Anyone attending events near Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee over the next year can expect some significant changes. A major parking garage is being razed, and new traffic patterns will be implemented.
As part of the Neyland Entertainment District project, UT will begin demolishing two-thirds of the G10 parking garage this summer after the board of trustees and State Building Commission give their final approval Monday.
The project is supposed to transform the waterfront near Neyland Stadium into an entertainment district with nearly 175,000 square feet of space, including restaurants and a full-service hotel with a rooftop restaurant and pool. The entertainment district is expected to open in early 2028, and the hotel about a year later.
“It’ll just be awesome,” UT Athletic Director Danny White says. “We are really excited about the entertainment district – the hotel, condo, restaurant, amenities. It’s a private development – about a $280 million development – that will happen on the south end of our stadium.”
The 865 Neyland Project Team, which includes Dixon Greenwood, Jake Miller, Taylor Gray, the Hartland Hotel Group and Johnson Architecture, was awarded the project.
The plans call for an $83 million parking garage that UT would finance and own on part of the old G10 parking garage footprint along Neyland Drive. The entertainment district would be built atop a new, six-story parking garage planned to replace the eastern part of the G10 garage. The garage would be funded by the university through bonds issued by the state and would have 1,316 spaces, plans show.
The G10 garage has approximately 1,800 parking spots. UT has created parking next to the volleyball facility and football field that would be incorporated for events and students. The G10 garage has been a favorite tailgating spot for fans for many years, but it’s also plagued by traffic congestion.
“The G10 garage was never built for events,” White says. “That’s why we’ve had so many challenges with getting people in and out of it. So the new garage will be much more efficient that way.”
But how G10’s construction impacts university faculty, staff and students daily remains to be seen. The university has already been struggling to find enough parking to accommodate everyone in need as UT enrollment grows.
A differentiator for UT?
White says the end product will give UT an entertainment district that will enhance game days, generate revenue and differentiate UT from other universities. The district mirrors what some professional sports cities have done, including The Battery in Atlanta and the proposed Eastpoint development surrounding the new Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
“I think we’ve always been in the sports entertainment business,” White adds. “We’ve always had concerts in our arena and in our stadium. But we have these big, expensive buildings. How do we monetize them more frequently?
“But the entertainment district for us isn’t about making money. It’s about the experience we can provide for our fans and our students. We think it’s going to be a really cool project. It just makes our campus even more inviting and more attractive for people to come to.”
Although it’s uncertain how the absence of G10 will impact traffic during game days before completion, UT will be implementing new traffic patterns for the upcoming season trying to ease congestion.
The university tested the new plan during the recent Luke Combs concert and will test it again for the Savannah Bananas game May 23.
Tennessee Athletics has worked closely with the city of Knoxville, Visit Knoxville, TDOT, KPD, UTPD, campus leadership and engineering/planning consultant Kimley-Horn to find game day traffic solutions. The changes are intended to streamline post-event departures.
As part of the new plan, Neyland Drive will feature a revised traffic pattern to help ease congestion:
• Three westbound lanes will guide vehicles toward Alcoa Highway, I-40 and Kingston Pike.
• The far-left lane will function as a Kingston Pike Express Lane for faster access and reduced bottlenecks.