A veterinary hospital is moving to the South Broad District to a site where plans also call for townhomes as the redeveloping Chattanooga neighborhood sees an array of new investment.
Veterinary Care and Specialty Group, currently located in St. Elmo, plans to build a new 24-hour animal hospital at 3201 Broad St. where a Long John Silver's restaurant operated for many years, said Ben Berry of Berry Engineers.
While the nearly 15,000-square-foot animal hospital will face Broad Street, up to 11 townhomes will be raised in the rear of the tract toward St. Elmo Avenue, he said.
Berry said that Claudia Pullen, who is putting up a large-scale mixed-used project in St. Elmo, also is connected to the Broad Street location. Her husband, Dr. Billy Pullen, in 2016 opened Veterinary Care and Specialty Group.
Berry said the two projects are unrelated, though there was a concept of trying to incorporate the new animal hospital into the estimated $21 million St. Elmo development, which includes residential and commercial space and a parking garage.
But, he said, the demand on the animal hospital is "an immediate one."
"They were out of space," Berry said. "St. Elmo is long-term and will take a while to get finished."
Chattanooga architect Bob Franklin said the animal hospital will be built up against the street in concert with the Urban General Commercial (UGC) zoning existing in the district.
"It's going to create the streetscape UGC intends," he said.
Franklin cited the growth in the district that's basically bordered by St. Elmo to the south and Interstate-24 to the north with Broad Street serving as its spine.
This spring, a developer of a new Publix supermarket nearby off Broad Street on a site that held the Mt. Vernon Restaurant for decades won a bruising zoning battle. George Chase of the development group Alliance Realty Services said that plan meets the intent of UGC zoning and is walkable and bike-able.
Berry said he expects construction of the animal hospital to begin within 45 days. Building of the townhomes, which will face the current terminus of the Riverwalk, should start shortly thereafter, he said.
The townhomes' look will continue the style and quality of those currently under development nearby by Collier Construction in the area, Berry said.
"This will be along those same lines," he said. Berry said he didn't know the price points for the townhomes or the dollar cost of the entire development.
Also off Broad Street, new housing and commercial space is planned for a tract at West 33rd Street.
Hundreds of townhouses, apartments or condos are slated for the 15.6-acre parcel across from Chattanooga Christian School. Up to about 450 housing units could go on the site, according to planning documents submitted to the city.
Also, the owners of the Wheland and U.S. Pipe properties within the South Broad District are looking at redeveloping that property, with a potential new Chattanooga Lookouts multi-use entertainment venue serving at the centerpiece.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.