Chattanooga planners have put off until early next year a proposal to rezone three motels that a group plans to convert into apartments to address the affordable housing problem.
A Hamilton County commissioner said Monday that he and others in Lookout Valley are “adamantly against” converting one of the motels into apartments.
“We’re terrified it will end up like East Ridge,” said Commissioner Joe Graham, mentioning the Budgetel Inn at a meeting of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission.
Last month, the East Ridge motel shut down following a request from Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp, citing a high volume of crime there in the past few years.
In November, Thornhill Management Group unveiled plans to buy and convert the Motel 6 at 7707 Lee Highway and the America’s Best Inn at 7717 Lee Highway as well as the Knights Inn at 3655 Cummings Road into apartments.
Carey Thornhill, the group’s chief executive, said plans are to remake 218 rooms into mostly studio apartments and the company sought the rezoning from the Planning Commission.
Thornhill said Tuesday in a telephone interview that his company’s planned conversions aren’t designed for the homeless but is considered workforce housing.
“It’s not transitional housing,” he said.
Thornhill said rents could come in at from $900 to $1,000 a month, though that may change by the time the units are ready to be leased in late 2023.
“We believe there’s a huge housing need,” he said.
Thornhill said plans are to take “blighted motels, upgrade them and provide great housing.”
Planning Commission staff recommended deferring a decision on Thornhill’s request for 60 days. Staff said in a report that the City Council last month discussed a possible change to a zoning ordinance that could affect allowable uses, including multi-family housing.
The staff said the City Council is looking at conducting a strategic planning session in the future, and the planning agency sought the deferral pending the outcome of that meeting.
Kirsten Yates, Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly’s senior adviser for communications and digital strategy, said in an email that proposed updates to the ordinance may preclude the need for developers to rezone motel properties for conversion into apartments, which would affect all possible motel conversions by any owner.
The updates are slated to be shared with City Council members in January for their review, she said.
Earlier, the owner of a Motel 6 on Brainerd Road revealed plans to convert the lodging into apartments to supply workforce housing, but the City Council turned down that project.
Graham said at the Monday meeting that the neighborhood association in Lookout Valley, of which he’s currently president, had a long discussion about the potential changeover of the Knights Inn.
Graham said he understands the deferral, but the association is unanimously opposed to the rezoning.
“We’re asking you to turn it down,” he said about the zoning. “I’ll come back.”
Richard Williams, who said he lives near one of the motels Thornhill is proposing to renovate on Lee Highway, told the Planning Commission that turning such lodging into apartments isn’t the answer to providing affordable housing.
He said he is worried that woods behind the hotel could become “a homeless camp.”
The Lee Highway hotels are near the Airport Inn at 7725 Lee Highway, where the city is looking to change that property into about 70 units of permanent supportive housing in a plan that has drawn fire from some neighbors.
Thornhill said he was OK with the deferral by the Planning Commission of his proposal.
“We want to make sure we’re doing what’s best for the city and the community,” he said. “It will allow them during the deferral to determine the best steps forward.”
Thornhill said affordable housing is a national issue. The cost of living has risen, and even people who are employed are finding it hard to qualify for standardized housing opportunities, he said.
“We’re looking to reverse that,” he said.
At the same time, Thornhill said, many developers are moving away from affordable housing to make more profits on higher end building.
Kelly in March unveiled plans for a $100 million affordable housing initiative over five years.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.