Woodford Forward Partners with Bullhorn Creative to Convene Physical Education Part III

The public forum will explore the potential impacts of place making design, how intentional redevelopment and infill can create more vibrant downtowns in Versailles and Midway, and the importance of balancing future development with farmland conservation in Woodford County.

Woodford County, Kentucky (September 16, 2016) – Woodford Forward is pleased to
announce that it will convene a panel of experts at a public forum on infill,
redevelopment, place making and farmland conservation in Downtown Versailles, on
September 29, 2016.

Woodford Forward is a group of citizens and business owners that advocate for
innovative policies that promote the highest and best use of urban land and the
agricultural use of productive farmland throughout Woodford County.

As part of its community education and outreach work on land use issues, Woodford
Forward has partnered with Bullhorn Creative on Physical Education Part III – A
Discussion on Urban Development in the Bluegrass, the third in an annual series of
panel discussions on urban revitalization. Forum panelists will present their experiences
with prior successful projects and initiatives that focused on the revitalization of
downtown environments, place making, and farmland conservation. The forum provides
an opportunity for citizens to see and hear presentations from a panel of experts in
urban planning, architecture, engineering, place making, and farmland conservation, as
well as local officials.

Panelists at Physical Education Part III include engineer Marshall Elizer from Gresham,
Smith and Partners in Louisville, Rebecca Burnworth, Architect of Burnworth Design,
PLLC in Lexington, Land Project Counsel Ashley Greathouse from Bluegrass
Conservancy in Lexington, Holly Wiedemann, founding principal and President of AU
Associates, Holley Groshek, Executive Director of the Equine Land Conservation
Resource, and Regan Martin and Graham Kain from the SPARK Versailles project.

The public forum will be held at the Safe Harbor Academy at 134 Macey Avenue in
Downtown Versailles. There will be a reception at 5:30 p.m. provided by Chef Ouita
Michel of Holly Hill Inn and the panel discussion will begin at 6:30 p.m.

This education and outreach event was planned in response to a 2015 Woodford County
community survey that was completed by The Matrix Group and sponsored by Woodford
Forward. Two top priorities of the survey results were redeveloping vacant land and
property within the urban service areas and protecting key agriculture areas from
development.

“Revitalizing our urban cores in Versailles and Midway and conserving key agricultural
areas in Woodford County from development go hand in glove. These priorities are keys
to making Woodford County a vibrant destination for young professionals, families,
retirees and entrepreneurs-to live, work and locate businesses here. These are primary
focus areas of our organization.” said Billy F. Van Pelt, II, CEO. Woodford Forward has
posted the survey results on its web site, www.woodfordforward.org.

The public is encouraged to attend the event and should RSVP on Eventbrite at  www.woodfordforward.org

Date & Time
September 29, 2016
5:30 Reception, 6:30 Panel Discussion
Location
Safe Harbor Academy
134 Macey Avenue
Versailles, KY 40383
ABOUT:
Physical Education is an ongoing project by Bullhorn Creative, a Kentucky-based
branding and creative firm. http://bullhorncreative.com
Contact:
For more information, please contact Billy F. Van Pelt, II, Woodford Forward CEO at
billyvanpelt@woodfordforward.org or at 859-846-4033. www.woodfordforward.org
***woodfordforwardbullhon

