some members of the council start demanding a progress report should be grounds for dismissal. Council members Beard, Myers and Lane should remember that it's the people that elected them to the council who are bearing the cost of this delay both in pride for their city and tax dollars. Mayor Newberry should also take notice that no company, creative class or other, will want to relocate to a city with this kind of incompetence at the city government level.

Andrew, at this point I think that you should give it up. Mr. Gray is a construction professional and not a lawyer, therefore he made himself look foolish to all except those who also know nothing of the laws and rules of development in America. Mr. Webb is a lawyer and a developer, well versed in the needs of construction in the downtown Lexington area. I doubt that anyone else has built more on the karst limestone of this downtown.

While you did not mention it, there have been statements regarding the need for a hotel. I will say that the time to plan for a new facility, be it a hotel, transit system, farmers market, hospital, etc…is before you NEED them not after. The planning for this block anticipates needs of Lexington in 15 or more years not 1 or 2.

I also find it appalling that the Ace magazine would allow this to be printed without anyone understanding the real fact of the matter.

Reasons That I Like CentrePointe

Kate has brought up a good point, that is "Why should we want CentrePointe to continue?"

An extremely large percentage of the comments and blogs in opposition to CentrePointe make the claims that the Webb's have failed to build a successful project in Lexington. They go on to claim that the buildings sit half or mostly empty and cost the city money. This is simply not true.

The first projects the they built in downtown are office buildings and those are mostly leased out with possibly, some vacant space. This is standard with just about every other office building in the state. As the projects got bigger, like the Vine Center and Financial tower(5/3), the amount of vacant space grew larger but the percentage of the total remained about the same. Their residential project, The Woodlands, was built as condominiums and has not only sold out, but continues to retain their values.

The two most visible projects which have struggled, and which are pointed to as failures, are the Victorian Square and the Festival Market. Victorian Square is a project that used Federal funds to renovate a block of truly historic structures, they actually are on the National Register, into a revived commercial space. Here is where the Webb's learned first hand, the fragility and expense of working with historic buildings as, on two occasions, portions of the exterior walls collapsed and had to be rebuilt to much higher standards than before.

I feel that most of Mr. Webb's detractors are under the impression that he hand selected the tenants for these projects. That is just not how it is done. No developer pre-determines the tenants, just the tenant mix. Very similar to residential subdivisions, the developer creates the spaces and the buyers set the size and style and look of the houses, within certain guidelines.

Both Victorian Square and Festival Market attempted to follow a, then current trend, called festival marketplaces.

A festival marketplace is a concept of James W. Rouse and the Rouse Company in the United States to revitalize downtown areas in major cities in the late 20th century. Festival marketplaces were a leading downtown revitalization strategy in American cities during the 1970s and 1980s. Wikipedia

There is a long list of these marketplaces elsewhere, that failed for much the same reasons as ours. My opinion is that they were built as destinations of shopping and not as an auxiliary space for a current destination, as the successful ones were. It is clear that they were built to capitalize on the downtown executives and the event traffic of the Lexington Center/Rupp Arena and the merchants that were successful ended up having restaurants or bars. That is except for Festival Market, in this case the food court was placed on the third floor, which forced the patrons to pass the boutique shops both coming and going. This became a tiresome chore just to get lunch and the people quit doing it. Victorian Square's second floor "mall concept" has also been a source of leasing trouble. And lastly, the lack of permanent downtown residents has plagued both projects.

The Webb's did try to help remedy the resident situation when they built 40 condominiums atop the Raddison Hotel(soon to be a Hilton). These were quickly snatched up by horse farm owners and corporations as guest accommodations and entertainment spaces centering around Rupp Arena events. Quite an expense to go to in my opinion, for the corporations.

Today, Festival Market is fully leased although they are mostly offices and the food is on the first floor. One of Kentucky's largest public relation firms and a major software company employ several hundred high salary workers and bring in millions to the local economy. Victorian Square still has vacant spaces, but is slowly evolving into an entertainment center. Each of these projects have increased the tax base and are not a drain on the economy. In total, the Webb projects have added nearly a billion dollars to the assessed value of downtown, so I cannot agree that either should be demolished.

Now for Kate's request for a reason to want the CentrePointe project. If you can set aside your opinions on the Webb's and focus on the idea of something on this block, I will try to give you some reasons.

First, the now demolished buildings, though old, had not been determined to be "historic". During an application for National Register nomination several blocks of downtown property were reviewed and only the north side of the street was deemed appropriate for inclusion. This side of the street was left out on purpose. Several of the buildings were considered for renovation and found to be to costly to continue. They were demolished.

