Ryan family's Castleton Lyons land could be sold for housing according to report

The owners of Castleton Lyons Farm have filed plans to "subdivide more than 1,000 acres of the property into 16 different lots," according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The report suggests the lots will range in size from 40 acres to more than 80 acres. 

The farm's location outside of Lexington's growth boundary restricts what can be built on agricultural property. 

The Herald-Leader cites city officials as saying each lot "can have one home on it and at least one additional home for farm workers, called a farm tenant home." Each home must also "have a septic system, which must be approved by the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department."

A Castleton Lyons executive did not immediately respond to a BloodHorse request for comment. 

According to the report, no other type of development is allowed on property zoned agriculture outside of the growth boundary.

Tony Ryan, the co-founder of Ryanair, purchased the property in 2001. Then known as Castleton Stud, Ryan renamed the farm Castleton Lyons after his family estate, Lyons Demesne, County Kildare. Following renovations to the property, it reopened as a stud farm and saw the addition of stallions such as Action This Day, Bernstein, Malibu Moon, Sir Shackleton, Toccet and Wiseman's Ferry. 

Also standing at the farm was Gio Ponti, who won three Eclipse Awards and earned more than $6 million. He was pensioned before the 2024 season and resides at the farm.

Ryan died in 2007 at the family estate in his native Ireland. His son Shane Ryan is the current owner.

According to the Herald-Leader, there was a proposal to "spend $5m in local tax money to preserve the farm" through the Purchase of Development Rights programme, but that was rejected in 2017. The report notes that the programme "uses matching federal dollars to buy development rights, which keeps the land from being developed." However, the federal programme does not allow foreign-born or non-US taxpaying citizens from receiving federal money. 

The programme proposed using local money to purchase the development rights, but the $5m would have been "roughly twice what the city allocates" to the programme each year and it was decided that was too steep of a price. 

City spokeswoman Susan Straub told the Herald-Leader the plan will initially be reviewed as part of a July 3 Urban County Planning Commission subdivision subcommittee meeting. The full planning commission will review the plans at a July 11 meeting.

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