A 6-acre tract on Hixson Pike near the Publix supermarket, at the Hixson Pike and Cassandra Smith Road juncture, is slated to hold a couple of fast-food restaurants and other businesses.
“We like it because we think at the intersection, it’s the best site in the area with the activity created by the Publix center across the street,” said Steve Bovell of Multi-Site Properties LLC.
The project, to be located on property next to Valleybrook Presbyterian Church, is valued at about $2.5 million when built out.
Bovell said one fast-food tenant is committed, though he declined to immediately name it.
“They’re somewhat new to the market,” he said. “They’re really just coming into the market.”
Part of an adjacent space also may have a restaurant, he said.
Bovell said while there’s already a traffic light at Hixson Pike and Cassandra Smith, the new commercial development will add another light that will be tied to the existing signal.
“They’re adding a traffic signal on that side,” the developer said.
The project already has won rezoning approval from the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission and the Chattanooga City Council.
However, Bovell said a fuel station originally envisioned at the site won’t go up.
“We agreed we would not do a convenience store,” he said. “We heard complaints from surrounding residents and made it work without the convenience store.”
Currently, there are a couple of small buildings on the site, though most of it is wooded, said Bovell, whose partners are Joe Settle and David Kelly.
Not far from the planned development, a 44-acre parcel had been on the market as a potential new mixed-use planned community.
Eight tracts held by different owners made up the site off Hixson Pike, said Bill Raines, president of The Raines Group.
Envisioned on that parcel had been 160,000 square feet of commercial space, a 240-unit apartment complex and 16 single-family homes. The commercial space would go along Hixson Pike with apartments on the middle part of the tract and single family homes in the rear, including on the ridge, Raines said earlier.
Email Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com.