With 17 projects representing $160 million in new investments in the works, River City Company is rightfully considered Chattanooga’s “downtown development organization,” Executive Director Emily Mack says.
Mack delivered a scripted updated on RCC’s progress on its many development ventures to the Downtown Council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce last week and answered several audience questions off the cuff.
While describing the endeavors in which RCC is involved during a membership breakfast at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Mack developed a theme of diversity and inclusion, saying the organization’s vision is to help foster a city that “fulfills the hopes and needs of every Chattanoogan.”
One of the keys Mack said can unlock this vision are the mixed-use developments rising out of the soil on which 15 acres of Unum surface parking lots once rested.
RCC and Unum, an insurance company headquartered in Chattanooga, partnered on the effort several years ago and are beginning to see the fruits of their labors, Mack said, with the first of three phases completed and the final two phases getting off the ground.
The new $48 million River Rock development on Walnut Street was built on two former Unum parking lots and is comprised of 163 luxury apartments – 90% of which are leased – and 16,000 square feet of ground floor retail space.
Five acres of former parking sprawl on Vine Street will see the construction of 136 for sale townhomes made available at “attainable price points.”
“Those are the developer’s words, not mine,” Mack said after hearing laughter at the tables. She did not identify the developer but did say they are currently doing their due diligence.
This leaves a 5-acre patch south of the Edwin Hotel, which Unum expects will include 250 residential units and 10,000 square feet of commercial and public green space. The company is presently searching for a suitable developer.
“These redevelopments will (collectively) add 550 two- and three-bedroom residential units to the city, which could result in 700 to 800 new residents calling downtown home in next three to five years,” said Mack.
Mack’s presentation included a rendering of the Chattanooga Lookouts’ upcoming stadium at the U.S. Pipe and Wheland Foundry sites, which she displayed on a large screen behind her before switching to a slide of the baseball team’s current home on Hawk Hill.
“I brought this slide because I knew you’d ask me about it if I didn’t,” Mack laughed.
Mack said discussions about the future of Hawk Hill will begin in a few months when RCC reaches out to the Chattanooga community to develop a long-term vision for the site that will include potential uses, connectivity, infrastructure needs and more.
Mack discussed RCC’s plans for Broad Street while displaying a slide looking down the 120-foot-wide thoroughfare from the plaza outside the Tennessee Aquarium.
“Our plan will include a block-by-block analysis and a schematic that includes the preliminary engineering and survey work,” she explained. “Our goal is to design a premier public street that includes multimodal transportation, green infrastructure, parking and future economic development opportunities while supporting existing businesses and residents.”
The last portion of this statement later prompted the minority owner of a small Chattanooga business to ask whether or not the Broad Street plan would consider establishments like hers.
“I don’t have access to a lot of capital,” said Ella Livingston, a Ghanaian American who owns and operates Cocoa Asante, a local chocolate maker. “Will there be room for a company like mine on the reimagined Broad Street?”
Mack said building inclusively will involve attracting locally owned minority businesses, although RCC still needs to identify the tools it can use to not only attract these businesses but also retain them.
“Residents want small, locally owned business that reflect who they are,” she added.
Another member followed Mack’s discussion of the Unum and Broad Street projects at RCC with queries about parking.
“Parking is not an easy thing, and as you’re bringing in more people, you’re bringing in more traffic. And to think everyone is going to walk or ride a bicycle is not realistic.”
Mack said the Broad Street plan does include vehicular traffic, dedicated on-street parking, protected bike lanes and wide sidewalks.
“Broad Street is literally really broad, so we believe we can accommodate public transit, vehicular parking, bikes, scooters and pedestrian activity.”
Mack also noted that a third-party parking study RCC published in 2018 indicates Chattanooga has adequate parking. The challenge, she added, is people like to park their vehicles outside their destination.
“People don’t like to walk more than half of a city block. I’d hope we can do better than that.”
A third member touched on an issue that has the potential to vex development in downtown Chattanooga – the city’s aging and inadequate sewer infrastructure.
“We have tremendous electrical capability but we lack sewer capacity,” he said. “Will that be addressed? These new developments will drive a lot of need.”
Mack said RCC is discussing the sewer issue with the local Department of Public Works as part of its Broad Street plan.
“We’ve started those preliminary conversations to help us understand the existing conditions and what we hope is an opportunity to start upgrading those systems. What’s under our streets has a tremendous impact on what happens above them, so we’re having those discussions.”
Mack said the next step in reimagining Broad Street will involve a five-day design charette early next year. In the meantime, she suggested members complete the RCC’s survey at www.broadstreetcha.com.
Mack also provided an update on RCC’s widely publicized master plan for renewing the city’s celebrated riverfront district.
“Chattanooga has made transformational strides over last 30 years to revitalize the riverfront. Today, the riverfront faces several challenges, including an aging infrastructure, a lack of certain amenities and an imbalance of tourist and visitor activity compared to local use. ONE Riverfront Chattanooga is our chance as community to reimagine the riverfront.”
The community engagement RCC sought as part of its planning process has been “foundational,” Mack said, and helped the organization to develop a roadmap that includes activating the riverfront, creating a place for every Chattanoogan, developing a better sense of place and strengthening connectivity.
To achieve this, RCC aims to spearhead a riverfront makeover that includes the installation of shaded seating, the addition of housing for “a variety of incomes,” restaurants and retail options, and ways for people to “get their feet wet.”
“The riverfront has the opportunity to be a premiere gathering place for the Chattanooga community. In addition to large events and concerts, it should have diverse local programming that represents the full spectrum of the community’s interests and audiences, as well as opportunities to get in the water and connect to the river.”
Mack said the plan is complete and that RCC is hoping to engage a multidisciplinary design firm in the first quarter of 2023.
RCC was formed as a 501(c)(3) in 1986. It has an annual budget of $3.6 million and is self-funded.
Since 2016, RCC has completed 87 projects representing over $1 billion in investment and either added or renovated a million square feet and added 5,000 housing units.
Projects completed in 2021 included the $3 million renovation of Walnut Street Plaza, the $5 million makeover of Patten Parkway and sales of parcels on MLK Boulevard where entities have built a 24-unit multifamily development, the new headquarters of the Urban League and the home of Slim & Husky’s pizzeria.