Lexington Distillery District
Lexington Distillery District
Lexington, KY
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 centerpieces 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.