A national winery-and-restaurant chain known for its Napa-inspired tasting rooms is set to open its first Kentucky location just south of Lexington, in a shopping center that's quickly becoming the centerpiece of a booming stretch of US 27. Nicholasville city planners have approved Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant for a spot at Rose Garland Place, the developing shopping center on US 27 south of Lexington.
The restaurant will be roughly 12,000 square feet including a patio, with seating for more than 300 people, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. Diners can expect a 110-item menu blending American and international-fusion dishes, a full-service bar pouring signature cocktails and beer, and an artisanal shop stocked with wine bottles and gourmet gifts. The centerpiece, per the same report, is a Napa-style wine tasting room offering guided tastings and samplings for guests who want to sample before they buy.
A Wine Club With Nearly a Million Members
Cooper's Hawk was founded in Orland Park, Illinois, in 2005 by CEO Tim McEnery, according to Cooper's Hawk. The concept was inspired by a small suburban Illinois winery. The chain has since grown to more than 70 locations across 14 states and operates a wine club with over 850,000 members, who receive monthly limited-production wine allocations along with discounts on food and bottles, the Herald-Leader reports. Nicholasville will mark Cooper's Hawk's first Kentucky restaurant.
A restaurant spokesperson declined to comment on a potential opening timeline, the Herald-Leader notes. But Patrick Madden, the project's developer, said Cooper's Hawk is in the final stage of its due diligence — a signal that a lease could be finalized soon even without a firm construction date.
The Developer Behind Hamburg Place
Preston Madden sold the bulk of Hamburg Place in East Lexington to developers in the 1990s with assistance from his son Patrick. The Madden family established that same 2,000-acre Hamburg Place as a horse farm in 1898, breeding 1919 Triple Crown winner Sir Barton and 1987 Kentucky Derby winner Alysheba before portions of the land shifted to commercial development in the 1990s, per the Paulick Report. John E. Madden founded the farm, and Preston Madden took it over in 1956.
Kroger and a 380-Unit Apartment Complex Round Out the Site
Rose Garland Place itself is anchored by a new Kroger Marketplace store opening at 3255 Lexington Road in Nicholasville, and the site is also slated to include a 380-unit development with three-story apartments and townhomes alongside additional restaurants and retail, per the Herald-Leader. The new Kroger Marketplace will run more than 129,000 square feet with an on-site fuel center and a separate spirits store, replacing the existing, smaller Kroger at Brannon Crossing, according to Supermarket News. Kroger broke ground on the $36 million project in June, the outlet reports.
Directly across US 27 from Rose Garland Place, developers broke ground this year on Stonedale, a 130-acre mixed-use project anchored by a 55,000-square-foot Publix supermarket, 90,000 square feet of additional retail, a hotel, seven sit-down restaurants, and 300 apartments — the same Supermarket News report notes. It's a pointed matchup: Florida-based Publix has been expanding aggressively across Kentucky into territory long dominated by Kroger, setting up a grocery face-off at the Fayette-Jessamine county line.
Why the Growth Is Happening Now
The commercial rush along US 27 tracks a genuine population surge. Jessamine County's population reached an estimated 57,978 residents this year, up 19.1% since 2010 and making it the 17th largest county in Kentucky, according to the Jessamine Economic Development Authority. Between January 2022 and mid-2026, Nicholasville city officials approved 4,752 new residential units, a pace expected to drive a 32% population increase for the municipality as those projects are completed, the Jessamine Journal reports.
To make room for the commercial growth, the Nicholasville City Commission approved annexing roughly 120 acres of land stretching from Brannon Road north to the Fayette County line, according to the same Jessamine Journal report, a move local officials used to manage growth and capture municipal tax revenue. Longer-range planning data from the Lexington Area MPO projects Jessamine County's household count will grow 51% between 2010 and 2030, cementing the US 27 corridor as one of Central Kentucky's busiest commuter and retail arteries.
Cooper's Hawk's Kentucky expansion is part of a broader national push: the chain has recently targeted new locations in south Charlotte's Arboretum area. For now, though, no opening date has been set for the Nicholasville restaurant, and the company isn't saying when diners might get their first taste of the Napa-style tasting room coming to Rose Garland Place.
