NEW CONSTRUCTION
Among projects recently completed, ongoing or on track for funding both on and just off the UTC campus:› West Campus housing: 600 beds, $80 million› New library: $48 million› Douglas Heights: 691 beds, $40 million› Lupton Library renovation: $35.9 million› Vue at 5th: 64 apartments, $7 million› Vine and Houston: 68 apartments, $5 million› Fleetwood Building: 30 units, more than $3.5 million› 324 Vine: 15 units, $2 millionSource: UTC, projects, news archives
For years, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was seen as too disconnected from the renaissance that’s taken hold in the central city.
But today, UTC and the area around it are experiencing a building boomlet in new construction, including an array of apartments which are adding more than 1,300 beds with more on the drawing board.
Solid UTC enrollment gains for much of the decade and enhanced community ties are seen as helping the area better share in downtown’s resurgence, observers said. More than $220 million in building projects are either recently completed, ongoing or on track for funding both on and just off campus.
“It’s right in line with where the city is and the things happening downtown,” said Roe Elam, development director for Walk2Campus Properties, a private company spending millions of dollars on new apartments near UTC.