A Chattanooga development company that is building a $100 million industrial park in Hixson has acquired another industrial property on Chattanooga's Southside to add more new development.
Rise Partners, which is redeveloping 88 acres at the former DuPont plant site into the North River Commerce Park, bought nearly 20 acres of other industrial property between Central Avenue and Polk Street on the Southside in mid-February. The property was developed by Yerbey Concrete, which will continue to use part of the property along Polk Street across the street from the Montague Park Sculpture Fields. The Yerbey Warehouse Park also includes R&B Associates Inc., Irby Utilities and Adaptive Methods LLC.
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Matt Phillips, the managing partner for Rise Partners, said 17 properties were bought from Yerbey Concrete.
"The land will be great for future development," Phillips said in a telephone interview. "Some could be used for mixed development and a portion has an industrial park on it, which is really needed in our market right now."
Phillips said he is "really excited to get an entire block in the middle of the city" with both existing users and the potential for new development. Comprised of 10 buildings, the Yerbey Warehouse Park includes more than 200,000 square feet of industrial space, small office space and undeveloped land that provides the opportunity to further housing or other development in the growing Southside area.
The property dates back to 1967, when BH Yerbey purchased the initial parcel on Polk Street for his ready-mixed concrete business, later joined by his son, Gary. Together, they acquired more and more parcels, forming a warehouse park on the excess property.
Rise Partners is making aesthetic improvements to the existing buildings, including painting, roofing and landscaping. Phillips said Rise Partners is studying the highest and best use for the undeveloped portion of the newly acquired property.
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"It is so rare to find this amount of industrial space in Chattanooga, located in a central, urban industrial park just off of I-24," Phillips said. "In addition, we look forward to the opportunity to redevelop the unimproved land, and we plan to continue the momentum that is happening on the Southside, including the future plans for the Sculpture Fields at Montague Park."
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Rise Partners, a privately held commercial real estate firm with offices in Chattanooga and Charlotte, North Carolina, is also building more than 800,000 square feet of industrial and warehouse space in the new North River Commerce Park along North Access Road in Hixson. Last year, Rise Partners bought 88 acres of the former DuPont site next to the existing Kordsa plant for the city's newest industrial park, which has already landed a distribution facility for The Home Depot.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.
Staff Photo by Dave Flessner / The Yerbey Warehouse Park, shown Monday on Chattanooga's Southside, was developed more than a half century ago by BH Yerbey for his concrete company and was recently acquired for additional development by the Chattanooga commercial real estate company Rise Partners.