The Mountain City Club’s downtown Chattanooga home, in the West Village, has interest from multiple real estate investors about members’ interest in moving.
In an email to members, the president of the 124-year-old business social club at 729 Chestnut St. cited years of decline in its numbers, most recently spurred on by the pandemic, and said the issue of the property’s availability is to come up for discussion at a meeting Thursday.
“The reality is membership numbers have been falling for many years now, if not decades. We need to find a solution to this consistent problem that negatively impacts the club’s financial position,” club President Mark Schmissrauter said.
The club’s continued financial uncertainty has put it in a place where “all factors and options must be considered,” he said.
The club’s property, which includes a large parking lot, sits amid the hotel, restaurant, shopping and conference district created by Chattanooga developers and brothers Byron and Ken DeFoor.
In 2018, the club entertained an offer from Byron DeFoor for the property, which was rejected by the club. The club now has roughly half the 300 members it had then.
The DeFoors declined to comment for this story, but they’ve continued to express an interest in growing the district.
A couple of months ago, DeFoor Hospitality added a fifth hotel in the district when it acquired the former Bode Hotel at Chestnut and Eighth streets, directly across from the club, for $17.5 million. The DeFoors have renamed the 54-room inn the Hotel Clemons. For many years, the structure was known as the Clemons Bros. furniture manufacturing and sales building.
Mountain City Club members Tuesday expressed an appreciation for their venue for business meetings, meals and socializing.
Ken Goodhue said in an interview that he joined the club 40 years ago and it would be “heartbreaking” if it went away.
“It has always been a great place to go,” he said. “It’s special.”
Jerry Summers said he joined in 1985 and would miss it.
“It has been a good place … a fun place,” he said in an interview.
Emily Mack, CEO of the nonprofit downtown development group River City Co., said the entity hasn’t been involved in discussions about the possible sale of the club’s property.
“If the Mountain City Club decides to sell and the new owner has ideas for redevelopment, we welcome them to contact us or any of our downtown partners,” she said in a statement.
Club leadership will update members on its financial position at the 5:30 p.m. Thursday meeting and will give more information about outside options presented to the club, Schmissrauter, who didn’t return phone calls Tuesday, said in the email.
“This is a critically important meeting, and our board of governors wants as many members as possible to be there,” he said.
The club’s site was constructed in the 1970s. According to the Hamilton County Assessor of Property, the facility has 41,836 square feet and sits on 1.4 acres.
The club was first in a Samuel Patton-designed building at the southeast corner of Seventh and Cherry streets before moving to a space in the old First National Bank building on Broad Street — currently the home of Pinnacle Bank. In 1904, the club moved into a second permanent clubhouse on Chestnut Street.
The DeFoors in 2017 opened the Westin Hotel just across Pine Street from the club in the former BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee headquarters building. Also, they purchased buildings across Eighth Street from the club before the 2018 offer was made to buy the property.
At that time, the club decided against selling its three-level facility as its leadership said it had raised “significant funds” to help ensure its longevity.
Schmissrauter said then that the club “has very strong equity.”
A major remodel several years ago at the building yielded cosmetic improvements and a new business center, wireless internet and meeting rooms with video screens for private conferences in an effort to woo more members.
The DeFoor Brothers, in the meantime, built or purchased additional hotels in the area, investing an estimated more than $100 million.
The brothers acquired the Chattanooga Marriott Downtown next to the city’s convention center, the nearby Days Inn Rivergate, which they turned into the Hotel Bo and the Hotel Indigo. The action stretched the West Village’s footprint from Carter Street, across East M.L. King Boulevard and to West Sixth Street.
“We wanted to create a boutique convention area,” Byron DeFoor said in an earlier interview.
The club has counted well-known city fathers like Adolph Ochs, Samuel Patton and Harry Scott Probasco among its founding members.
But there have been questions by officials of whether there was still a market for a club like the Mountain City Club. The club dropped many exclusionary membership traditions and sought to attract younger and more diverse members.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.