Right now The Commons is a place to spend an afternoon. Its evening side opens in steps over the next few months. The pickleball courts, the axe lanes, the distillery and the trail are all open today. The sit-down dinner, the taproom and the concert hall each have their own target date, running from mid-October to mid-January. Meanwhile, the route most Lexington drivers will take to get there changed over the first weekend of October.
The Commons sits on a stretch that WEKU described in September as "a neglected row of tobacco warehouses along the railroad tracks on the west side of Lexington." Founder and CEO Daren Turner, a longtime developer of office and industrial sites, bought the property when it was zoned industrial. It still borders an active Norfolk Southern rail line. He told WEKU he pictures the 42-acre site as a place to "dine, shop, see a show, take a walk, hit a pickleball or throw an ax." He also said, "most of the places you go to, you shop and then you leave. Here, we're wanting them to stay." Right now, how long a visit can last depends on what time you get there.
What You Can Do There Today
These businesses are open now. The hours shown are what each one publishes.
- Pickleball Kingdom Lexington Commons, 152 Turner Commons Way. An indoor club with 17 courts, open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Battle Axes, 164 Turner Commons Way. A family attraction center with axe throwing, go-karts, bowling and a rage room. Book ahead on its site. Its posted hours are 2 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 2 to 11 p.m. Friday, noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday.
- RD1 Distillery at The Commons. A wraparound bourbon bar, a private hidden speakeasy, tours and tastings. RD1 lists hours of 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
- Cold Stone Creamery, 120 Turner Commons Way, Suite 110. It opened Aug. 18 and was the first dining tenant at The Station. It's open until 10 p.m. every night.
- Gym Blue. A strength-training gym that opened in November 2023. Members have 24/7 access, and day-pass visitors are welcome during staffed hours.
- The walking trail. A path that runs end to end through the development. WEKU describes it as long and friendly to dogs and bikes.
Look at the closing times. The bourbon bar closes at 6 or 7 p.m. After that, Battle Axes stays open until 9 p.m., or 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and the pickleball courts and Cold Stone stay open until 10. A Saturday visit right now looks like an afternoon of courts or axes, a tasting at RD1 before it closes, and a walk past the site's two historic water towers. Turner keeps those towers lit at night. Turner also told WEKU about plans for a large thoroughbred-themed mural and an art walk with sculptures.
The Evening Opens in Steps
Each of the next three openings adds a later hour to the place. Here are the dates as reported. They're targets, not confirmed openings.
- OBC Kitchen, October. Bluegrass Hospitality Group is moving OBC from Tates Creek Road to its own building at The Commons. OBC opened in 2014 as a 13-table restaurant. It's known for a large bourbon and craft beer list and hand-crafted cocktails. WEKU reported on Sept. 25 that it would open "next month."
- Country Boy Brewing, mid-October. The taproom sits between the RD1 tasting room and the new OBC and will seat more than 150 people. Marketing manager Pete Weiss told WEKU it will be a full-service, sit-down restaurant like the Georgetown location, with the bar as "the main feature." To start, only the first floor will be open. In August the Herald-Leader listed a September target, so this date has already slipped once.
- The Rail, November, with bigger concerts starting mid-January. The music venue is the centerpiece of the complex and sits directly across from Country Boy. Turner told WEKU that local bands will play until national bookings start, and that "come mid-January, they'll start having a lot of the bigger concerts." WKYT also reported a soft opening this fall and concerts starting in January.
The outlets report The Rail's size differently. WEKU calls it a 2,000-seat venue that will seat "slightly more people than the Singletary Center, but far less than Rupp Arena," in Turner's words. WKYT reports a capacity of 2,200, with 1,000 seats for theater-style events, plus six full-service bars and two outdoor decks. General manager Caleb West told WKYT the venue can sell both reserved seats and general admission space, "so people can buy the ticket they want." The Rail will also have a professional recording studio where University of Kentucky music students can learn how the industry works.
Some pieces don't have a date yet. The Commons' page for the Water Tower Café, an outdoor café planned for coffee, light lunches and after-work drinks, still says "opening soon." Turner also said the site still needs a morning option. "We're looking for a good coffee group that serves breakfast, because we do need a breakfast place down here," he told WEKU. If all the targets hold, The Commons will have dinner by late October, a venue by November and touring shows by mid-January. Mornings and coffee will come later.
The Way In Changed This Weekend
The Commons is on Leestown Road. From New Circle, the direct way there is Exit 7, which the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet rebuilt as a double crossover diamond interchange, or DCD. KYTC had planned to open it by 5 a.m. Monday, Oct. 5. On Oct. 4 the cabinet announced it had opened early. Exit 7 is open again, and so is Leestown Road between Taylor Drive and Opportunity Way.
If you've driven New Circle at Harrodsburg Road, you've used this design before. KYTC says the Leestown interchange is the second of its kind in Lexington, after Harrodsburg Road in 2011. After that one opened, crashes on the corridor fell 63% over its first two full years compared with the two years before, and traffic backups were cut roughly in half.
Here's how the new pattern works going west on Leestown toward The Commons, or coming off New Circle:
- Between two traffic signals, traffic shifts briefly to the left side of the road, then crosses back.
- That lets drivers turn left onto the ramps without crossing oncoming traffic.
- New sidewalks along Leestown Road connect to the existing sidewalks on both sides of New Circle and through the interchange.
- New Circle now has three lanes each way at the interchange, with a paved median and a barrier wall. There's also a sound wall on the inner loop from Leestown Road to the Norfolk Southern railroad bridge.
"We ask drivers to take their time, follow the signs and pavement markings, and give themselves a few trips through the interchange to get comfortable with the new traffic pattern." Kelly Baker, KYTC District 7 Chief Engineer
Construction in the area isn't finished. KYTC says work continues on the wider New Circle Road project, which widens New Circle between Leestown Road and Georgetown Road and is still on track to finish in summer 2027. The cabinet's Safe Roads Solutions site has diagrams showing how to drive a DCD, and they're worth a look before your first evening trip.
Parking, the Bus and the Bike Route That Isn't Built Yet
For now, most people will drive to The Commons. WEKU reports that the walking and biking routes linking The Commons to downtown, the University of Kentucky and the Distillery District haven't been built. Lexington's bicycle and pedestrian master plan, from 2017, includes improvements to Main Street, Leestown Road and Forbes Road. The trail inside the development is good for a dog walk once you've parked. It doesn't connect you to downtown yet.
Turner told WEKU there will be 900 parking spaces. There's also a rideshare pickup and drop-off point and a Lextran stop nearby on Leestown Road. On a concert night with the full Rail crowd that WEKU and WKYT describe, the rideshare point could matter more than the parking count. If you're coming from inside New Circle, the bus is another option.
For guests visiting from out of town, the six short-term rental suites at The Station can be booked now. Listings describe free on-site parking. The site has no traditional hotel or residences.
Here's a plan that fits what's open this month. Get to Pickleball Kingdom or Battle Axes in the early afternoon. Walk over to RD1 for a tasting before it closes, take the trail past the water towers, and finish with Cold Stone, which is open until 10. Come back once OBC Kitchen and Country Boy post their opening days, and again in January when The Rail starts booking national acts.
If a place like The Commons opening nearby has you wondering how Lexington's west side is changing, or what new neighbors like a concert venue and a taproom could mean for a home near Leestown Road, Cheri Shaffer and the Bluegrass Luxe Homes team are glad to talk it through. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll go over the corridor with you in plain terms.
