City assistance to leverage $21 million in private investments along Magnolia Avenue – plus a $700,000 City down payment on a new Burlington fire hall – were proposed by Mayor Indya Kincannon and approved by City Council on Tuesday, Dec. 12.
“The City has primed the pump for redevelopment and collaborative private reinvestment along the 3-mile Magnolia Avenue corridor between the new multi-purpose stadium and Chilhowee Park,” Mayor Kincannon said.
“We invested heavily in public amenities, such as the initial $9 million Magnolia Avenue streetscape phases, the upcoming $2 million Burlington streetscape project, and a new Burlington Fire Station 6 to replace and allow us to repurpose the original station, built in 1937.
“Private investors are already responding. East Knoxville is on the rise.”
City Council approved a $700,000 purchase of two parcels for a new Burlington fire station, a block east of the current small and aging Station 6, which eventually could be converted into commercial space. The Burlington station responds to about 1,600 emergency calls each year.
Also Tuesday, two separate private redevelopment projects were supported by City tax incentives.
City Council approved Mayor Kincannon’s Park City Redevelopment Plan, prepared by Knoxville’s Community Development Corp. It includes a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) up to $500,000 to make the renovation four historic structures in the 2700 block of Magnolia Avenue economically feasible.
The Courtland Group, led by developer Jeffrey Nash, has proposed investing $13 million to convert the stately but dilapidated and vacant Aston, Lakewood and Shenandoah buildings into 57 two-bedroom condominiums, priced to be attainable by first-time home buyers. The buildings are prominent Magnolia Avenue red brick landmarks, built in the 1920s and early 1930s.
A fourth building, the nearby Graham Building, would be renovated into eight one-bedroom workforce housing apartments.
Nash also is negotiating with a private owner to purchase the historic Spanish-style Sterchi-Audigier House, which sits vacant and fire-damaged at Magnolia and Cherry Street. Nash wants to save the 98-year-old iconic building from demolition and restore it.
The second redevelopment project approved by City Council on Tuesday was a payment-in-lieu-of-tax (PILOT) agreement that will allow the non-profit Knoxville Leadership Foundation to invest $8 million to renovate the former 65,000-square-foot Swan Bakery building, 1801 E. Magnolia Ave., for its KnoxWorx job training program.