Skip to main content
Sunday, November 1, 2026Nov 1

This story is exclusive to subscribers.

CNE spin-off’s first house could model for affordable building

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Jenny Hill, project manager for CNE Homes and chair of the Chattanooga City Council, talks Sept. 26, 2025, while giving a tour of the modular home at 2311 Bailey Ave.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Jenny Hill, project manager for CNE Homes and chair of the Chattanooga City Council, talks Sept. 26, 2025, while giving a tour of the modular home at 2311 Bailey Ave. Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Jenny Hill, project manager for CNE Homes and chair of the Chattanooga City Council, talks Sept. 26, 2025, while giving a tour of the modular home at 2311 Bailey Ave.

A bright blue home in Highland Park arrived in pieces.

The three-bedroom house is modular, made of four “boxes” built in a Hixson factory’s parking lot and assembled on the narrow lot on Bailey Avenue.

It’s the first house by CNE Homes, a spin-off of nonprofit developer Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise.

For CNE, which in recent years has focused mostly on building multifamily rental units, the venture is a way to try to add some lower-cost single-family homes to Chattanooga’s inventory, chief executive Chris Thompson said.

“There is a considerable need,” Thompson said by phone. “We need to deliver affordable housing that is safe, quality housing. But we also want to work people towards homeownership.”