Secondly, of the businesses on the block in the year prior to the announcement, all occupied just the first floor of what we know were three and four story structures. These businesses could not have employed more than a hundred people, if that, and operated mostly in the evening and nighttime hours, leaving the mid-day hours a ghost land. Only Rosenberg's and the architectural graphics firm would have paid in excess of the minimum wage. The majority of this block, for its center of the city location, was basically, vastly underutilized.

Thirdly, this block was not going to be developed by the Rosenberg's, much less maintained in any reasonable fashion. If not the Webb's, it would be someone, possibly a national firm, that would come in and attempt to develop the block. I, for one, am glad that we are not proceeding along the path similar to Louisville and their association with the Cordish Group. Louisville took property by eminent domain and gave it to the developer, who has continually delayed their progress. In our case the developer has initiated the project and asked the city to bless and assist.

Fourth, my posts here and elsewhere have stated over and over, that the TIF will be a benefit to the city and not a "tax incentive" benefit for the developer. Quite the contrary, the developer will be the one paying the taxes, a portion of which will be diverted to the City for infrastructure improvements. This is a huge win situation for the downtown area.

Lastly, the situation that I don't want is for the block to become a public park/open space. Such an open space would require that the city purchase the block, either by contract or eminent domain, using funds that we don't have. In doing so we would remove the property from the tax roll and lose any revenue , thereby subtracting funds from the money that we don't have. Then the City would have to build the park/open space, once again using money that we don't have, and continue to maintain it on an annual basis, using(dare I say it again) money that we don't have. This option would put a tremendous burden on the City and deprive the downtown of the needed infrastructure repair and renovation. Currently the City owns the Cheapside/Courthouse and Phoenix Park properties, the State owns the new Courthouse Plaza and the Lexington Center owns the Triangle Park(if the PVA website can be believed, that is valued at $60 million, though they pay no taxes).

So Kate , there you have it. My reasons for wanting this to improve downtown. Like the Webb's or not, like the project or not, this in my opinion is the best for Lexington. As for my posting style, I may have the freedom of speech rights that you have but some of those in authority above me have shown a propensity for petty reprisals in the past. I will continue in this way until I think otherwise.

Recent CentrePointe Situation

I have been following my site statistics closely for the past few days and have noticed that many of the regular folks have been looking in just to see if I will post about CentrePointe. It is a deliberate choice not to, due to the free flowing mass of mis-information.

Many of the people who post comments to the Herald Leader articles have no clue as to the facts or even a basic knowledge of Economics 101. From the spelling and sentence structure, most do not appear to have more than a 7th grade education. They do not get their facts or statistics from the newspaper, for the articles are devoid of them. Wild claims of half empty buildings and totally failed projects attributed to a certain set of developers abound while the other buildings of similar style and age are ignored. Statements of the demise of a local insurance institution are blamed on these developers and not on the unsustainable business practices followed then and even now by so many of the major companies.

The paper itself is want to allow a former journalist to foment the same mis-information. It would seem that he forgot how to gather real facts, or even check some of those facts, when he became an editor and writing to fill space became an issue. Simple things like looking back through the H-L archives alludes him.

The hard core batch of bloggers, who cannot wait to jump on the latest rumor or hint of someone questioning the motives of the Council, the developers or the general set of decision makers of Lexington, have spread so manure about the site that it could grow grass without help. These are the same ones who decry the waste of taxpayers dollers on the one hand and wish for eminent domain to claim the property on the other. As yet, no taxpayer funds have been spent on this project, nor will they be. These blogggers continue to misrepresent the TIF as a tax incentive, as has been used bythe State for so many years to intice industries to come to a location, and not as a redirection of the tax revenue generated by a developer who has the location and a project already.

The bloggers and other "narcissistic bird-brains" who call themselves Twitterers, with their "tweets" and "hashings" and whatever else they have, continue to call for the instant response of their social network to any occurance and claim this to be the "transparency" needed in today's world. There are specific times allowed for public input and that is not always at the beginning of the process. Also, all input is to be acknowledged, but that does not mean that it HAS to be included as part of the solution. I have seen many of their complaints, of decisions that did not go their way, as basis their being ignored completely. They don't get that sometimes, wiser, more experienced minds and even larger social groups can prevail. That is the democratic way.

