428 new homes get green light in Chattanooga project on old Cigna land

Contributed Rendering / A site plan shows the layout of hundreds of new homes and townhouse on former Cigna property off Goodwin Road in East Brainerd.
Contributed Rendering / A site plan shows the layout of hundreds of new homes and townhouse on former Cigna property off Goodwin Road in East Brainerd.

Chattanooga planners have given the green light to nearly 430 single-family houses and townhomes at the former Cigna office site in East Brainerd, in what will become one of Hamilton County's largest new residential projects.

Both homes and townhouses will go into the first phase of the sprawling development that's estimated to hit upwards of $200 million when it's fully built, Mike Price of MAP Engineers said in a phone interview Friday.

"There's a demand for both," said Price, who's representing Atlanta developer Empire Communities. "It's an opportunity to take two bites at the market."

Plans are to start building this summer at 7555 Goodwin Road behind the East Brainerd Walmart center, with the first residences ready late this year, he said.

Prices for most of the units will top out at about $450,000, the consultant said.

The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission this week gave a thumbs up for that part of the property's development to move ahead. The City Council still must give its OK.

Another developer, META Real Estate Partners, has plans to build 350 apartments on a separate parcel on the old Cigna site.

John Tirrill, senior partner for the company in Atlanta, said Friday in an email that a construction timetable on the apartments isn't set yet, but he likes the tract's proximity to East Brainerd retail space, local jobs and Interstate 75.

"East Brainerd is a great neighborhood," he said, adding there's a need for more apartments in that part of the city.

Tirrill said the total development cost for the apartments isn't finalized yet.

The 95-acre former Cigna tract, nearly all of it vacant, for many years held much of health insurer's local operations. But in 2021, amid the pandemic, the company said it would continue to let its 450 employees at the site work remotely, and it put the campus on the market. That included a 98,000-square-foot office building.

  photo  Staff Photo by Mike Pare / A former Cigna office building sits behind a "sold" sign at a Goodwin Road parcel Friday. The 95-acre tract is to hold single-family homes, townhouses, apartments and a school.
 
 

Late last year, the entire property was sold for $24.7 million. In addition to the developers, Hamilton County purchased the building and nearly 19 acres for $7.9 million with plans for a new public school.

Price said an early version of development on the site had a senior housing component, though that was cut.

"We determined it's not as viable a demand as single-family and townhouses," he said.

Price said the Chattanooga market remains robust for housing at certain price points. He cited high demand and the growth that the county is experiencing.

At the same time, some residents in the county have complained about over-development. In January, more than 150 people turned out in nearby Collegedale, where they expressed concerns about growth and traffic.

County Commissioner Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, who oversaw the meeting, told the group that planners are taking a different approach to the issue.

"We've been reactionary," he said. "This isn't about stopping growth or controlling growth. It's about sensible growth."

Dan Reuter, executive director of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency, said at the meeting that outside consultants are to be brought on to help his team update area plans for different parts of the county. Such plans serve as a guide for growth for communities in the city and county.

Reuter said the agency also will work on a comprehensive plan for the unincorporated parts of the county, and it intends to examine zoning codes and regulations.

In a recent Chattanooga Times Free Press survey, more than one-third of county voters thought the Chattanooga area was growing too fast.

Price said that anytime there's high demand and growth, there are issues that arise.

"There are legitimate concerns," he said.

But Price said solutions usually take money, oftentimes including unpopular tax increases.

At the same time, he said, an absence of growth causes property values to decline.

"It's not a simple, easy balancing act," Price said.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.

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