Townhomes and retail space, possibly coupled with apartments and offices, are proposed for the mixed-use project in downtown Chattanooga that will hold a Food City supermarket as its anchor.
The project at Broad and 13th streets, expected to cost more than $15 million, will be unlike any ever done by the Virginia-based grocery store chain, an official said Tuesday.
"It's a unique product for us," said Stephen D. Spangler, vice president for real estate and site development for Food City parent K-VA-T Food Stores Inc.
Six two-story townhomes will go on 13th Street across from the Chattanoogan hotel, he said. That two-story look will carry onto Broad Street, with the bottom floor offering about 16,000 square feet of retail space and the top level having either apartments, offices or a mix of uses, Spangler said.
The townhomes and commercial space will wrap the grocery store, which is now slated to be one level, Spangler said.
The entrance of the 50,000-square-foot supermarket will face a large parking lot that borders Main Street. Parking will be used by both shoppers and tenants, Spangler said.
"We feel strongly it will be a successful project," he said. "We develop a lot of traditional shopping centers. To have a residential component and a two-level component, it's a unique design for us."
On Thursday, the proposal is expected to go before the city's Form-Based Code Committee for its approval.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The proposed design for downtown Chattanooga’s Food City project is to go before the city’s Form-Based Code Committee at 2 p.m. Thursday.
Should that panel endorse the plan, Spangler said site work could start in mid- to late summer on the 5.7-acre Southside tract that for many years had held Carter Distributing Co. The store's opening could be spring or summer 2022, he said.
The proposed supermarket was shown as a free-standing store when the project was put on the city's Form-Based Code Committee agenda late last year. But the proposal was withdrawn from last December's meeting before the panel could hear it.
Spangler said Food City met with a lot of downtown stakeholders and design professionals.
"We determined to do additional things to make it a better project," he said.
Emily Mack, president and chief executive of the city's downtown nonprofit redevelopment group River City Co., said she appreciated the considerations and efforts of Food City to create "a vital asset to the central city and surrounding neighborhoods."
"By listening to community voices, using urban design principles, and working to meet the intent and spirit of the Form-Based Code, this unique concept will support walkability to fresh and healthy food to those who have not had access in the past," she said.
Steve Smith, president and CEO of Food City, said the grocer heard from a lot of downtown customers expressing the need for a new supermarket.
"We try to listen to our customers - that's what good companies do - and we recognize that with all of the building and new residents coming downtown there is a demand for such a store," he said.
Food City has grocery outlets nearby in St. Elmo and on East 23rd Street among the some 30 is has in the Chattanooga area.
Also on Broad Street near St. Elmo, Publix is constructing a 32,000-square-foot supermarket that's expected to open late this year. That site also will hold small-shop space.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.