Then there are the politicos. Some of them are neophyte council members and have not been around the block even once yet. These are the ones who call for the ordinances to be followed and all the proper procedures complied with, yet know not what these ordinances or procedures are. One such member said "Unless we fix the systematic problems, we'll continue to fight one zone change at a time, one building at a time, one block at a time — not just downtown but in the neighborhoods.", yet there was no zone change necessary, nor will the public sit idly by and submit to massive re-zonings downtown or in the neighborhoods.

Finally, there is he who would be King. the Vice Mayor who wishes to show that he will not be left to the obscurity of mere Council Member. This is a dynamic giant of the development world, a leader of a multi-national company. Spouting technical jargon as though it made sense, he asks about something that a development principle partner would leave to another to answer, he skips to a secondary step in the process, yet leaves out that the plans have been in Building Inspection for about a month, and asks if the plans have been sent to the Planning Office, who would never see these plans as they are not required to. For someone in a planning related profession, he seems to lack the understanding of the local process and for someone in a leadership position, seems to lack the knowledge of the finer points of law. A lawyer may become a developerbut an engineering professional should not practice law. If he is so accomplished in downtown planning, then he should encourage the densification of this block and oppose the suburbanization of the Main and Vine intersection, to whit the CVS proposal, which is sailing by unnoticed.

As it is, maybe a few thousand of thse described people are active in this discussion while the rest of the 280 thousand residents of the city wonder what the fuss is about.

Why is TIF Hard to Understand

Why is the concept of TIF so hard to understand?

Take this comment from Lexdan.

Yes I realize that the Web(b)'s would pay up front for the various infrastructure improvements and that they would recoup that money by paying much lower property taxes for many years to come.

The problem I have with TIF is that this is the kind of thing that politicians can pitch as not costing the taxpayer anything since we aren't paying out any money. Yet for the next thirty years we will be raising that much less in taxes which means we will either need to raise taxes or cut other programs. By financing the improvement through the TIF they avoid the normal budget process where the merits of the improvements are weighed against all the other functions of government. This is not the best way to allocate resources.

Downtown is fine. The property values will rise downtown with or without CentrePointe. TIF is not appropriate here

TIF is not a deferring of taxes to the developer. On the contrary, bonds are to be sold on the promise of being repaid by the diverted tax revenue that would normally go to the State. The taxes will still be generated and the project itself will cause adjacent properties to rise in value, thereby causing the revenue stream outside the TIF district to rise. The monies raised from the bonds are them used for public infrastructure enhancements such as sewers, streets and even public art, but only within the district.

In the case of CentrePointe, the City made the district boundary very tight and included mostly public property, while the Distillery District defined a much broader area. This is a key distinction in that, as the Distillery District improves and the adjacent property is redeveloped( by DD or others) the TIF funds will increase to repay the bonds sooner.

Under a deferred taxation plan the properties in a district that did not improve, yet their valuation rose, could defer their taxes till later which is very unfair. These properties would have contributed nothing, gained from new infrastructure and paid lesser taxes.

And downtown is not fine. There have been many studies done which all point to the need for some sort of revitalization. The Mayor, in his budget address, displayed a map with proposed work to be done in the downtown area totaling somewhere near a billion dollars of development. This will be funded mostly by private monies. Only with the completion of these, including CentrePointe and Distillery District, will the values of downtown rise. People will need to gauge the health of downtown from more than the first floor street face and use the upper floors of the older buildings. Something not done on the CentrePointe block before and on few other blocks now.

There should be transparency in all downtown dealings when public funds are involved but where it is strictly private projects and private money, then any and all secrecy is allowed. When we start requiring transparency of all private funds coming into Lexington and a referendum of approval for projects, those projects will STOP.

Mayor's Stimulus Package

Today, I want to take a break from the Destination 2040 visioning comments and think about the Mayor’s $556 million stimulus package wish list.

This list contains some interesting and somewhat confusing items, but I think that all of them are needed at some level.

All of the Airport projects are well documented but yet may be less needed if the airline industry declines further or the tourism industry continues to falter.

