Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 6/8/16. Construction projects like the one at at the intersection of Houston and M.L. King Blvd are expected to breathe new life into the historic street. M.L. King Boulevard business owner Larry Torrence says he’d like to keep his Uncle Larry’s Restaurant open after 8 p.m. like many downtown Chattanooga eateries, but he can’t risk it.
“When it gets dark, the street’s not well lit up,” he said. “We’ve got homeless and stuff down here, and some of them get involved in the wrong stuff. If there were more of a police presence and lighting, it would help vendors a lot down here.”
The rebirth of the M.L. King district, a 10-block corridor between Georgia and Central avenues that many know for its historic African-American roots, remains a work in progress despite redevelopment initiatives over several decades.
As thousands of Chattanoogans head to the boulevard Monday during Riverbend’s Bessie Smith Strut, they will see one of the most potentially transformative projects in years. The towering Douglas Heights apartments, a $40 million venture, soon will offer housing with its 691 beds near M.L. King and Douglas Street in the center of the district.
Students attending the nearby University of Tennessee at Chattanooga are expected to take up a large share of the space in the 275,000-square-foot, seven-story complex that’s to open Aug. 1. Demand is solid so far, said Douglas Heights leasing agent Rebekah Petty.