A Nashville developer plans to add 63 more residential units, likely condominiums, at Cameron Harbor on downtown Chattanooga's waterfront along with some retail space.
Long term, the company that's already building apartments and cottage homes sees potentially adding 200 more residences or even offices at the site of the $100 million development going up off Riverfront Parkway.
"So far, demand is very good," said developer Aaron White of Evergreen Real Estate.
White said a new three-story, 46,440-square-foot building is planned near the Jones-Blair building off Riverfront Parkway. Developers are seeking a zoning change at the site from the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission next month.
"Since we've got apartments down there, we're hopeful of adding condos and retail," White said. "Our current thinking is that this building could be condos to complement the homes we already have under construction."
He'd like work to begin next spring. He said it is too early to talk price points, but the building would sit up nicely in relation to the Tennessee River.
The Jones-Blair building could be converted to a restaurant or coffee shop, White said.
"We'll bend over backward to make that a good experience for the right operator," he said. "We'd pretty much do a full redo of the exterior of the building."
Kim White, who heads the nonprofit redevelopment group River City Co., said a housing study shows more demand for housing, including condos and townhomes.
Roofers work to top off one of the buildings at the Cameron Harbor development on the Tennessee River."He's seeing demand or he wouldn't build it," said the River City chief. "He's smart getting ahead of the market."
She and the developer said work to finish the extension of the Riverwalk to Cameron Harbor should help.
"They'll be more in the middle of things when they have that connectivity," Kim White said.
Chattanooga developer Eugene "Buck" Schimpf, who is building high-end townhomes at Cameron Harbor, said new condos would enhance the entire project.
"I think that what you are seeing is the continuation of the vision of Cameron Harbor," he said. "Much like the vision of Lovemans on Market started downtown living, this recent announcement by our collaborative partner, Evergreen, will continue the original vision of Cameron Harbor."
Schimpf was the developer that repurposed the Loveman's department store into residential units in downtown Chattanooga early last decade.
Aaron White said more residential units or offices beyond the planned condos is a long-term project that could take a decade or more.
"We'll listen to the market and we'll listen to the city," he said.
Currently, Cameron Harbor is the biggest riverfront development in the city at least since the 1980s, adding about 350 new residential units to the riverfront.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.