The Crash Pad is located at 29 Johnson Street in Southside Chattanooga. One of the minds behind two of the Southside's most well-known businesses - The Flying Squirrel and The Crash Pad - has another project on the table for the up-and-coming neighborhood.
Dan Rose has presented a request to the Regional Planning Agency for the rezoning of a 3,900-square-foot building tucked between the Chattanooga Choo Choo, the Terminal Brewhouse and The Crash Pad, in order to install a restaurant.
The proposed location would sit adjacent to the significantly renovated south side of the Choo Choo, which is undergoing millions of dollars in repairs. It also sits next to the current home of the city's horse-drawn carriage stable and the Terminal brewhouse.
Rose said Thursday that the new restaurant is in "way too early" of development to talk about what it may look like, or to disclose any details.
The Flying Squirrel, built by Max Poppel and Rose, won the people's choice award in an architectural contest sponsored by the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects in June.
The venue, designed by Palmer Built Environments, features a striking glass and wood design that helps erase the transition between being inside and outside, with high ceilings, reused pieces of a 115-year-old barn from McMinnville and huge beams from an old knitting mill.
The group's original business - The Crash Pad hostel - has also been recognized as an innovative business and a popular place to stay for those seeking to take advantage of the city's outdoor scene, and the Rose-Poppel duo have earned environmental nods for their work on building pervious pavement outside their businesses to allow water to drain away.
The site is currently zoned for manufacturing, which prohibits the consumption of alcohol within 500 feet of a school. According to Google Earth, the southwest corner of the property sits within 380 feet of the northeast corner of Battle Academy elementary school.
A C-3 central business zone would exempt the new restaurant from this rule, allowing the sale of alcohol at the site.
The planning commission called the proposal a "positive precedent" and reccomended approval of the plan with conditions.