HEADLINES:
• Work on garage foundation underway for Riverwalk at the Bridges apartments
• Riverfront Station seeks to break ground this spring on South Waterfront
• Regal Entertainment Group to anchor waterfront
• Construction on new Fort Dickerson entrance could begin this summer
• Island Home Avenue reopens; construction of River’s Edge to continue through summer
• Restaurant, craft brewery invest $500,000 in rejuvenating buildings on Sevier Avenue
• Suttree Landing Park, Waterfront Drive set to open this summer

Work on garage foundation underway for Riverwalk at the Bridges apartments

You’ll soon be seeing heavy equipment in action on the site of the former Baptist Hospital.

The Southeastern Development Associates team (formerly Blanchard & Calhoun Commercial) has received permits for grading and to work on the foundations for the structured parking garage for the Riverwalk at the Bridges apartment complex.

SEDA has been steadily moving forward with the redevelopment of the unused hospital site. The demolition in 2015 of four vacant hospital buildings and the razing of the old Vols Inn set the stage for construction of the new 300-unit luxury-style apartments.

The project also will create new public amenities: a 1,100-foot-long public riverwalk along the bluff, spanning from the Gay Street Bridge to the Henley Bridge; a 37,500-square-foot public plaza adjacent to the Henley Bridge, with amphitheater seating and an interactive fountain; a public plaza between the two apartment buildings; and a small pocket park along the east end of the riverwalk.

Riverfront Station seeks to break ground this spring on South Waterfront

University Housing Group (UHG) has produced preliminary plans for a new student housing development,  part of SEDA’s master plan for its South Waterfront property.

The Riverfront Station project is proposed as a 5- to 6-story student housing community that would be located at the northwest corner of Henley Street and West Blount Avenue.

The plans call for construction of 136 residential units that would provide living accommodations for 438 students.

Amenities will include a clubhouse, fitness/yoga rooms, group study centers, an enclosed parking garage, a leasing center and a central courtyard with an outdoor pool.

The development also will include a new section of riverwalk, which would connect beneath the Henley Bridge to the Riverwalk at the Bridges section on the opposite side of Henley Street.

The City’s overall South Waterfront plan calls for creation of a continuous 3-mile-long public riverwalk.

That riverwalk vision is taking shape: With a section completed at City View and sections being built at Suttree Landing Park, at River’s Edge and here at Riverfront Station and Riverwalk at the Bridges, more than one mile of new waterfront greenway is being constructed.

Meanwhile, UHG has submitted its development plans with the Form-Based Code Administrative Review Committee. UHG also held a public meeting last November to present its preliminary design and to identify the need to seek variances for the project. UHG presented to the Board of Zoning Appeals on Dec. 17 to seek variances for its project design.

The student housing group will present before the FBC Administrative Review Committee in January for the formal review process. Approval from the formal review is necessary to seek building permits.

UHG anticipates breaking ground this spring, with build-out of the development by fall 2017.

Regal Entertainment Group to anchor waterfront

In October, a milestone in redeveloping the South waterfront was announced: Regal Entertainment Group will be relocating its corporate headquarters to the Tennessee River in downtown Knoxville.

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero called it “a fantastic opportunity to bring a major corporate headquarters to our rapidly redeveloping South Waterfront, and to keep hundreds of high-paying jobs here in Knoxville.”

The move will bring Regal’s 325 headquarter employees to a nine-story office tower at the east end of the former Baptist Hospital site, overlooking the Tennessee River next to the Gay Street Bridge. With the move, a potential increase in the headquarters workforce to 400 employees is expected.

The office building, which has been vacant for years, is nine stories tall and has 178,000 square feet.

The City of Knoxville’s Industrial Development Board will purchase the office building for $6 million, and the City will own the building. The City will invest an additional $3 million in renovations and improvements to the building, for a total City investment of $9 million.

The package calls for Knox County providing $1.5 million for building improvements and the State of Tennessee contributing $1.5 million for improvements.

