Chattanooga’s Industrial Development Board approved a proposed Tax Increment Financing district Monday on the site of the former Harriet Tubman housing development, though two residents of area neighborhoods asked that the process be slowed and the boundaries expanded.
“The City Council has already put this one on their agenda for tomorrow,” said Everlena Holmes, a Glenwood neighborhood advocate and executive director of Enroll the Region, a volunteer organization that helps vulnerable people get access to health care. “No wonder I continue to hear citizens say, ‘What good does it do to speak up when they have already made up their mind?'”
Nippon Paint is expected to build a 270,000-square-foot facility on 29 acres of the 44-acre site beginning in the first quarter of 2020, bringing 150 jobs to East Chattanooga over the next 5-7 years. The proposed tax increment financing district includes the site where Nippon will build, as well as the remaining 15 acres around it.
Chattanooga City Council member Anthony Byrd called the approval of the district “amazing news,” though he said he also knows it will be impossible to make everyone happy.
“I definitely understand their reservations – I get it, I have those same reservations,” he said. “But look at the type of money that’s going to be attracted from this project and give us more bang for our buck. Afterwards, we’ll see other development come in, and we can come back later and expand the district if needed.”