A 56-unit townhouse complex is planned for downtown Chattanooga's Southside at the site of a former hotel that was recently demolished.
Donna Shepherd of AD Engineering said Thursday that the three-level complex will take up the entire block at 101 E. 20th St. and will hold one- and two-bedroom units.
Plans are to have an interior courtyard, and each of the units are to offer garage parking, Shepherd told the Chattanooga Form-Based Code Committee, which approved the project.
Chattanooga builder Gabe Thomas will develop the project, but no timeline was offered. Shepherd declined further comment.
Staff file photo by Erin O. Smith / Gabe Thomas is shown in a file photo at the Republic Center.For many years, the location held several budget hotel nameplates.
Chattanooga City Councilman Erskine Oglesby Jr. said he's in favor of the new townhomes.
"It's replacing an eyesore," he said about the hotel that had become rundown. He said that the townhouses will do a lot to revitalize 20th Street.
Emily Dixon, the committee's staff manager, said the developer plans to shift parking off 20th Street to the side streets and put up trees.
"It's almost a major highway downtown," she said.
The Southside is seeing an array of new housing with more than 1,000 apartment units under construction or recently opened.
At Broad and West 17th Streets, a $30 million apartment complex with 158 units is also nearing completion. Last October, Chestnut Flats with 199 apartment units opened nearby on Chestnut Street just south of Riverfront Parkway.
New townhouse or condominium construction also is underway or planned, though on a smaller scale.
The Fletcher Bright Co. plans to put up a three-story, 17-unit condominium complex on a vacant lot at Long and West 16th streets, behind the former Grocery Bar building. Price points are expected to range from $225,000 to $250,000 each.
Developer Mike Long, who owns Proficiency Property Management & Construction LLC, is raising a 10-unit condo project at Main and Jefferson streets. The units are initially priced at around $440,000 to $479,000 apiece.
Ethan Collier, another Chattanooga developer, is building higher-end townhomes at 1400 Williams St. Those five townhomes are to have a starting price of about $850,000 each, he said earlier.
Collier also has plans for 20 townhomes near the East Main and Central Avenue intersection.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.