Town Branch Commons Development

Lexington Mayor Jim Gray announced the appointment of a 47-member Arena, Arts & Entertainment District Task Force. The Task Force conducted a year-long planning process which culminated in the creation of the Rupp Arena Arts & Entertainment District Master Plan. The Plan called for a comprehensive renovation of historic Rupp Arena, a new Lexington Convention Center, a major new public park and mixed use development in the current High Street parking lot.  The public centerpiece of the plan is the larger Town Branch Commons, a unified thread of public space that runs throughout the district and connects the center of Downtown to the edges. The Town Branch Commons plan explores possibilities of day lighting Town Branch and creating new water features in Downtown. 

Lord Aeck Sargent served as Project Planner and Design Advisor for both the Rupp District Task Force and the eventual implementation of the new Central Bank Center/Rupp Arena. LAS also served as Urban Design Advisor for Town Branch Commons to the Lexington Downtown Development Authority and, with AECOM, the City of Lexington. These roles included design review, community involvement and coordination with partners and stakeholders for over $400mm in public/private investment in Downtown Lexington. Some services on this project were completed by Urban Collage prior to joining Lord Aeck Sargent.