Skip to main content
Thursday, November 12, 2026Nov 12

North Chattanooga, Reads Lake Road building plans draw neighborhood ire

Chip Henderson
Chip Henderson Chip Henderson
photo Chip Henderson

A Hamilton County builder has withdrawn a plan to put 153 residences on a former golf course amid opposition, and a controversial proposal to raise homes in North Chattanooga was denied Monday by local planners.

James Pratt of Pratt Development on Monday withdrew a plan to put apartments, townhomes and single-family homes on the 1001 Reads Lake Road site after more than two dozen people showed up at a meeting of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission.

Pratt told the panel he will keep the current zoning, which apparently would allow him to build some units on the 32.3-acre tract. Pratt also had sought a special exemption permit for the residential planned unit development.

City Councilman Chip Henderson said he had talked with Pratt on Friday, and he didn’t know if the developer will move ahead to build on the parcel. He said he believed the existing C-2 zoning would permit the building of apartments.

“I don’t know if he has decided to withdraw the whole development or just develop as it’s zoned now,” Henderson said.