EPB gets OK for proposed operations center site near Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant

The entrance to the Chattanooga Volkswagen assembly plant, located in the Enterprise South industrial park, is seen on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. / Staff file photo
The entrance to the Chattanooga Volkswagen assembly plant, located in the Enterprise South industrial park, is seen on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. / Staff file photo

A Chattanooga panel on Monday approved a deal that would clear the way for EPB to set up a major operations center near Volkswagen to service that growing part of the Hamilton County.

EPB is looking at building a $16 million operations center off Volkswagen Drive in Enterprise South industrial park on a 17-acre tract, according to the city's Industrial Development Board. The panel agreed to sell the parcel to EPB for $65,000 per acre, or $1.11 million.

Jermaine Freeman, Chattanooga's economic development officer, said the proposed new facility could better service manufacturing facilities in that part of the county as well as residents.

"It would allow EPB to have a real time operations center at Enterprise South," he said. "It would be good for manufacturers."

J.Ed. Marston, EPB's vice president of marketing and communications, said approval from the power distributor's board is needed first.

"We're several steps away," he said, adding there must be environmental testing done at the vacant tract that's located behind the Erlanger at Volkswagen Drive facility.

photo Kevin Panter, a lineman with EPB, turns off the power to a condemned building in the 3700 block of Rossville Boulevard Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Panter said that, despite icy conditions in areas Monday morning, there were only sporadic outages throughout the day. / Staff file photo

Marston said the timetable is uncertain, though IDB documents said a start of work could be around July 1 if the OK was given. Completion would be in about a year, the documents said.

According to the IDB, the power distributor is looking at constructing a 10,000-square-foot office building along with 60,000-square-feet of warehouse space. Also, EPB wants to build a 70,000-square-foot covered garage for vehicles, wire and large items.

In addition, the site could hold parking for 100 employees, the proposal said. Plans are to have 25 employees at the facility in the first year and then 75 workers within five years, it said.

Marston said the idea initially would be to put existing EPB employees at the site if it is built.

"There's a lot of growth in that part of the county," he said. "It would decrease the time to the customer."

EPB currently has a major operations center off Central Avenue.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.

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