The developers of the townhouses built along Cherry and Third streets over the past five years are planning to add more, and even larger, units on Walnut Street.More upscale townhouses are coming to downtown Chattanooga as a developer is moving ahead with plans to build up to a dozen more units on Walnut Street.
Dale Mabee, chief manager for Urban Renaissance Group LLC, said the units are likely to sell from $600,000 to around $1 million a piece.
Mabee told a city panel on Monday his group wants to exercise its option to buy a strip of land on Walnut between Aquarium Way and Third Street to build the townhouses.
The purchase price for the tract, along with what it owes on Third Street, is about $850,000, he said at a meeting of the Chattanooga Downtown Redevelopment Corp.
The development group already has built similar townhouses on Cherry Street between Aquarium Way and Third Street. It also has constructed some smaller units along Third.
"It gives us an opportunity to meet more demand in the market," Mabee said about exercising its option.
In 2007, the company and the CDRC agreed to the deal for the block to be developed to add more downtown housing units.
Urban Renaissance started building on Cherry Street but the severe recession hit and slowed construction of the project, called Walnut Hill Townhomes. In addition to selling all the Cherry Street units, the company has sold a pair of townhouses on Third Street. But those units are smaller than on Cherry Street and the ones planned for Walnut Street, Mabee said.
"We've had considerable interest for the larger units," he said. The company asked to exercise its option on Walnut before it finished building out the Third Street units.
"We're paying the money in advance of what was anticipated," Mabee said. "We're going to move as quickly as possible."
CDRC Chairman Daisy Madison said the deal is in the city's interest.
"There's no reason not to do this," she said. "The lots will be developed sooner."
Mabee said the Walnut units are expected to be about 3,900 square feet each in size. Five more units are slated for Third Street, he said.
To date, Mabee said, the company has paid about $1 million to the city for the property, some $33,606 in extension payments due to the recession. The new houses have contributed around $450,000 in property tax payments.
A city parking lot off Aquarium Way is expected to go away with the construction of the new Walnut Street units, but the timing for that action wasn't determined Monday.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.