Baylor School is making plans to build more faculty housing on its Chattanooga campus as it seeks approval from city planners for 25 to 30 townhouses, an official said.
The private school, which sits on 690 acres and features turn-of-the century buildings overlooking the Tennessee River gorge, wants to put the townhouses into its long-range plan, said Jimmy Hudson, who is the Baylor School board's chairman of buildings and grounds.
He said the campus holds no faculty townhouses, though it does offer single-family housing and space for dormitory parents.
"That revision is to add 25 to 30 townhouses in the Baylor faculty village off Old Baylor Road," Hudson said in a telephone interview. "It's another option for faculty."
Plans are to raise three- to four-bedroom townhouses, he said.
"They'd be pretty similar to what you see around town," Hudson said.
Plans are for the school to go before the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission for its OK later this month.
If the proposal receives approvals, work will start on the first group of townhouses as soon as possible, Hudson said.
"As soon as we can get a permit," he said.
Hudson said he expects the townhouses will be phased in with the building of as many as seven to eight at a time.
He said he didn't know the cost of the units.
"Until we get plans finished, we don't have that number," Hudson said.
In 2021, McCallie School revealed plans to build 16 residential units for its faculty. McCallie's townhouses were to be built on a ridge above Pressly Hall, according to news archives.
That $6 million development was to be paid for by contributions from past and present McCallie trustees, plus some gifts from alumni and friends, archives said.
McCallie Head of School Lee Burns said then that the project will take advantage of some of the best views of the city and offer great housing to help attract and keep the best faculty.
"Building this faculty village is about doing the right thing by investing in faculty well-being," Burns said in a video message to McCallie School parents and alumni announcing the project at the time. "Giving faculty our best helps them be their best, which, in turn, enables them to give our boys the best and fullest McCallie experience possible."
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.