Downtown Chattanooga could see 140 more residences [Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn.]

Oct. 6—A developer is looking at building a mixed-use village with townhomes, condominiums and cottages in downtown Chattanooga on a parking lot owned by insurance giant Unum, officials said Thursday.

About 140 residential units could be offered for sale on a Vine Street parking lot near the company's headquarters, said Natalie Godwin, Unum's assistant vice president of external communication.

She said in an email that developer Empire Communities of Atlanta is planning for a mix of townhouses, stacked condos, brownstones, and urban cottages across two city blocks currently used as parking.

"The redevelopment will focus on for-sale residential, missing middle housing types, and a village-like setting," Godwin said.

Emily Mack, chief executive of the downtown nonprofit redevelopment group River City Co., told the Downtown Council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce on Thursday that prices of the units could range from around $350,000 to $500,000.

"They would be kind of Georgetown-esque," she said, citing the trendy Washington, D.C., neighborhood.

Mack said that a request for proposals was earlier issued for the 5-acre Vine Street tract across Georgia Avenue from Unum's headquarters. She said Unum selected the developer and is now in the due diligence phase.

Mack said she expected work could begin on the project in mid 2023.

The proposed project is the second of three phases that disability insurer Unum has pursued in redeveloping about 15 acres of parking lots around its campus.

The first involved the building of the $48 million, 163-unit River Rock apartment and townhouse rental project at Cherry and Fourth streets.

Alan McMahon, development manager for South Carolina-based The Beach Co., said in an earlier phone interview leasing of the recently completed residential space was going well.

McMahon cited the flexibility a lot of people have when it comes to working remotely that emerged from the pandemic coupled with Chattanooga's quality of life, the outdoors and downtown.

"All that is right outside your front door," he said.

Mack said a third potential project on Unum property may involve a parking lot off Walnut Street. There could be 250 more residential units along with 10,000 square feet of commercial space, according to River City.

Collectively, Mack said, about 550 new residences could mean 700 to 800 more people living downtown within the next three to five years.

"That's pretty incredible," she said.

Broad Street Plan

Meanwhile, Mack told the chamber group River City is planning a five-day gathering in January aimed at gaining input about the recently unveiled initiative looking at Broad Street from the Tennessee Aquarium to M.L. King Boulevard.

Planners are embarking on a block-by-block study of the key downtown artery, with a goal of having a plan ready to present in late spring 2023, she said.

"Our goal is to meet the community vision to design a premiere public street," Mack said.

Ella Livingston, owner of handcraft chocolate company Cocoa Asante in Chattanooga, asked Mack in the chamber meeting on Thursday if there would be room for small businesses such as her own on Broad.

She said she "would love to be on Broad Street," noting her company is currently at the INCubator on the North Shore.

"Absolutely," Mack said.

She said River City's One Riverfront plan, revealed last year to guide future waterfront development downtown, calls for attracting local and minority businesses.

Chattanooga resident Don Brandeberry said in an interview after the meeting that remaking Broad Street is an opportunity to bolster the quality of downtown's natural environment.

He said it's important pedestrian use of the street be integrated into plans.

Mack said the aquarium, where Broad Street starts, is "one of the city's greatest assets" and officials would like to elevate it even further by creating significant public space.

"The aquarium plaza is incredible," she said, but she added that it has been around for 30 years and "some argue it has been loved to death."

Asked about an idea to extend a study of Broad beyond M.L. King to St. Elmo, Mack said traffic counts on the road are similar from the waterfront to M.L. King. Counts increase the further south traveled on Broad, she said.

Contact Mike Pare at [email protected] or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.

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