EXISTING CONDITIONS

Introduction to Oxford Circle

Oxford Circle is situated in a prime location along one of the major arterials leading into the City of Lexington. As one of the main gateway entries, Versailles Road is heavily used by commuters coming and going to the airport and also serves as the main route to Keeneland. Currently, the existing businesses along this stretch of Versailles Road (i.e. fast food, gas station, liquor store) do not appeal to the broader market, but could be enhanced in a way that would allow them to take advantage of the higher traffic volumes along this major roadway.

The Cardinal Valley Neighborhood that encircles the commercial core is an established working class, family-oriented neighborhood. The past few decades have seen changes to the people who make up the community, with one of the highest concentrations of Hispanics in the City. This diversity carries through to the commercial mix in and around Versailles Road, with many of the stores even catering to a bilingual clientele.

In terms of immediate surroundings, the area around Oxford Circle is comprised mostly of multi-family apartments. While some of the existing businesses within Oxford Circle provide neighborhood services (e.g. bakery, gym, small convenience store, etc.), this area has incredible potential to become both a neighborhood hub for Cardinal Valley, and a destination point for the greater Lexington area.

The site itself is a complicated geometry of a semicircle in which most of the buildings currently face inwards and have their back of house functions, such as dumpsters and emergency access doors, on display to the surrounding neighborhood. In addition, Vaughn’s Branch of Wolf Run cuts across the site, effectively isolating a third of the Circle both perceptibly and physically.