Campus News

UK Celebrates Latest Construction Project, Announces Naming Contest for the Facility

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photo of Winslow renderings
Rendering of gaming theater at Winslow facility
rendering of food hall at Winslow facility
photo of Brianna Ritchison speaking at news conference
photo of President Capilouto speaking at news conference

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 13, 2019) — The planned transformation of property at South Limestone Street and Winslow Street — what is now referred to as the Winslow Project — is moving quickly.

So much so, that University of Kentucky officials, along with the institution’s real estate partner, launched a community and campus-wide naming contest for the property that will be the cornerstone of an innovation district that further links the university and the city.

The Winslow Project, which was originally announced and approved by UK’s Board of Trustees in February, supports the university's future in technology, entrepreneurship, education, creativity, service, and research, while working hand-in-hand to make strides in the university’s Transportation Master Plan.

The property will include over 900 new parking spaces and 23,000 square feet on the ground floor dedicated to:

  • Retail space, which will include a food hall focused on local eateries and craft beer, and
  • UK innovation space.

UK is working with Signet Real Estate Group, one of the country’s leaders in higher education public-private-partnership (P3) real estate developments, to develop the property.

"Our community is built on collaboration, and without the design, development, and construction teams in partnership with Signet Real Estate, none of this would have been possible," said President Eli Capilouto. "The Winslow Project is another way we have furthered our commitment to our campus and the city of Lexington and is another step toward creating a campus that will better serve the needs of our students, faculty, staff and Commonwealth."

Serving as a multifaceted, multi-purpose space, the project will be another space on campus where ingenuity and creativity unfold. The variety of elements it will cover include serving as a home for UK esports (with a planned esports theater and gamers’ lounge) and flexible innovation space.

The idea is to leverage the open-format space and use of technology to maximize student success, enhance a sense of community, bring together the university and community to foster outcome- and solution-driven thinking and design, connect people with different passions and interests, and provide new pathways for career development in the entrepreneurial fields.

Through the P3 with Signet, the project is expected to open in Fall 2020, furthering the momentum of the university’s growing campus. The Winslow property will be a cornerstone in a planned innovation district or corridor that includes the College of Fine Arts’ Bolivar property and a planned development by the College of Design at the old Reynolds property.

Spencer Hyatt, vice president of Signet Real Estate Group, said, "It has been our great pleasure to partner with the University of Kentucky on this exciting project. UK is one of the very best partners Signet has in our nearly 25 years working in higher education development. 

"We look forward to continuing our collaboration in the ground floor retail areas where Signet will deliver a truly unique food hall focused exclusively on local retailers. This environment will encourage 'Campus to Community,' including coffee, bar service, and culinary fare.  We look forward to announcing our first tenants for this retail destination in the very near future.”

To further involve the community in this new project, the university is holding a naming contest, allowing the public to vote on their favorite name for the Winslow Project, Capilouto announced Wednesday. To do so, faculty, staff, students and community members can visit www.uky.edu/winslow to choose one of six names suggested for the property that best conveys the potential of the structure.

The names — and rationales for each name — include:

  • The Cornerstone (At UK)

A central tenet upon which our university is based and will build on moving forward.

  • The Wheelhouse (At UK)

Playing to our strengths as an institution and a community, we press our advantage.

  • UK Idea Market (UKIM)

A free-flowing exchange of ideas, action and Kentucky culture.

  • The Upper Level

Connotes advanced higher education; building faces Upper Street.

  • The Gateway (At UK)

A way of achieving something significant; something within a larger organization that allows you access to other parts.

  • The Converge (At UK)

The point at which the sum of our parts becomes our best concepts and ideas.

Voting for the name of the new building will take place through Friday, Dec. 6. 

"As a student, I’m excited about the promise this development holds as a place where students can work and play and imagine, together with the community, what is possible," said Brianna Ritchison, a UK senior and member of the esports club at UK. "My hope is that this space will be a place that ignites the passions of students, that helps us see that our aspirations can be reality and that helps drive an understanding that with work, imagination and persistence, anything is possible."

More about Signet:

Signet Real Estate Group, a Signet LLC company, is a full-service development and project management firm in the areas of higher education, health care, research and public-private-partnerships. The company transforms complex development challenges into collaborative opportunities through a creative, flexible and customized approach. Since the firm’s inception, Signet and its family of companies have successfully managed and currently have in progress more than $4.5 billion in real estate development and construction throughout the U.S. More information on Signet can be found at www.signetre.com.

MEDIA NOTE: video and photos are available here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Vla9_nlvrMj_dWVVvuK-daSGxzZS_ld6.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.