Chattanooga's apartment building boom may soon be headed west to Lookout Valley.
Lookout Valley is only a few minutes from downtown Chattanooga but still offers plenty of undeveloped, wooded properties with scenic views of Lookout and Elder mountains.
Developer Tommy Austin, who acquired nearly 33 acres in Tiftonia more than a decade ago for future development, thinks the time may be ripe to bring one of the biggest apartment complexes ever built to Lookout Valley. On Monday, Austin gained the endorsement of city planners to rezone his property between Cummings Highway and Kelly's Ferry Road to erect a 246-unit apartment complex.
"I love Lookout Valley - it's a beautiful area that is convenient and close to downtown," Austin said. "I think all sectors of the housing market should be able to live there. What we're proposing would be very popular for young professionals who love to mountain bike, or want to put their boat in at Sullivan's landing or want to play a round of golf at Black Creek. A lot of those people would like to rent so it seems like there is a market opportunity here."
But before he builds, Austin will have to gain approval from the Chattanooga City Council next month to rezone his property.
Despite opposition from some neighbors, Austin took the first step forward for his project Monday by gaining the support of a zoning change by the advisory Chattanooga/Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission. Austin won the planners' support to rezone the single-family district to a multi-family zone after agreeing to limit use of a back entrance to the apartments off of Kelly's Ferry Road to only an emergency gate and by agreeing not to build any apartments within 100 feet of Francis Street.
That didn't satisfy John Sullivan, a 28-year Kelley's Ferry Road resident who worries that Austin's proposal would aggravate traffic and flooding problems in the area and contradict the rural nature of the area.
"Kelley's Ferry Road is a narrow, winding and hilly road and having 246 apartments in this area is not suited for this area," Sullivan told planners during a public hearing Monday. "This would be a huge increase in the number of people living in this area and everybody I talk with is against this."
But the Regional Planning Agency said the Lookout Valley Area Plan calls for more development in the area, including commercial and office development on the southern portion of the site and medium-density residential on the rest.
"The proposed use could be compatible with surrounding uses if the topography and density are taken into consideration when siting buildings," said John Bridger, the director of the Regional Planning Agency.
The proposal calls for multiple three-story apartment buildings located in three clusters built along a new main internal road. The density of Austin's development would average 7.5 dwelling units per acre.
The City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposal on July 12.
If successful with his rezoning request, Austin said he will probably conduct a market study to ensure there is sufficient demand for more apartments.
"We think this is a good site for multi-family development, but there are a lot of apartments going up right now, so we need to study the market for the timing of our project," he said.
Planners on Monday approved other zoning changes to allow for other new housing projects to be added on the Southside by DEW LLC, which is planning townhouses, apartments and single-family homes on 7.5 acres between Long, Cowart, Wiliams and South Broad streets, and at Riverfront Parkway and M.L. King Boulevard, where land owner Grant Law is proposing a 7.2-acre mix of apartments, stores, restaurants and hotels.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340