LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Once considered an industrial area, "The Warehouse Block" has evolved into one of Lexington's prime social settings. Business owners took a big step in preserving that reputation with a unique groundbreaking ceremony at 737 National Avenue on Friday.
Coffee mugs, chainsaws, whisks and wood replaced traditional shovels as business owners in the Warehouse District brought their "tools of trade" to break ground on the new space.
The project represents the latest phase of development in the area on and near National Avenue, designed based on community input.
"Initially, it was going to be a couple of big buildings, then it went into a couple of small buildings, and it just kept morphing based on what the neighborhood told us they needed," said Chad T. Walker of Walker Properties.
That list of requests from the community included parking, green space, an area for concerts, and a space for the farmers market.
"This is the middle of downtown, green space is at a premium. This is gonna allow folks to consider this their backyard, but also allow us to do some small events," Walker said.
Peter Pickett of Pickett Brass and Blackburn Trumpets moved to the area around 2012. In the years since, he's watched warehouses transform into the Warehouse District.
"It was a lot of industrial space, yes we're in manufacturing but we're also a destination. To have all this retail and good food and good drinks makes it really fun for customers to spend some time and see us here," Pickett said.
He's eager to see the next phase of National Avenue, which is expected to be complete in the next month or so.
For Walker, whose family has been involved in the neighborhood's development since the 1980s, some parking and grass — as simple as it sounds — is the last piece in the puzzle.
"I'm a conservationist and preservationist by heart, all the buildings around here are existing buildings, there are no new buildings, so this is kind of going backwards in growth," said Walker. "We could make money by building buildings, but this is such a wonderful amenity to have, that it increases overall value to the properties without having to build bigger and better and all that stuff, it's what I believe in."
