project: EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY CAMPUS MASTER PLAN
date: 2008
location: RICHMOND, KY
client: EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY
contact: JAMES STREET, ASSOCIATE VP FOR CAPITAL PLANNING AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

Urban Collage, Inc. in collaboration with Perkins + Will Architects and M2d Design was charged with creating a master plan for the Eastern Kentucky University. Urban Collage’s role was to identify relationships between the universities edges and surrounding urban context of the city of Richmond and establish ways to develop cohesion between the two entities. UC also played a large role in the placement of new educational facilities including the extension of the “Colonel Path,” a multi-use trail intended to improve overall campus walkability and connections to surrounding spaces.

Throughout the master planning process UC was involved in:

• Identifying short and long term development opportunities for the university.
• Analyzing the existing urban context and providing potential issues and opportunities to enhance the campus as well as its relationship with Richmond, KY.
• Studying potential university facility arrangements that improve the campus residential and academic environments as well as its overall walkability.
• Providing conceptual site design to offer an initial feel of the possibilities these improvements may have on the campus as it stands today.

project: LEXINGTON DISTILLERY DISTRICT
date: 2008
location: LEXINGTON, KY
client: LEXINGTON DISTILLERY DISTRICT, LLC
contact: BARRRY McNEES

The Lexington Distillery District is located on Manchester Street less than 2,000 feet to the west of Rupp Arena and the central business district of downtown Lexington. Manchester Street as it stands today is heavily industrial, characterized by a tow yard, rail yard, decrepit infrastructure, and old warehouses remaining from a time when Bourbon Distilleries were plentiful in this area.  The Old Tarr Distillery and James E. Pepper Distillery still stand and are the center pieces for the adaptive re-use plan. The plan calls for revitalization of many of the interesting and historic buildings as well as residential, commercial and mixed-use infill development.

The Distillery District plan calls for programming that would include but not be not limited to: a boutique hotel, bourbon museum, small batch bourbon distillery, office space, commercial and retail space, condominiums, live work units, multi-family units, open public space, and the Town Branch Trail.

Implementation Hightlights:

• The Distillery District received the state approval for a TIF amount of $45 million in October 2009. The Distillery District is one of the first in Lexington to seek Tax Increment Financing and had received unanimous support by the Urban County Council who had approved the plans to help revitalize Manchester Street on December 2008. The Distillery District also received $2.2 million in bond funds from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) for the Town Branch Trail and Manchester Street improvements.

project: BLUEGRASS COMMUNITY TECHNICAL COLLEGE NEWTOWN PIKE CAMPUS PLAN
date: 2008 – 2009
location: LEXINGTON, KY
client: BLUEGRASS COMMUNITY & TECHNICAL COLLEGE
contact: AUGUSTA JULIAN

Urban Collage was retained as part of a team led by EOP Architects and Perkins + Will to develop a plan for a new 65-acre campus of Bluegrass Community and Technical College. The plan creates a blueprint for the growth and development of BCTC and environs and builds on continued momentum in Lexington’s north side.

The campus is proposed on the former site of the Eastern State Hospital (ESH), the nation’s second oldest running mental institution. ESH’s corner stone was laid in 1816. Many of the existing buildings are original and considered historic structures. The historic nature of the site as well as its context within Downtown Lexington and the surrounding historic neighborhoods had to be taken into account when planning and designing the campus. The site is also surrounded to the south and east by industrial uses that were taken into consideration as long term development opportunities in this growing and evolving community.

The BCTC campus was seen as an opportunity to complete the “higher education triangle”, giving a main entry way to Lexington a new vibrant feel while also creating a usable, comfortable, and exciting higher education campus.

project: EAST END SMALL AREA PLAN
date: 2008
location: LEXINGTON, KY
client: LEXINGTON FAYETTE URBAN COUNTY GOVERNMENT
contact: JIM DUNCAN, DIVISION OF PLANNING

Urban Collage, Inc. in association with EHI consultants created a revitalization plan for the historic East End Neighborhood. A diverse neighborhood originally home to professionals, entertainers, and even some of the first African-American jockeys. Plans center on balancing affordability while creating new investment, including plans for a rejuvenated Third Street Corridor.

