New apartments
Rents will start at $995 a month for one bedroom, $1,280 for two bedrooms and $1,575 for three bedrooms for Integra Vistas apartments in Hillocks Farm.
A high-profile 15-acre tract in Hixson is targeted for new commercial space, and the move comes as families start leasing 280 apartments nearby at the huge Hillocks Farm project.
A vacant parcel at Highway 153 and Grubb Road just south of Academy Sports + Outdoors is undergoing site work. Developers plan three lots each about 1 acre-plus in size for new commercial tenants, said Joe Pleva of Keller Williams Commercial.
With expansion already taking place in the area, such as the apartments at nearby Hillocks Farm, Pleva said the new lots are expected to generate a lot of interest.
The rest of the land is zoned to house an assisted living facility. But the development group, Hixson Investors LLC, is still finalizing plans, Pleva said.
Just across Highway 153, the first units for the Integra Vistas apartments are to open next month in the 190-acre Hillocks Farm mixed-use development, said Beth Coulter, the commercial manager for the housing complex.
She said plans are to open the apartments in phases with all 280 of the units to be completed by the spring of 2018.
Rents will start at $995 a month for one bedroom, $1,280 for two bedrooms and $1,575 for three bedrooms, Coulter said.
She said leasing of the apartments is "going well," though the units can't be seen from Highway 153 and that limits their visibility.
The 20-acre apartment complex by Florida-based Integra Land Co. is the first part of a projected $100 million worth of new development in Hillocks Farm when it's all built out, according to officials.
Following construction of the apartments, Hillocks Farm is to include 500,000 square feet of commercial space and 250,000 square feet of office space, as well as walking trails and outdoor amenities.
Chattanooga builder Duane Horton, who is overseeing the roll-out of Hillocks Farm, said retail space is next, and there are potential announcements in the works.
"We're probably three months away from really making a large announcement," he said. "I feel like we're making good progress."
Road work on Highway 153 in front of the development has added turn lanes. Horton said a traffic light is expected to be added with the next phase of work.
Inside Hillocks Farm, a traffic circle at the front has been constructed as well as a road leading to the apartments.
The term "hillock" is a hill often near a larger range or ridge referenced in the Bible.
The retail portion of the project is estimated to bolster the city and Hamilton County's annual tax base by $2 million when built out, officials have said. It's expected to have a garden-like environment, and officials said they don't plan big-box stores such as Walmart.
All of the three zones of development - apartments, retail and office - would be connected by trails. Buffers would separate buildings from existing neighborhoods, project designers have said.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare @timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.