With the Chattanooga residential real estate market sizzling, homebuilders on Monday won preliminary approval from a planning panel related to the proposed construction of more than 500 units.
GreenTech Homes received the OK for a second phase of the Heritage Walk development in East Brainerd that would spur the building of 120 new single-family homes and 14 townhomes.
Meanwhile, the huge Riverton project by Chattanooga developer John "Thunder" Thornton received a preliminary plat and a variance at the Lupton Drive tract where some 400 residences are proposed.
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission, at a virtual meeting, endorsed a plan by GreenTech to more than double the size of Heritage Walk on the 8100 block of Hitchcock Road to about 227 units.
Chris Anderson, GreenTech's director of development, said the project is the Chattanooga builder's most successful ever with about 40 lots of the original 93 under contract.
"It has been the fastest selling," he said, citing a variety of different types of housing along with connections to the adjacent Jack Benson Heritage Park.
New single-family homes will go from between $350,000 and $750,000 while townhomes are expected to be priced from $250,000 to $300,000, Anderson said.
The City Council is to hear the project next month, and Anderson said land work would start soon after should that panel give its OK.
He put the entire development at about $90 million.
"This is a big project in our district," said City Councilman Darrin Ledford, who also serves on the Planning Commission, on Monday.
He said there's discussion with the builder about construction of a roundabout nearby.
In addition, the planning panel approved the preliminary plat for the planned Riverton community that in 2019 was estimated at a $300 million development.
Dane Bradshaw, president of Thunder Enterprises, said the development group is continuing to acquire the needed permits from the city.
"We're anxious to get it going," he said. "There are certain permits and things that are part of the process."
The variance approved by the panel involved the narrowing of a service road and an alley at the mixed-used project in Lupton City near the Tennessee River.
Two years ago, Thunder Enterprises purchased the more than 200-acre tract. It acquired the Riverton LLC business, which had bought the site for $8.1 million from BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in 2018.
BlueCross had once planned to build its corporate headquarters on the parcel, but finally decided to construct it atop Cameron Hill in downtown Chattanooga.
Encouraged by low mortgage rates and Chattanooga's appeal, homebuyers are flocking to purchase houses in Chattanooga, officials said. Single-family houses in Chattanooga are selling at the quickest pace on record, figures show.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.