The Tennessee Valley Authority is preparing to offload two buildings at its office complex in Chattanooga, which business leaders hope will create new opportunities for a prominent piece of downtown real estate.
On Thursday, the agency’s board of directors voted to declare as surplus the Missionary Ridge and Blue Ridge buildings, which are two of the five structures that make up an 8-acre, 1.4-million-square-foot campus initially opened by TVA in 1985. The two buildings border Market Street on the eastern side of the complex.
“I think it gives our Chattanooga community the opportunity to work with TVA to really reimagine and reinvent and reposition that eastern half of the TVA campus,” Emily Mack, president and CEO of the River City Co., said in a phone call.
It’s too early to tell what form that could take.
“I think it gives Chattanooga options,” she said, allowing officials to think about ways to create a more livable, resilient and vibrant downtown.