Independent Healthcare Properties (IHP) and Morning Pointe Assisted Living will kick off the groundbreaking celebration for the new Morning Pointe of Chattanooga at Shallowford on April 22 at 10:30 a.m. Already, the building is being framed in and the construction project is on target for an early 2015 opening. While construction started earlier this year, better weather has work moving forward.
“Morning Pointe has had a long history of service in the greater Chattanooga area,” said Greg A.
Vital, president and CEO of IHP and Morning Pointe. The special groundbreaking ceremony will take place at the construction site located at 7719 Shallowford Rd, just down the street from the current Morning Pointe of Chattanooga. Local dignitaries and community leaders along with Hamilton County Mayor, Jim Coppinger and the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce will be on hand for the event. The East Ridge High School JROTC will open the program with a Color Guard presentation and Grace Baptist Academy will close the event with a special performance by its fifth grade choir.
Phase one of the project includes a new $9-million assisted living community on approximately 10 acres on Shallowford Road. The new building, with 62,000 square feet, will offer 77 assisted living apartments. Upon completion, residents of the existing Morning Pointe of Chattanooga will relocate across the street to the new facility. Phase two of the project will then commence as the current building will undergo a $2-million renovation and become The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence with 60 units. The construction and renovation projects are anticipated to be completed in about nine months.
The two projects are expected to have an economic impact in the Hamilton County area of $15-million annually considering payroll, property taxes and the local purchase of goods and services. “These new Morning Pointe expansion projects will create about 200 temporary construction jobs,” Mr. Vital said, “and 85 new careers for the Chattanooga area.”
Morning Pointe’s development team is comprised of Chattanooga-based companies, many of which they have worked with on previous projects throughout the Southeast. Professional services are being provided by Neuhoff Taylor Architects, PC; East Tennessee Specialty Builders, general contractor; and CityScape Development Services, project manager. Others companies include civil engineers MAP Engineers, landscape architects Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon, Inc., environmental engineers Thompson Engineering and geotechnical engineers S&ME, Inc.