Lexington council members should be expecting a request in the next week or so to hire an architectural firm to design new uses for the old courthouse. Council was updated on the project during Tuesday’s work session. Jenifer Wuorenmaa with the Chief Administrator’s Office says the plan is to form a for-profit general partner to take advantage of tax credits. “This project has to sort of work together with exterior work, some internal work, and some roof replacement so we can start spending money and capturing as much of those expenses as we can," said Wuorenmaa.
This year’s budget includes $22 million to go toward the courthouse renovation project. The city was awarded two brownfield grants to help with remediation of the structure, possibly in the rotunda area. Wuorenmaa says hiring a private firm to take on the courthouse renovation was not a viable option. “It looks very large, but there’s not a lot of square footage in the inside," she said. "And so, for a private developer, even with $22 million, their return on investment would have to be so high, the rents they would charge, we may not be able to get anybody in the building and keep them in the building.”
For the plan to succeed, she says more than 50 percent of the space must be leased by private entities.
Following the presentation, there were no questions from council members. But Mayor Jim Gray says that could change as the process moves forward. “Just today, it happened that there weren’t any questions, but that doesn’t mean that tomorrow there might not be some," Gray said. "It’s good to have questions. It’s good for the council to be engaged in questions related to any major project like this is.”
No firm dates have been mentioned for completion of the refurbishment of the old courthouse.?
