Millersburg project gets $3.3 million financial boost

Click to enlarge map of Millersburg

MILLERSBURG, Ky. (WTVQ) – An effort to infuse new life into a historic old military campus and a small Kentucky town gets a $3.3 million financial boost.

Investment company Enhanced Capital has provided $3.3 million to Community Ventures for the transformation of Mustard Seed Hill in Millersburg, which is located northeast of Lexington between Paris and Carlisle, according to a release from Community Ventures.

Enhanced Capital’s investment is part of a $14 million allocation of the Kentucky New Markets Tax Credits program, which will help finance the ongoing campus renovations to the development.

Formerly operating as the Millersburg Military Institute, Community Ventures purchased the property in 2015, and began renovations that would convert the campus into a new development.

Enhanced Capital closed the financial deal with Community Ventures in early June, according to the release. The move would provide the capital necessary for the ongoing renovations to the campus.

Initial construction began in 2016, with efforts to stabilize the buildings on the property, some of which were in severe disrepair.  The next phase of the project would see renovations to the gymnasium building and the Allen House, a federal style building converted into a wedding and special event venue.

Construction is underway on the next phase of the renovation for McIntyre Hall, the former MMI classroom building. McIntyre Hall will have designated space as an incubator for local business and will also include additional meeting and event space.

“Community Ventures is grateful for partners like Enhanced Capital who look for projects that can impact communities in need of economic development. Mustard Seed Hill can have a lasting impact on this town by creating a new consumer base to support local business development,” says Kevin Smith, president and CEO of Community Ventures. “Millersburg is already seeing new signs of life, and that wouldn’t be possible without Enhanced Capital and the New Markets Tax Credits Program.”

Community Ventures envisions Mustard Seed hill as the epicenter of new economic development in Millersburg by attracting tens of thousands of visitors to the small Bourbon County town each year, according to the company statement.

In 2019, programming and events at Mustard Seed Hill attracted more than 35,000 visitors to Millersburg, the company claimed.

New businesses have opened in downtown Millersburg including a local eatery, and Mustard Seed Hill has welcomed the opening of Kentucky Sheep and Fiber to its campus.

Mustard Seed Hill will offer below-market rate office space for additional businesses looking to bring their goods and services to the Millersburg community.

The campus also leases space to a local private school, Bourbon Christian Academy. In addition to its business development and job-creating focus, Mustard Seed Hill has also become an ideal venue for community gatherings and events.

For the past two years, Mustard Seed Hill has welcomed visitors from around the country during the holiday season for its month long “Christmas at Mustard Seed Hill” holiday event, which features stunning light displays, a Gingerbread House competition, and a Holiday market with local vendors from throughout Central Kentucky. the company said.