UK Board Approves Lease Between Coldstream, Cityscape to Develop Residential Village
LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 5, 2020) — Today, the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees authorized the UK Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration to negotiate and execute a ground lease with Cityscape Residential, LCC, a real estate development and construction firm.
Cityscape will lease land from the university for a residential village development project on UK’s Coldstream Research Campus. The 13-acre development will include approximately 250 multi-family residential units. Cityscape will construct and operate the residential village, complying with Coldstream’s design guidelines within its land lease contract.
“Multi-family housing will allow for the creation of a dynamic live-work-play-learn environment by providing the social infrastructure necessary to drive the development of office and research and development facilities,” said George Ward, executive director of Coldstream Research Campus. “We are excited to be working with Cityscape and look forward to the development of this project.”
The university first issued a request for proposals (RFP) in March 2018, and selected Indianapolis-based Cityscape based on their award-winning luxury multi-family rental communities.
“Cityscape was honored to be selected during the RFP process and looks forward to the potential of breaking ground later this year,” said Brian Evans, vice president of Cityscape Residential. “With a 30-year track record developing several billion dollars of luxury rental apartment communities throughout the middle U.S., we hope to soon become a landmark community within the Lexington area.”
Cityscape Residential is a full-service real estate development and construction firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The principals of Cityscape have been responsible for the successful development and/or financing of over $2 billion of real estate throughout the eastern two-thirds of the United States during their careers and have been responsible for the development and construction of several thousand for-sale and rental residential units across multiple market areas.
The firm brings an especially strong background to the innovative design and construction of high-density multifamily communities, leveraging a deep base of in-house construction experience among its partners and associates. Principals in Cityscape are trained and have practiced in the fields of architecture, urban planning, accounting and construction management and have served as senior executives at firms ranging from small entrepreneurial partnerships to large, public, NYSE-listed companies.
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.