River City Co. chief Kim White likes to say that Bryon and Ken DeFoor don't do anything small, as the brothers undertake about $88 million in new downtown Chattanooga development.
"When they drank the downtown Kool-Aid, they drank it big-time," she says.
The signature project downtown of their company, DeFoor Brothers Development, will be the Westin Hotel at M.L. King Boulevard and Pine Street downtown. The DeFoors are converting the 10-story Gold Building that was built as the headquarters of insurer BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee into a 254-room hotel.
The hotel is part of a larger development within a four-block area that will include new condominiums, a high-end restaurant, and office space. In addition, the Defoors helped fund a sizable streetscaping project at Chestnut and Eighth streets to help create a festival atmosphere in the area.
They also bought the former Pioneer Bank building at Eighth and Chestnut and moved their offices into the structure along with a pair of related companies.
As office, hotel, restaurant and nursing home developers, the Defoors had brought more than $100 million of commercial building projects to East Brainerd, Hixson and other suburban sites over the past three decades.
But it was the urging of their children that they turned their attention a few years ago towards Chattanooga's central city.
"The Millennials and next generation of our family were the ones who brought us downtown and asked us to consider doing inner-city work," says Byron DeFoor. "When Fletcher Bright approached us about selling some properties he owned downtown, it all seemed to all fall into place."
Among their suburban projects are the Embassy Suites hotel off Shallowford Road. Also, Grace Healthcare LLC was founded in 1995 by Byron DeFoor for the purpose of owning and managing skilled nursing, assisted living and rehabilitation facilities.
Most Valuable Players
What business leaders were the most influential in shaping the local economy in 2016? In the Chattanooga region, 2016 was a year of building for the future. The first new nuclear reactor of the 21st century and the biggest plant construction project ever in the region was completed, while a record amount of new housing, hotel and retail development was launched in downtown Chattanooga to soon double the number of residents in the central city. One of the biggest floorcovering plants took shape in North Georgia as two carpet companies combined and Chattanooga's airport added another airline and parking facility. Tennessee's biggest heath insurer prepared to implement its biggest rate hike under the so-called Obamacare program, while the business trio that built one of Chattanooga's most successful startups in the past decade began a fund and program to bring more logistics companies to Chattanooga. The individuals who led such efforts and did the most to reshape the regional economy are our Most valuable Players in business in 2016. Our top list of MVPs includes both seasoned veterans and newly named heads of local businesses and reflects the diversity of Chattanooga's changing economy. * Tennessee American Water President Valoria Armstrong pushes new boundaries * Dynamo Accelerator's founders get back to their trucking industry roots * River City President Kim White helps bring record investment to Chattanooga's central city * Developer Chris Curtis revitalizing MLK with Douglas Heights, other projects * Terry Hart charts a growth course for Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport * Stacy Lightfoot helps students 'Step Up' and learn through internships * Bob Shaw grows Engineered Floors to four plants, 3,000 employees * DeFoor brothers embark on $88 million of new projects in central city * Mike Skaggs leads startup of first new nuke in America in two decades * BlueCross CEO J.D. Hickey scales back individual coverage amid tumult in Obamacare* These are Chattanooga's most influential business leaders