A new condominium complex is planned for Chattanooga's surging North Shore with a developer looking at putting up a three- or four-story building holding up to 27 units.
One- and two-bedroom condos are proposed on a vacant tract at 715 Hamilton Ave. with the building having a planned entrance from North Market Street. The units are expected to sell for less than $250,000 each, said Roddy Henderson of SE First Holding LLC.
"It's depending on what the market is doing," he said. "We expect it to be in a lower price point."
The aim is to make living downtown more affordable, Henderson said.
"If you want to live downtown or on the North Shore, there's not a whole lot available under $300,000," he said. "Stuff that is available gets gone quickly."
Henderson said the development group for the multimillion-dollar project also wants to place about 4,500 square feet of retail on the ground floor, but that needs approval from the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission. Plans are to seek the OK for the retail space Monday at a meeting of the panel.
"What we want was the possibility to have a coffee shop in our commercial space," Henderson said.
However, the Regional Planning Agency staff has recommended the project be denied. Rezoning of the property could allow for a large commercial project which would be out of character with the neighborhood, the staff said. Still, the staff report noted that since the proposal is largely residential and the commercial part is less than 5,000 square feet, it could be in keeping with the development form in the area.
Henderson said the developers don't need a zoning change to build the residential condos.
"We're trying to get a change in use for a very small retail space," he said.
Under the code, Henderson said, the developers could put in offices, but they think the neighborhood could use something like a nearby coffee shop.
Parking for the complex would go under the building, he said.
"We'd create adequate parking," Henderson said. "We're not relying on the street."
If the project gets approval, work could start in late summer, he said. Opening of the complex could be in early summer 2019, Henderson said.
The North Shore is seeing an array of new, planned or recently completed projects, though there are concerns among some North Chattanooga residents that it's being over-built.
More than 300 apartments are under construction or planned off Cherokee Boulevard. Also, more than $10 million in new commercial space has recently opened or is planned for the area.
Even a new 21-room hotel is proposed for the site of a longtime North Shore restaurant building next to the Walnut Street Bridge off Frazier Avenue.
"It's a very popular place to develop ... and for people to live," Henderson said.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.