The Bluegrass and Beyond

For anyone who has followed the three years of controversy surrounding the Webb Companies’ CentrePointe project, the scene this evening inside the sweltering Lexington History Museum was almost surreal.

A standing-room-only crowd of more than 200 people — many of them CentrePointe’s biggest critics — listened intently for an hour as Webb’s new architect described her vision for the project and the conceptual processes her firm used to create that vision.

Almost to a person, the audience liked what Jeanne Gang of Chicago-based Studio Gang Architects had to say.

Afterward, people crowded around to talk to her, ask questions and offer suggestions. The models of potential site plans that Gang showed were rough, because she said she wanted public input. But her ideas were clearly well thought-out.

This gathering was nothing like the “done deal” press conference three years ago that unveiled the first of many iterations of the stalled hotel-condo-retail-office development proposed for the block of old buildings that Webb demolished in the center of Lexington.

Gang talked about her ideas for the two-acre site, which I summarized in this column after I spoke with her Wednesday. (Read more details and reaction here and here from reporter Beverly Fortune.)

Gang also talked about how Kentucky architects would be hired to design pieces of the project to give it variety and local flavor. A couple of Lexington architects I saw there said afterward that they were planning to apply.

The gathering was hopeful, encouraging and, I must say, exciting. Still, the best way to describe Gang’s work so far is that it is a good start, with much more work to be done. Gang has clearly done a thoughtful analysis of Lexington and the site’s surroundings. She seemed genuinely  interested in ideas and suggestions from people at the meeting, who ranged from concerned citizens to some of Kentucky’s best architects.

Gang said the local architects she will hire as consultants would be chosen and notified by June 30. A second public meeting will then be scheduled to introduce those architects, who will focus mostly on the look of several buildings facing Main Street.

Gang said she also would then show more refined ideas for the two towers that would house offices, condos and a hotel, although much of that will eventually depend on what tenants Webb can secure.

CentrePointe is a risky chicken-and-egg proposition, especially in this economic environment. The Webb Companies can’t built CentrePointe — or whatever it ends up being called — until it has financing and tenants. But Webb can’t attract tenants or financing without something impressive to offer.  I have to think the odds for success are substantially greater if Webb follows through with Gang and is able to show prospects an imaginative plan by one of the world’s best up-and-coming architects.

“Today is a new day,” Woodford Webb, president of the Webb Companies, told the crowd. “We are looking at the project in different ways and are open to new ideas.”

Those new ideas are off to a terrific start. But, as I wrote Wednesday, keep your fingers crossed.

Keep your fingers crossed. There seems to be a real possibility that the ugly duckling proposed for that vacant lot downtown could be replaced by a swan.

Developer Dudley Webb, unable to finance the 1980s-style tower he proposed to replace the block of old buildings he demolished, has taken a new approach. With help from Mayor Jim Gray, Webb has hired one of the world’s best up-and-coming architects to rethink the design of his hotel-condo-office-retail project, CentrePointe.

Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang in Chicago will present her initial site plan Thursday at the first of at least two public meetings in Lexington. Stop by the Lexington History Museum at 4 p.m. to hear from her, Webb and Gray — and contribute your thoughts.

Gang said in a telephone interview Wednesday that her design is rough and flexible at this point because she wants input from more people who live in Lexington. She also wants help from Kentucky architects to give the block variety and local flavor.

I found Gang’s concepts for the development encouraging. She wants it to be pedestrian-friendly, compatible with its surroundings, unique to Lexington and “a place that is interesting to be.”

Gang envisions a cluster of buildings along Main Street — like there used to be — rather than a single edifice. The buildings would include a variety of locally designed, contemporary architecture that complements in scale and design the 19th and 20th century buildings across the street. “It will give it that authenticity and feel without it being forced,” she said.

The new CentrePointe — it really needs a new name, by the way — would have two towers instead of one. The shorter tower would house offices and the taller one would have a hotel and condos. The size of the towers would depend on the tenants Webb secures, but Gang said she would use computer models to show where the shadows would fall to help place the towers so they don’t hulk over Main Street or neighboring buildings.