Southeastern Development Associates will provide $500,000 in cash assistance for exterior improvements, while TVA will provide approximately $80,000.

Regal will be providing $4 million to $5 million in upgrades and furnishings for the City-owned building.

Construction on new Fort Dickerson entrance could begin this summer

The City has completed streetscape improvements and will issue a Request for Qualifications to prequalify contractors interested in working on a new gateway entrance into Fort Dickerson Park.

Based on this timeline, a construction contractor may be able to begin construction on the new entrance by this summer.

The Aslan Foundation, which donated property for the new entrance and has protected and preserved many other significant South Waterfront tracts, estimates the value of the gateway park improvements to be $500,000 to $800,000.

Island Home Avenue reopens; construction of River’s Edge to continue through summer

The section of Island Home Avenue that had been closed since April reopened on Jan. 7.

A temporary stop sign is in place at the intersection of westbound Maplewood Drive and Island Home Avenue. Motorists are reminded that this section of Island Home Avenue is still a construction zone, to exercise due caution and to follow the signs posted within the construction zone.

Island Home Avenue was closed to allow a contractor to relocate utilities and the roadbed as part of the construction of the River’s Edge 134-unit apartment complex, a $14 million private investment on the South Waterfront.

The project includes a new 800-foot-long public riverwalk and a new public road, Splendid View Circle.

Rainy weather over the past few months hampered some work at the site and delayed the road’s reopening. The contractor, Empire Construction, had been given extensions to reopen the section of Island Home Avenue between 1650 Island Home Ave. and Maplewood Drive. 

Work is continuing on the apartment complex, realignment of Island Home Avenue and the riverwalk. One-lane closures will be permitted as needed.

The contractor anticipates that all work will be completed on both private and public portions of the project by the end of the summer.

Restaurant, craft brewery invest $500,000 in rejuvenating buildings on Sevier Avenue

Two projects on Sevier Avenue – a building that includes a craft brewery and another that will house a restaurant – are seeking commercial façade grants through the City’s Community Development Department.

Together, these projects represent close to $500,000 in small-business private investment that is helping to regenerate Sevier Avenue as the commercial spine for the Old Sevier area.

Updates in the South Waterfront Form-Based Code, adopted in May 2015, helped make the two projects possible.

The City’s Office of Redevelopment, in conjunction with the Law Department and Plans Review and Inspections, wanted to provide a clear pathway for property owners to modify, renovate or add onto their existing structures. The original code had addressed only new construction. 

The Form-Based Code process has been completed on three sites for adaptive reuses along Sevier Avenue.

One building has opened; it houses Alliance Brewing Co. at 1116 Sevier Ave. Additional construction is underway. 

Another structure, the former Civil Air Patrol building at 1147 Sevier Ave., will be housing a new restaurant, the Landing House, scheduled to open this summer.

Suttree Landing Park, Waterfront Drive set to open this summer

Work is progressing on construction of Suttree Landing Park and Waterfront Drive, with the projects’ completion anticipated by this summer.

Combined, the City’s first new park to open in more than a decade and the half-mile tree-lined road providing direct access to the park represent a combined City commitment of $6.6 million.

The first phase of Suttree Landing – a 8.25-acre linear park that hugs the shoreline of the Tennessee River – will cost $3.4 million.

Suttree Landing’s name pays homage to the famed fictitious son of 1950s Knoxville – the dark and rascally Cornelius Suttree, created by Cormac McCarthy almost 37 years ago.

By this summer, children will be romping in the playground and families enjoying public events on the festival lawn. Boaters will be putting into the Tennessee River, using an accessible boat launch, and this park will offer spectacular views of the North Waterfront.
The park also will feature natural plantings and showcase the Old Sevier Neighborhood Group’s butterfly garden.

Complementing Suttree Landing Park will be a new 2,988-foot-long two-lane tree-lined street, Waterfront Drive, which will offer direct access to the park. Constructing the new road will cost $3.2 million.