The East End Small Area plan makes recommendations for revitalization of the neighborhood such as;

• Residential infill and rehabilitation throughout the neighborhood
• Revitalization of the once thriving commercial core at the intersection of Third and Race Streets as well as along Midland Avenue
• Increased ecological awareness and standards throughout the industrial core
• Infrastructure upgrades; sidewalks, roadways, and green space
• Increased connectivity throughout the East End Neighborhood as well as improving connections to surrounding areas and Downtown Lexington

project: LEXINGTON – FAYETTE INFILL REDEVELOPMENT STEERING COMMITTEE
date: 2007 – 2008
location: LEXINGTON, KY
client: LEXINGTON – FAYETTE URBAN COUNTY GOVERNMENT
contact: CHRIS KING, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF PLANNING

Urban Collage, Inc. was retained by Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government to help lead a blue ribbon panel of stakeholders in developing proactive policies and plans for promoting infill and redevelopment with the existing Urban Services Boundary, the first growth boundary in the country.

In 2007, the Planning Commission’s decision to not expand the Urban Services Boundary created renewed and expanded interest in creating policies, standards and an implementation plan for how to encourage, incentivize and direct new infill and redevelopment. Urban Collage served as a “technical facilitator” for the Steering Committee and its three Task Forces in developing recommendations for where to direct growth, how to ensure quality development and sense of place, what incentives were necessary to level the economic playing field, how to ensure affordability and what improvements could be made to the development review process.

project: LEXINGTON SOUTHEND PARK DESIGN GUIDELINES
date: 2006
location: LEXINGTON, KY
client: EHI CONSULTANTS
contact: EDWARD J. HOLMES, AICP

Urban Collage, Inc. was retained by EHI Consultants, on behalf of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG), to develop the Master Plan and Housing Pattern Book for the Southend Park Neighborhood that lies adjacent to the proposed Newtown Pike Extension (NPE), visioned as a grand urban boulevard.

Created with affected residents & area stakeholders, the NPE plan recognizes the inseparability of land use and transportation by outlining strategies for economic development and neighborhood redevelopment that would be leveraged by the construction of the new road through some of the more distressed urban areas. The presence of a high-volume road sets the table for mixed-use retail development that would not only bring commercial amenities to under served neighborhoods, but would act as architectural transitions to lower-scale residential districts. The main open space, Southend Park, would improved to contain a community garden, a playground, and recreation area. Single-family detached housing would occupy most of DeRoode Street, while the more intensely-developed southern portion would contain mixed-use and apartment buildings and the new mission surrounding a formal plaza.

The Southend Park Urban Village Plan anticipated the need for a set of design guidelines that would inform the development of residential construction. Each single-family prototype was chosen on the basis of local historic precedent and maximizing plan variations. Four different multifamily prototypes are also included that provide a broad range of unit sizes and layouts. Site standards are also included to ensure that proper relationships between buildings and their sites, and buildings and other buildings, are maintained.

project: THE RED MILE
date: 2009
location: LEXINGTON, KY
client: LEXINGTON TROTS BREEDERS ASSOCIATION
contact: JOE COSTA

The Red Mile Development Plan is a progressive infill development project located in the heart of Lexington, KY at the nation’s second oldest standing chariot racing venue, The Red Mile.

The Red Mile is a 138 acre plot of land surrounded by mid-high density residential development and light-heavy industrial land use. The Red Mile Development Plan utilizes 62 acres of the sites prime land that fronts along Red Mile Road. The concept plan includes, nearly 300,000 square feet of commercial space +/- 200 residential units, +/- 50,000 square feet of office space and nearly _ acres of open space along with the Red Mile Greenway.

The Red Mile Development plan strives to enhance the existing historic fabric on site while also providing new opportunities to the region. The Red Mile Development is one of if not the first major mixed-use developments in Lexington and is designed to be a walkable community and a major entertainment destination for the city of Lexington that will utilize major destination retail, restaurants, and an improved Red Mile race track facility to attract visitors and residents.

Implementation Highlights:

+/- 200 Residential Units
+/- 250,000 Sq. ft. of Retail
+/- 25,000 Sq. ft. of Office
+/- 90-120 Room Hotel
+/- 30,000 Sq. ft. Entertainment complex