Chattanooga resident may buy Glass House Collective office

The former Glass Street Collective building in East Chattanooga has been condemned and is no longer inhabited.
The former Glass Street Collective building in East Chattanooga has been condemned and is no longer inhabited.

The Glass House Collective office building, the anchor of the Glass Street revitalization, might be sold within the next week, said Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise Executive Director Martina Guilfoil.

The building at 2523 Glass St. and the pocket park next to it might be purchased by a Chattanooga resident who proposes to pay cash for the two-story property.

"I'm looking for a purchase contract any day and then it will go to the board and we could close," Guilfoil said Tuesday.

She declined to release the buyer's name or the amount of the sale until it is final.

Guilfoil said the purchaser has a "great reputation of doing good work in the community" and plans to repair the building.

A local businesswoman told Glass Farm Neighborhood Association Vice President Verlene Middlebrooks that the building and the park next to it would be sold for about $25,000, which is less than the $50,000 it took to build the park.

photo The former Glass Street Collective building in East Chattanooga has been condemned and is no longer inhabited.

The building will take about $60,000 to $80,000 to repair, Middlebrooks said.

Guilfoil said bids for repairs came into CNE at $60,000-plus.

The Glass House Collective office building has been vacant since December 2014 when the floor collapsed during a Christmas party.

CNE officials initially thought the repair would be simple but later learned the floor collapsed because of damage to the joists caused by years of water seeping into the wood.

CNE just doesn't have the resources to repair the floor, Guilfoil said.

With the proposed sale of the building, East Chattanooga residents worry that Glass House Collective will leave before reaching its goal of bringing businesses back to Glass Street.

"I don't think they're going to be here very long. I think it's a money issue," Middlebrooks said. "There is not as much grant money available, and now the building is going to be sold."

Middlebrooks credits Glass House for bringing more sidewalks and streetlights to improve Glass Street, but the point of beautifying the area was to attract business. And not many businesses have come, she said.

Teal Thibaud, Glass House Collective director and a founder of the nonprofit, said she has no intention of leaving Glass Street.

She said it's been more than 20 years since Glass Street has seen major investment into the community but she is committed to its revitalization.

She hosted a community meeting this month to discuss with residents what they wanted to see happen next. Thibaud hosts community meetings at 6:30 p.m. on the first Monday of each month at 2432 Glass St.

She said she hopes to return to the Glass House building, but if she can't she plans to continue meeting at 2432 Glass St. She recently hosted a "Next Big Thing" urbanization conference and plans to use ideas from that conference to continue improving Glass Street, she said.

Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.

News report from floor collapse:

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