Standing in the abandoned shell of a building in the city’s South Broad District, Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly and Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger last week detailed a grand vision for revitalizing 120 acres near one of the municipality’s major entrances. But before the proposal can move forward, it must first receive OKs from the Hamilton County Commission, Chattanooga City Council and both the city and the county industrial development boards.
“None of this will be finalized until we have received all of those approvals,” Jermaine Freeman, Chattanooga’s economic development officer, said in an interview Thursday.
The plans involve constructing a new baseball stadium for the Chattanooga Lookouts at the blighted U.S. Pipe site off Chestnut Street, which local leaders hope will help catalyze $1 billion worth of development on the surrounding property.
“It’s an opportunity for us to take a step into the future in developing a very undesirable piece of land that is the gateway to our city,” City Council Chairman Darrin Ledford told the Chattanooga Times Free Press in an interview after the announcement Thursday.
The next steps will involve creating a new tax increment financing district, which will pay for an estimated 63% of the project using the incremental growth in property tax revenue generated on the land. Council members and county commissioners will consider the district once it receives approval from the industrial development boards.