The Railyard will be a three-building complex with 32 apartments and commercial space for retailers. Of those units, 12 will be designated as affordable housing, only available for those making up to 80% of Lexington’s median income.
The vacant site used to be owned by the C&O Railroad. The railway used to operate a maintenance facility for its locomotives at the site.
It’s being redeveloped by 1,000 Delaware LLC, led by first-time developer Will Hanrahan.
“I asked a lot of questions. I was not afraid to reach out to people and find out answers to things that I didn't know. And thankfully, people were really receptive to that,” Hanrahan said. “And if I was trying to learn more about something, I often asked people to tell me, ‘Who do you think I should speak to?’ And that led to some interesting places.”
Hanrahan received multiple city grants to help fund the project, including Lexington’s Affordable Housing Fund and the Division of Water Quality’s stormwater grant.
City officials celebrated the project as part of a push to build denser housing in Lexington, and address the city’s housing gap. A study from EHI Consultants says Lexington is 22,000 units short, across all incomes.
“To keep up with our growing population and workforce means we have to either grow out or up,” said Vice Mayor Dan Wu. “Expand into our rural areas, or create more density in our existing urban areas. The Railyard is exactly the kind of infill and redevelopment project that can create the kind of density to relieve pressure on our rural areas.”
The Railyard is expected to be open for tenants next December.
