The new Bread Factory Lofts are being developed in a former bakery building at Cowart and 17th Streets across from the Cowart Courts in the growing Southside neighborhood. Click on photo to enlarge.
photo by Irby Park
A building erected in the mid-1920s as a bakery and served for more than 30 years as a “bread factory,” is destined in the coming months to again become a “bread factory” with a little different twist.
The Bread Factory Lofts are expected to open about mid-March with 26 apartments designed in typical loft fashion. While some apartments may be similar, “every apartment is different,” said David Hudson, architect with Artech Designs, architect for the project.
The new development, at 1615 Coward Street, will offer first and second floor apartments ranging from 500 to 1,200 square feet and priced at $500 to $995 a month.
With T.U. Parks Construction Co. as prime contractor, the layout of the units “utilizes the existing structure,” said John Clark, with Parks Construction, and doesn’t try to create typical apartment units. They feature open design with the only walls and doors in a unit separating the bathroom from the rest of the apartment.
Joining Mr. Hudson and Mr. Clark in developing the apartments are Dr. Tony Leach and Rob Taylor.
The “bread factory” actually dates back to the 1800s when Scot immigrants J.B. Cameraon and William Barr established Cameron & Barr Bakery. In about 1925, successors to the founders, including James Barr, erected the new building on Cowart Street which continued in operation as a “state of the art bakery.”
In 1945 it was sold to a company that was to become Holsum Bakery in 1946 and continue in business at the Cowart Street location until Holsum built a new plant in 1956. The building was vacant until Southeastern Electric Supply opened for business there in about 1960. The electric supply firm moved to Amnicola Highway in the mid-1970s and the Cowart Street building was used for storage for some time before being vacated several years ago.
Financed by Union Planters Bank, the complex “is the type of out-of-the-box residential development that downtown Chattanooga has been waiting for,” said Ken Hays, president of the RiverCity Company.
The apartments complex is located in easy walking distance of the new downtown school and Finley Stadium and adjoins the Cowart Place development and related residential community being developed by Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise in the growing Southside.
The apartments have high ceilings, some 16-foot ceilings, and some have “sleeping lofts” The row of the apartments in the one-story portion of the building have sleeping lofts. Tenants can customize their units to fit their needs.
The ground-floor apartments, said Mr. Hudson, are ideal for “live and work” units in which occupants may establish a business in the front of the unit and separate the back as the home. That would work well for small businesses such as a photo studio, attorney, architect or software developer. It would be appropriate for passive, low-impact business that would be compatible with people living there.
Describing the building as “industrial chic,” Mr. Hudson said the apartments incorporate existing brick walls, exposed ductwork and similar building features into the apartments.
Half of the building is a two-story structure in which the central portion is being cut out to form a covered courtyard in the middle. All apartments in the two-story building open onto the courtyard and the second story apartments will have a walkway around the courtyard with a stairway down to the ground level.
Columns and beams in the interior portion of the building will remain as part of the courtyard which will be covered with skylights and will be open on both ends.
The loft apartments produced by renovating commercial and warehouse space will have none of the traditional finishes such as crown molding but will showcase architectural artifacts such as preexisting floors, exposed ductwork and brick walls.
High ceilings and plenty of natural light from large windows will be featured.
More information may be found at the Bread Factory Lofts web site, www.breadfactorylofts.com or by contacting Gwen Davenport at 756-6201, leasing agent for the new loft apartments.
The interior of the two-story portion of the complex is being developed as a covered courtyard which will feature columns, beams, skylights, and open ends for light when completed. Click on photo to enlarge.
photo by Irby Park