New retail, restaurant space on the way as part of downtown Lexington’s Icehouse project
The final piece of Lexington’s long-running Icehouse redevelopment project is about to snap into place.
The town hosted a groundbreaking ceremony last week at 105 West Main St., where the next phase of the project is set to take place. A new two-story, 12,600-square-foot building is set to be constructed on the site, one that will have restaurant and retail space on the first floor and office space on the second floor. The building is being called Icehouse on Main.
The new facility will be next door to the building that houses Italian restaurant Alodia’s and adjacent to the town’s popular Icehouse Amphitheater and the open-air pavilion that hosts the Market at Icehouse.
Lexington Mayor Steve MacDougall said a group of five private partners are developing the coming Icehouse on Main building. The mayor said there has not been an announcement yet as to what restaurant might be on the first floor but said it will be a versatile restaurant space that could accommodate a “high-end” establishment.
MacDougall said there is a roughly 18-month timeline for getting the Icehouse on Main constructed but noted that infrastructure work is already underway.
The town of Lexington has long been engaged in the redevelopment of the southwest corner of Main and Church streets, which was formerly home to an ice plant back in the 1920s. The town bought the property back in 2012 and in 2016 completed construction on the amphitheater, an amenity that has hosted concerts, movies and many other events and has brought big crowds to downtown.
The mayor said adding the Icehouse on Main building will be a critical final piece.
“We are so excited,” MacDougall told The State. “We have had such a tremendous response to the Icehouse Amphitheater. ... We feel very confident about what we did there, and we are excited that another piece to the puzzle is coming to downtown Lexington. It will give people another option for a restaurant and some more retail downtown, as well as more office space downtown.
“We’ve revitalized downtown, and we want people down there.”
Main Street in Lexington has seen a revival in recent years, with a host of restaurants and bars — O’Hara’s Public House, Craft Axe Throwing, Bodhi Thai Dining, Nicky’s Pizzeria, Keg Cowboy, Alodia’s and O’Hara’s Bakery Cafe, just to name a few — now lining the street. Plans are also underway to put the Navy Yard Biergarten and Restaurant on West Main, across the street from Alodia’s.
The design of the Icehouse on Main building will bring a modern flair to West Main Street while also having nods to historic norms.
“Features of the building include outdoor restaurant seating in the adjacent entryway leading to the Pavilion, large glass panels facing Main Street, a two story glass lobby at the front corner providing stair and elevator access to the second floor offices and French doors with balconies overlooking Main Street and the Icehouse Amphitheater to the rear,” reads an architectural rendering of the development. “The exterior design is intended to blend well with the surrounding historic architecture but deliberately incorporates a more modern aesthetic.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 2:17 PM.
