Nearly six years after acquiring the shuttered remains of what was once Chattanooga's biggest manufacturing employer, developer Jimmy White said Wednesday he has preliminary interest and agreements for nearly $1.3 billion of new housing, office, retail and factory development on the 120-acre site.
During a groundbreaking ceremony at the project billed as The Bend, White said work will soon begin on laying the roads and infrastructure to accommodate the redevelopment of the former Combustion Engineering and Alstom Power Co. site on the city's westside into the biggest downtown development in decades in Chattanooga. White, the president of Urban Story Ventures, said The Bend will be the biggest riverfront development since the Tennessee Aquarium and other waterfront attractions reshaped Chattanooga's downtown in the 1980s.
"As a kid growing up in Chattanooga, I saw how the Tennessee Aquarium and other riverfront development helped our city evolve and grow," White said Wednesday during a celebration of The Bend project. "This is our last piece of the riverfront attached to downtown, and it's exciting to think what this will mean for our city. Today is monumental."
(READ MORE: White looks to redevelop Chattanooga's shuttered business sites)
By this fall, Atlanta-based Woodfield Development and Charleston, South Carolina-based Origins Development Partners LLC plan to begin building the first phase of what could grow to 1,200 housing units over the next decade at The Bend. White said he is also talking with a couple of corporations about locating their headquarters at The Bend, and he hopes to also develop an array of restaurants, stores and potentially a 500-room hotel and marina and a high-rise condominium complex on the river.
Patrick Kassin, a development partner at Woodfield Development, said the first 250 or so apartments planned at The Bend will include studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units, which should be ready by 2027.
"Chattanooga is an incredible city, and we've been looking at development opportunities here for the past three years," Kassin said in an interview Wednesday during the groundbreaking ceremony. "We see a lot of growth and opportunity across East Tennessee, and I don't think there is a better development going on in Chattanooga right now than The Bend."
Kassin and Zach Bearden, a principal for Origins Development, said they have done other joint venture housing projects in Charleston and other cities in the Southeast and are still finalizing plans and the name for the new apartments at The Bend. The developers said it is still too early to know precise investment costs or rental rates for the new apartments.
Although hundreds of apartment units are now under construction around Chattanooga, Bearden said he is confident The Bend will prove popular with its proximity to downtown, the Tennessee River and the riverwalk, in addition to the commercial and waterfront amenities expected to be built over time at The Bend.
"There is a good growth outlook for Chattanooga," Bearden said.
Under the tax increment financing agreement approved by Chattanooga and Hamilton County commissioners last year, at least 10% of the new housing units will be reserved as affordable units priced so that those making 80% or less of the median household income in Chattanooga can afford to live in the apartments without spending more than 30% of their income on rent.
The tax incentive package for The Bend is the biggest tax increment financing deal ever approved in Chattanooga and the third biggest anywhere in Tennessee, White said. Under the 20-year agreement, a portion of the extra property tax revenues charged on the enhanced value of the property will be used to pay for infrastructure and other development costs for the development, while part of the extra tax revenues from the new investments at The Bend will be used to help fund city and county expenses for education, affordable housing, sidewalks and a new fire station.
Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly said The Bend will create an entire new neighborhood and help to propel Chattanooga and its downtown with needed housing, jobs and business relocations. Ultimately, The Bend and the planned redevelopment of Chattanooga's oldest housing project -- College Hill Courts just across Riverfront Parkway from The Bend -- are projected to bring more than $2.3 billion of development to the westside. Plans for the overall redevelopment of the area were developed by the Chattanooga Housing Authority over the past couple of years in a new Westside Evolves plan.
"This is going to make us a more competitive, regional economy and give us a genuine economic lift that helps to close many of our economic gaps that have plagued this community for far too long," Kelly said during Wednesday's groundbreaking.
The mayor said The Bend will create the down payment that is going to attract a $50 million Choice Neighborhood Grant from the federal government for Westside Evolves.
(READ MORE: City approves Westside Evolves plan to rebuild College Hill Courts)
Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp praised the vision of White and the Urban Story Ventures team, which Wamp said "is unlike anything we've seen since the redevelopment of our riverfront in the 1980s."
"I think this will help finish Chattanooga's downtown riverfront and the extraordinary vision of those who came before us to revitalize our waterfront," Wamp said.
The county mayor, who has voiced concerns about other tax incentive plans granted for other developments in Chattanooga, said the incentives offered at The Bend align taxpayer interests in funding schools, affordable housing and essential services with business interests in investment, jobs and new growth opportunities.
Wamp has pushed the Hamilton County school district to develop a career center aligned with private employers on the Golden Gateway site that the county acquired from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee nearby along M.L. King Boulevard.
(READ MORE: Hamilton County pays BlueCross $10 million to buy Golden Gateway for school)
"This is a project that was designed by Chattanoogans, not by a developer trying to impose his will, and we look forward to continuing to provide what Chattanoogans want for this great site," White said.
Already, The Bend has added 850 jobs from more than $250 million of investment from the Australian-based battery maker Novonix, which moved into one of the shuttered Alstom buildings, and the relocation of the headquarters of Micronics Engineered Filtration Group from New Hampshire to Chattanooga. Along Riverfront Parkway, several new medical offices have also sprung up.
"This has been a long time coming, but it's exciting to see what is coming and to think about what this will grow to and how it will help Chattanooga," White said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.