When you add it all up, a big change is coming and in a very good way.
Cherokee Boulevard
New, planned or recently completed projects, location and estimated costs:› 190 apartments, Cherokee and Manning, $37 million› 84 apartments, Cherokee and Manufacturers Road, $10 million› 70 apartments, 530 Cherokee, $6 million› Commercial/retail site, 300 Cherokee, $6 million› Commercial/office, Cherokee and Manning, $3.5 million› Commercial/office, 427 Cherokee, $1.5 million› Mike’s Hole in the Wall move, 535 Cherokee, $200,000 to $300,000Source: Developers
Mike's Hole in the Wall was on Cherokee Boulevard before Cherokee was cool.
Now, the Chattanooga bar and eatery is moving across the street into space nearly three times as large as its existing site. Its owners say new apartments along with office and retail space going up or planned on Cherokee means lots of future patrons are moving to the neighborhood.
The boulevard, a one-mile strip on the North Shore between North Market Street and the tunnel to Red Bank, is seeing a surge of development. About $64 million in projects are either underway, just completed or slated to begin within months on Cherokee Boulevard.
"When we bought the business, we were told that's not a good end of the city and not a great move," said John McClellan, who opened Mike's with partner Mike Robb nine years ago. "We knew it would get safe and be a growth area. We had no idea it would be as explosive as it has been."
Jeff Jennings, a commercial real estate broker for NAI Charter Real Estate Corp., said developers are "still chasing deals" in the area.
"I do expect to see a continued massive amount of money coming into the North Shore with in-town and out-of-town developers," he said.
The biggest proposed new project yet on Cherokee is slated to start this spring, according to Bristol Development Group of Franklin, Tenn.
Scott Black of Bristol said last week that work on a new 190-unit, $37 million apartment complex at Cherokee and Manning Street is to begin going up on the former site of The Loft restaurant.
Complete with a garage, the four-story apartment building will take about 18 to 22 months to finish, he said.
"We have a full set of drawings for the building permit," Black said about the project that was originally unveiled in late 2015. "We think it's a great site and great location."
Also on Cherokee, next door to Mike's in the former Tennessee driver's license office, Chattanooga developer John Wise said he plans to break ground in a couple of months on a $6 million, 70-unit apartment building.
Wise said construction drawings are underway and he expects the four-story apartment building to open in 2018.
He said the Cherokee Boulevard area, where Wise earlier constructed at least three apartment and commercial buildings, has been "good to me" over the years.
Kim White, who heads the nonprofit redevelopment group River City Co., said Cherokee is a gateway to the North Shore and a major corridor, and developers are filling in the gaps.
"When you add it all up, a big change is coming and in a very good way," she said.
White said Cherokee has "it's own unique feel." She said it and Manufacturers Road could benefit from street improvements such as building more connections between those arteries.
"I do think it's something that could be looked at," she said.
At Cherokee and Manufacturers Road, Vision Hospitality Group already is building an apartment complex that officials estimated will cost "north of $10 million."
Vision, Chattanooga's largest hotel developer, is raising a five-story, 84-unit apartment building on a vacant lot near Renaissance Park.
In addition, Chattanooga developer Fletcher Bright Co., has started work on a $6 million makeover to an existing commercial structure on Cherokee that will bring in a mix of retail and restaurant space.
"The North Shore is a vibrant market," said Cardon Smith, vice president of Fletcher Bright Co. "There's a lot of residential going on around there."
McClellan said Mike's Hole in the Wall will shift from 538 Cherokee to the site of the Gear Closet at 535 Cherokee, where the bar and restaurant has a long-term lease.
He estimated he and Robb will invest between $200,000 and $300,000 in the new location, vastly expanding Mike's kitchen area. Plans are to start construction in April and be ready for football season, McClellan said.
He's especially excited about the 30 to 40 parking spaces the new location will have on site.
"The real coups d'état on Cherokee is parking," McClellan said. "We've got new competitors. They don't have parking. We have parking."
He said the new location will be within walking distance of all the new apartments to open on Cherokee.
"We feel fortunate to be on Cherokee now," McClellan said.
Robb said he believes someone needs to come up with a catchy name for the Cherokee Boulevard area.
"It was a bad area for a long time," he said. "When I bought the [Mike's] building, people didn't want to come up here at night. Someone needs to come up with a name so we can promote it."
Jennings said some new development also is occurring past the Stringer's Ridge tunnel where Cherokee becomes Dayton Boulevard. Jennings said that the price of real estate tends to go down on the other side of the tunnel.
Still, he said, there's a lot of money being poured into projects there as well.
The site of the former Great Value Inn, for many years known as the Cherokee Motel, was torn down to make way for 600 self-storage units and a retail and commercial center in a $6.3 million project, said John Mitchum, a real estate broker for ReMax Renaissance Realtors.
Mitchum said there's a growing need for self-storage as apartments continue to spring up nearby. Also, Pratt Home Builders is adding to its new headquarters near Dayton Boulevard and Signal Mountain Road.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.