Gang has designed amazing buildings all over the world, so why is she bothering to work in Lexington? Gang said she was familiar with the controversy surrounding CentrePointe from her visits to the University of Kentucky’s College of Design, and she sensed a opportunity to create something special.

She was impressed by Lexington’s rural land preservation efforts and historic downtown architecture, she said, which together offered the possibility for creating vibrant urban space on the block. “It is truly a livable city,” she said. “And this is truly the heart of Lexington.”

Also, Gang said, she was impressed by the mayor’s commitment to design excellence. “He gets it,” she said. “That makes a huge difference in deciding where we want to work. So many places don’t get it.”

Gang’s creativity and reputation may well be the key to Webb securing the financing and tenants he needs to transform CentrePointe from a failure into a success. And for the city, it could mean the difference between another generic concrete box and a landmark Lexingtonians will be proud to have at their city’s heart.

Good things can come from bad times. Consider two recent examples in Lexington.

The first was the announcement Tuesday by the mayor, most Urban County Council members, land preservationist groups and the Home Builders Association that there is no need any time soon to expand the 53-year-old Urban Service Boundary.

That is good news — and a big deal. Lexington’s periodic review of its comprehensive land-use plan is usually dominated by a bitter fight over whether to open more irreplaceable farmland for development.

Because the demand for new homes is so weak, the fight won’t happen this time. That will allow Lexington’s leaders to focus on making the highest and best use of the 6,700 acres available for development or redevelopment inside the boundary.

“A sour economy has brought Lexington a sweet planning opportunity,” said Councilman Bill Farmer, chairman of the council’s planning committee.

It is a perfect opportunity to come up with better ways for Lexington to grow and prosper without destroying more of the precious natural resource — the unique rural landscape — that makes the Bluegrass special.

We should use this opportunity to create better planning and zoning mechanisms to encourage neighborhood revitalization and the restoration and reuse of old buildings and high-quality new construction, especially downtown. Councilman Tom Blues is leading a “design excellence” task force looking at many of these issues.

“It’s very complicated,” said Knox van Nagell, executive director of the Fayette Alliance, a land preservation group. “But we’ve got to make it easier for developers to do the right thing in the city.”

A second good thing to come out of this bad economy is the latest news about Dudley Webb’s CentrePointe project. It is not only good, it could be great, both for the developer and for Lexington.

In March 2008, Webb and property owner Joe Rosenberg unveiled plans to tear down some of Lexington’s oldest commercial buildings to construct a generic skyscraper that would house a luxury hotel, high-priced condominiums, stores, restaurants and offices. The historic buildings were demolished, but Webb was unable to finance CentrePointe. The two-acre block is now a vacant lot.

Webb recently hired one of the world’s best up-and-coming architects to help him re-imagine CentrePointe. Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang in Chicago has designed acclaimed projects all over the world, including Chicago’s new Aqua building.

Studio Gang is one of the best three or four firms Webb could have hired for this project, said Michael Speaks, dean of the University of Kentucky College of Design. “They are good and smart and have built a lot of big things already,” he said. “They have a light touch, but their designs are very beautiful.”

When I contacted Gang recently, she said the work is under way but she isn’t ready to talk about it. I can’t wait to see what she and her associates come up with. I suspect it will be very different from three earlier CentrePointe designs, which featured boxy towers.

“We’re mostly brought in to think about something differently,” Gang told Herald-Leader reporter Beverly Fortune, who first reported her hiring April 8. Gang said she likes to design buildings that emphasize a city’s sense of place.

During the go-go years that led to the real estate bubble and financial crisis, developers could make money building almost anything. No more. To attract financing and tenants, CentrePointe must be something special — an exciting place where businesses and people want to be. What if, for example, the design could find ways to reference Lexington’s rich 19th century architectural heritage with a unique, contemporary twist?

CentrePointe also must address a different market than Webb envisioned three years ago. A 200-plus-room J.W. Marriott hotel? Doubtful. This market is more likely to support a boutique hotel half that size — ideally one that offers a unique experience like, say, Louisville’s 21C Museum Hotel.

Just imagine what world-class architecture that meets the needs of a changed market could do for Lexington. Based on her work, Gang is capable of creating something very special — something that could transform CentrePointe from a liability into an asset.