• Carrier Ramp Rehabilitation 2,618,000
• Terminal Drive and Airfield Lighting Electrical Vault 5,930,000
• TW D Relocation and Corp. Ramp Addition ? Phase II 7,033,000
• Construct RW 9-27 Phases II and III 18,000,000

There are a number of projects that puzzle me concerning the Government Center Buildings. Primarily the main Government Center, the Switow building , the Phoenix building and the Old Court House(now the History Museum). The Mayor and the Council have made a big deal about the need for a new City Hall Complex and have had a consultant study the same. The recommendation has been given that, yes, we do need a new building but a location has not been identified. The Mayor an Council have proposed replacing the Stewart’s garage and Police headquarters with a new City Hall and removing the Phoenix building and parking garage. With that as background, we find on the wish list these items:

• Switow Building; Painting/Flooring and HVAC Improvements 170,000
• Phoenix Building; Windows/Flooring/Painting and HVAC Improvements 2,020,000
• Government Center; Total Building Renovations 8,000,000
• Coroner's Office; Total Building Renovations including HVAC 1,500,000
• Government Center Parking Garage Restoration. Safety, ADA, and structural improvements to important downtown public parking garage. 2,181,000
• Annex Parking Garage; Concrete Repairs 100,000
• Courthouse Parking Garage; Upgrade Revenue Producing Equipment 100,000

Each of these would be vacated and/or demolished in the near future if a new city hall is built, so is the administration covering its bases or wasting money?

A great deal of discussion has been held in many forums, about the CentrePointe TIF. Several public projects have been identified for the use of the TIF funds in the area surrounding the new hotel/condo tower, not the least of which is the old Court House renovation. So, where did this come from?

• Fayette County Courthouse; Major Renovation/HVAC 23,000,000

If the old Court House is done with stimulus money for what do we use the TIF money? Does this put the TIF status in jeopardy? Can we be double dipping?

The Distillery District is also in the pipeline for TIF status and it too has a stimulus entry.

• Distillery District public improvements to include new sidewalks, Town Branch Trail, placement of utility lines underground, storm drainage improvements, and new sanitary lines 15,000,000

And how about the following, can they not be combined into one project?

• Upgrade of Roofing (insulation)and HVAC systems of Bell Place 200,000
• Renovate historic Carriage House Theater at Bell House, a 150 year old historic landmark in Lexington 250,00
• Bell House replacement windows on signature public space in Lexington. Project will reduce fuel costs, water incursion and deterioration to 150 year old National Historic Register property 150,000

The only skatepark in Lexington is in Woodland Park which is also the site of Realtor’s Plaza. There is also a set of tennis courts sandwiched in between.

• Renovate outdated shelter/restroom building that houses Therapeutic Recreation and swim camp programs and skateboard/concession functions with energy and security efficient structure 150,000
• Redevelopment of Realtor's Plaza 130,000

Once again these could be combined in to one project.

There are several signalized intersections listed to be rebuilt.

• Rebuild Signalized Intersection, Cooper Drive at University Drive 200,000
• Rebuild Signalized Intersection, Rosemont Garden at Southland Dr 200,000
• Rebuild Signalized Intersection, Third Street at Race Street 200,000
• Re-build Traffic signals in downtown 1,600,000

The last entry does not identify which signals or how many, but from the cost given, I would guess the number to be eight. That would not jive with the number of jobs created though. The first three add five jobs each, but the last one adds 15. Go figure.

This next ones really throws me. Somewhere there is a disconnect in these two entries.

• develop centralized city-wide 4 field Football Complex with artificial turf to avoid 'home-away' conflicts and provide safer surface 3,000,000
• Lafayette High School Football Stadium 6,500,000

Each of the 4 other public high schools has rebuilt their football stadiums in the past few years and each with artificial turf, I believe. Two of the private high schools have their own sports complexes. So, where can we find a “central location”, presumably, currently owned and construct 4 fields, for half the price of one, at its present location. Does anybody have any idea where this is proposed?

The Board of Education has a few items on the list, and well they should, and only a handful give rise to questioning.

• Arlington Elementary School 13,206,275
• Bryan Station Middle School 16,983,245
• Cassidy Elementary School 13,827,791
• Leestown Middle School 18,227,636
• Russell Cave Elementary School 6,905,067

I know that the plans for Cassidy are ready to go and Bryan Station Middle are close, but I thought that Arlington was already underway. The students who attend there are in the old Johnson School site this year so that work could progress. If this item were to be approved, would they just reimburse the Board for some other project? Are a majority of the others currently bonded/ funded?

I know that to some this may sound nit-picky, but if Cheapside as a street, has been closed permanently, then would this item be a streetscape or a part of the old Court House renovation?