January 16, 2024
January 10, 2024 | By Shepherd Snyder A $2.8 million sale between Transylvania University and a group of Lexington banks will transform the school’s baseball field into an affordable housing development. The 12.5 acre development will include both rental and owned properties for families making 30 to 80 percent of the city’s median income. The university plans to close the sale of Marquard Field to a group including Central Bank, Community Trust Bank, Republic Bank & Trust, Stock Yards Bank and Traditional Bank. The group has created a $3 million revolving fund to support affordable housing development throughout the city. Brien Lewis is President of Transylvania University. He says the downtown project would help residents stay in the city, and closer to their workplaces. “There's a lot of challenges to finding affordable housing,” Lewis said. “And it's not just the housing itself. If you have to be farther out, then you've got more transportation costs, and so on. So we see this as something that will certainly benefit the Transylvania community, but obviously, much more, the Lexington community.” Housing development groups include Habitat for Humanity, AU Associates, Urban League of Lexington and Winterwood. They’re being joined by Commerce Lexington, Lexington for Everyone and the Building Industry Association of Central Kentucky to create a development plan. Darryl Neher is the CEO of Lexington Habitat for Humanity. He says the development will help ease the rising cost of living for low-income families. “What we're experiencing here is not unlike what's happening across the country,” Neher said. “Post COVID, we've seen housing prices increase as much as 40 percent. Since the beginning of COVID, we're also seeing cost of construction increase, we're seeing interest rates increase, we're seeing rents increase. And so all of these pressures are putting our most vulnerable at risk.” Ground is expected to break on the project in the summer of 2025. The Transylvania Pioneers have been playing at Counter Clocks Field, home of Minor League Baseball’s Lexington Counter Clocks, since 2019. Click here to read the full story.
September 27, 2023
Yesterday was a huge event and milestone for AU Associates as we cut the ribbon on our largest affordable housing project ever and the largest in Lexington in over 20 years. I can't begin to thank our amazing team enough for the hard work to bring these 252 units of affordable housing to fruition. We've already moved in our first 60 families to a development with market rate amenities at affordable prices! View our press coverage at the following links: https://www.wtvq.com/more-affordable-housing-units-open-in-northern-lexington/ https://www.wkyt.com/2023/09/26/ribbon-cut-another-affordable-housing-complex-lexington/
January 26, 2023
AU Associates is proud to announce the opening of our NEW 24-unit affordable housing complex for seniors 55 and older located out on Polo Club Lane. This is a huge victory for affordable housing community and for seniors in the Lexington area! Click here to read the full story.
November 16, 2022
Pictured above: Digital rendering of the Loganwood Apartment complex. LOGAN - In addition to the annual Veterans Day Parade and Ceremony, the Logan community veterans will also be honored with the official groundbreaking of the new Loganwood housing complex on Friday. Following the events of Veterans days, the long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony of the Loganwood Apartments complex will be held at 2 p.m. The construction of Loganwood will provide 33 affordable, family apartments with a preference for income-eligible veterans in need of housing. The apartments will be available in one and two-bedroom options. The developer building the structure will be AU Associates, the same firm that built the Logan Landing Apartments on the east end of Stratton Street four years ago. Officials from the Logan Housing Corporation, the City of Logan, AU Associates, and the other funding partners will be on hand to celebrate Friday's groundbreaking. The groundbreaking will take place at 314 Hudgins Street, Logan, located just past the Logan Post Office. A complete report on Loganwood and the groundbreaking will be included Nov. 16th edition of The Logan Banner.
August 22, 2022
Mayor Linda Gorton and Councilmember Josh McCurn today joined developers and contractors to break ground on a new $43 million affordable housing project with 252 apartments.
August 22, 2022
Glade View Townhomes is the latest project by AU Associates for affordable housing in West Virginia and Kentucky. It features 33 units with one, two and three-bedroom options.
August 22, 2022
Lexington, Ky (WKYT) - City officials celebrated the grand opening of a new senior living community in Lexington Friday morning.
By au-admin August 10, 2020
August 10, 2020 | by Mario Anderson LEXINGTON, KY. — Monday was the first ribbon-cutting ceremony that the City of Lexington government leaders participated in since March 6. That date, was when the first COVID-19 case was reported in Kentucky. Monday morning, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton and others gathered to announce details about the city’s latest […]
By au-admin August 10, 2020
August 10, 2020 | by Steve Rogers LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Lexington added 71 new senior-living apartments to its list of affordable housing Monday. Mayor Linda Gorton and Councilmember Josh McCurn cut the ribbon to officially open the apartments for independent senior citizens in Meadowthorpe Landing at 1447 Antique Drive. “Our city needs more affordable housing, […]
By au-admin March 11, 2020
LOGAN | March 11, 2020 | by David Vidovich — Updates on the veterans housing complex to be built in downtown Logan were given during the recent regular sessions of both the Logan County Housing Authority and the Logan Housing Corporation. Nicknamed Loganwood, the complex will be a living center tailored for veterans in need […]
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