University of Kentucky opens mixed-use facility

The University of Kentucky has opened a mixed-use facility on its Lexington campus that it describes as a new space for learning, innovation and collaboration.

The Cornerstone has been designed to be a hub of activity for innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development,

The facility is broken into four spaces:

•Retail/dining: The Cornerstone Exchange food hall features homegrown, Kentucky-based companies, including the first microbrewery on the University of Kentucky's campus.

•Parking: By adding more than 900 new parking spaces, the combined number of spaces increases to more than 2,300 between the existing garage and the new structure, now known as Cornerstone Garage.

•Flexible innovation space: An open-format area infused with cutting-edge technology will be a space to maximize student success, enhance a sense of community, bring together the university and community and provide pathways for career development in the entrepreneurial fields. It will house classes, community events or informal gatherings. Rooms and technology in the space can be reserved through the university's Event Management System.

•The UK Federal Credit Union Esports Lounge and Theater: The space’s esports theater has 100 retractable theater-style seats and an esports gamers lounge that offers more than 50 PC-based gaming units and multiple console-play areas.

The facility was built through a public-private-partnership with the Signet Real Estate Group. The mixed-use parking, education and retail facility also enables Kentucky to make critical progress on the its Transportation Master Plan.

Video: Sneak Peek of The Cornerstone (University of Kentucky/Facebook):