Record $400 million in development projected to double downtown population

Downtown is the heart of the city, and if the downtown is vibrant, growing and dynamic, it means the whole city is growing, vibrant and dynamic.

Since the Tennessee Aquarium opened in 1992, nearly $3.8 billion of tourism, retail and office development has been added in Chattanooga’s central city.

But of the estimated 45,678 people who work in the urban core, only 3.2 percent live there.

However, the number of people living downtown in apartments, hotels and new homes is projected to be more than double from a record $400 million of new development underway or on the drawing board over the next couple of years.