• Streetscape Improvements - Cheapside Park 2,000,000

Transit has been a large part of the Obama campaign during the election, so it has a number of requests. Also, the City has awarded the development rights above the Transit Center to a national design/build firm who, I understand, wishes to acquire the current garage, demo it and build from the bottom up. To that end, how do we explain this:

• Transit Center Parking Garage Restoration. Safety, ADA, and structural improvements to important downtown public parking garage. 1,026,000
• Transit Center Parking Garage; Upgrade Revenue Producing Equipment 300,000
• Transit Center Parking Garage; New Lighting/HVAC Improvements 136,000
• Construction of new transit center in downtown Lexington. 20,000,000

Once again, I don’t want anyone to think that I am against any of these projects. I want to see a stimulus to the local economy, but not in the worst way. I am sure that these projects were listed so as to be able to be done on a “stand alone” basis , if necessary and they were pulled together in a short time span. I just think that we can do better if we give the public some wiser planning.

Richmond Rd and New Circle Rd TIF?

I have posted about the Lexington Mall property in the past (read it here) and I continue to hear of the local leaders attempts to do something about it. Then, the last Board of Adjustment meeting heard a case concerning the former Continental Inn property and the inappropriate use of storing truck trailers. Both of these properties were once sites of very popular enterprises and the destinations of many local shopping or entertainment trips. Both of these properties fell on hard times either from the failure to keep up with the times, by modernizing the facilities, or the uses of the facilities. These properties were in such decline, and in such prominent locations that they gained the attention of the LFUCG's Underutilized Property survey team.

The map of the surveyed properties (a portion of which is shown above) may be found here and a description of the ranking system here. I have a few questions about the accuracy of this map, mostly about property in the outer growth areas, but also some in the ring of properties adjacent to New Circle Rd. This "ring" contains a bulk of the developments built in the wave of expansion after World War II that ranged from 1948 -1970. The time 22 year span ('48 -'70) corresponds to the time it took to complete New Circle Rd.

A goodly number of developments built in conjunction with or because of New Circle have had to modify how and with whom they do business. The two drive-in theaters, that built "out in the country" but with good access, have been redeveloped into other retail/wholesale businesses and the shopping centers (Eastland, South Park, North Park...) , that used to be the first thing you came to upon entering Lexington, have had to reorient themselves to a more local trade or die.

There are a number of other properties currently in the stages of redevelopment along the New Circle Rd corridor. These being

• The Lexus of Lexington parcel
• The rebuild of Parkette
• Several parcels around the Eastland center
• The continuing progress of the block from Bryan Station to North Limestone (Goo Goo Car Wash, the Bryan Station Inn, the revamped gas stations and the up coming move of the CVS to the corner at N Lime)
• The redo of the old Best Western into a brand new Candlewood Inn

Others properties outside this corridor but of the same time frame include the Turfland Mall, Gardenside Center, Cardinal Valley Center and the Springs Inn. Any of these could find themselves of the underutilized map very quickly.

Turfland Mall and Lexington Mall have a great many similarities. Both were built in the late'60s, both were anchored by McAlpin's and another large retailer, both had the other retailer replaced by Home Depot, both have had major drainage problems and both have had the higher end residential, that they relied on, continue to move further out the road.

All the foregoing have been commercial properties, but there are also some residential property that has fallen to underutilized status in the Richmond Rd/New Circle area. One of these is the, now closed, English Manor Apartments(built as Todds Trace Apartments). Three parcels of land comprising approximately 20 acres, 400+ units, purchased for $11.1 million in 2005 and not one of those units occupied for almost a year. Housing for roughly 1,000 people at a point which cold become a primary TOD spot.

So, we see some shortcomings of the underutilized property information and the missed redevelopment opportunities at just one major intersection. Approximately 40 acres of unused land worth well over the assessed $20 million. Why would this area not qualify for a TIF area?

Distillery District moves forward

Barry McNeese has filed the first preliminary development plan for the Pepper Distillery property with city planning. It shows no new buildings and no buildings to be removed, but it does show a bus shelter and a revamped parking layout.

One remarkable detail about the development is that almost all of it is within the latest FEMA 100-year floodplain.

The property is everything south of Manchester St, from the Corman Railroad crossing to the Vulcan quarry entrance and a triangle of land on the north side, hemmed in by both the Corman and Norfolk Southern Railroads. Nothing new is currently shown as being built on the north side.

With the City actively looking for a location to move the recycling center on Thompson Rd., that parcel could easily be included in the Distillery District plans. I have been wondering why the parcel was left out of the TIF description as mapped below


Distillery District TIF form LFUCG Website


By rough calculation, this property could replace the area owned by the two railroads and the public rights-of-way, which cannot add to the value of the TIF because they generate no tax revenue, were it to be sold. There may be other information in play but it looks like an oversight on somebody's part.